246 FISHES 



left cannot now be as many hundreds as there were thousands; those fish 

 liberated in ponds full of Crustacea and insect life appearing to share the 

 same fate as the ones in deep and protected races. 



I can find no further report of this experiment. 



The final lot of 250,000 was sent down to the Bluff, which was 

 reached on igth January, met by Mr Deans, curator of the Otago 

 Society, and conveyed to Queenstown the same day. "They com- 

 menced to hatch at once, but died shortly after. As there seemed no 

 chance of saving them, it was decided to turn them out at Beach 

 Bay, about eight miles from Queenstown, the latter place being 

 infested with trout and perch. All, with the exception of from 

 1200 to 1300 (ova), were hatching out in the cans while going 

 up the lake, and seemed quite lively when turned out. I regret 

 to say I believe quite one-half of the ova have gone bad." By 

 28th January the remaining ova were reduced to about 800 or 

 900, and about 40 live fish, and these were liberated at Halfway 

 Bay, between Queenstown and Kingstown. The temperature of the 

 water was 56. 



The only subsequent reports of this 1880 shipment come from 

 the Canterbury Society. The annual report for 1885 states that "we 

 are credibly informed that shoals of the White Fish, placed by us in 

 Lake Coleridge, have been recently seen there." In 1886 it is said 

 "we have received several reports of the White Fish having been seen 

 in Lake Coleridge, some of large size, and that they are multiplying 

 has been proved by some young ones being washed ashore in a gale." 

 In a letter received from Mr Edgar F. Stead in April, 1916, he says: 

 "No whitefish have ever been caught in Lake Coleridge, nor have 

 any skeletons of them been found." 



In 1884 the Nelson Society received about 1,000,000, of which 

 300,000 were placed in the hatching-boxes, and the remainder were 

 put in Lake Rotoiti. There is no report of any of these, for the Nelson 

 Society have lost their records; but in 1901, Mr A. Rutherford was 

 of opinion that the fish were then in Lake Rotoiti. 



Though all previous attempts had so far failed, it was determined 

 to try again to introduce this desirable species, and two shipments 

 were made to the Government from San Francisco in 1886-87. 



On I3th February, 1886, 1,000,000 eggs from the U.S. Hatchery 

 at Northville, Michigan, were shipped by the ' Alameda ' which arrived 

 at Wellington on I2th March. On opening the boxes the contents 

 were found to be putrid, and this appeared to be due to carelessness 

 on board the steamer, as the ova had been "packed with the greatest 

 care and in the most approved method." 



On 1 5th January, 1887, the 'Alameda' again took a shipment of 



