250 FISHES 



from man to man till it reached Tapuaeharuru, where the fish were 

 liberated near the outlet of the lake. All hands and the cook from the re- 

 doubt proceeded to the spot to see the liberation, and many natives came 

 across the Waikato River to see the new pakeha fish. There was great 

 cheering as the little carp swam out from the bank. The natives called them 

 then and there "Morihana" after Captain Morrison, and they are still 

 only known by the natives in the Taupo and Rotorua districts by this 

 name. 



In 1880 five of us subscribed 1 each and commissioned "Jack 

 LofBey " to bring a billy of young carp down from Taupo, where by that 

 time they had become exceedingly numerous. They were duly liberated 

 at the mouth of the Utuhina Creek and in a small lagoon emptying into 

 the Lake, where they multiplied at an enormous rate. The Maoris did 

 not like them, considering them too full of bones and dangerous for their 

 children. Ere long a lucrative trade in gold-fish sprang up between the 

 Ohinemutu Maori children and visitors. Carp frequenting the thermal 

 waters along the southern shores of Lake Rotorua soon turned a bright 

 red or white, some partly red and partly silver. The children became 

 adepts at catching them with their hands among the reeds and rushes, 

 up to a quarter of a pound weight or more. 



In June, 1916, at a meeting of the Arawa tribe in Rotorua, it 

 was decided to send a telegram to the Hon. W. H. Herries, Minister 

 for Native Affairs, protesting against a recent Government notifica- 

 tion forbidding the catching of carp in Lake Rotorua, and pointing 

 out that the Maoris were thereby deprived of a food supply which 

 they had enjoyed for the last 30 years. 



The Canterbury Society received a number of silver carp from 

 Sydney in 1868; I do not know what was done with them. 



Golden Carp ; Gold Fish (Cyprinus carassius) 



The first attempt to introduce goldfish into New Zealand was 

 made by Mr A. M. Johnson, who succeeded in bringing a few alive 

 (the only survivors out of a large and varied assortment of fish) in 

 the 'British Empire* in 1864. These were landed at Lyttelton. 



In 1868 the Canterbury Society received a number from the 

 Acclimatisation Society of Melbourne. 



I do not think these fish are specifically distinct from the ordinary 

 carp 1 . 



1 The following paper on the "Rapid Growth of Carp due to Abundance of 

 Food," by J. H. Brakeley, is taken from vol. vn, Bulletin of U.S. Fish Commission, 

 1889: 



"The European carp in becoming naturalised in this country has changed 

 its habits in several important particulars. Instead of hibernating for several 

 months with its nose in the mud, as in Europe, here it does this for a very short 

 time, if at all, even as far north as the Middle States. The eggs hatch here in from 

 four to seven days, according to the temperature of the atmosphere, while in Europe 

 it requires from twelve to twenty. Here it readily takes the bait when skilfully 



