THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. d41 
From both the preceding quotations it appears that Captain Robin- 
son had been planting young carp in the Hudson regularly since their 
establishment in his pond. According to a writer in Forest and 
Stream, who signs himself ‘* R.” (1874), these were further augmented 
afew years before that date by the bursting of the dams of Captain 
Robinson’s ponds. He says: 
More than fifty years ago” Captain Henry Robinson, owner of one of the Havre 
packets, brought the first carp and goldfish to this country from France. He placed 
them in a small pond on his place in the southern part of this village [Newburgh, 
N.Y.]. Several years ago, when the dam of the pond broke away, many of the fish 
escaped into the river. They appear to multiply very rapidly, and any number 
might be obtained from the fishermen about the bay. 
Finally, inthe Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission for 
1882, we find the following letter (dated New York, May 31, 1882), to 
Professor Baird from Mr. Barnet Phillips (1883): 
To-day Mr. James Benkard, vice-president of our fish cultural association, told me 
that his grandfather, Capt. Henry Robinson, had, about 1830, first brought carp from 
Holland [sic] and put them in his ponds at Newburg, and that he had therefore 
reason to suppose that the carp in the Hudson were derived from these. In Frank 
Forester’s ‘‘ Fish and Fishing,’’ of 1849, page 166, you may find a statement to this 
effect, which Mr. Benkard says is substantially correct. 
I have thought these data might be useful when the whole history of the carp 
in American waters is to be written up. 
In spite of the positive statements in the foregoing quotations there 
still seems to be some question as to whether the true carp was found 
in the Hudson prior to the time of its introduction into the country 
by the Fish Commission. In the letter to Professor Baird from 
Mr. Shears (1882), dated January 26, 1881, and already quoted, he 
says: 
I notice that the gold-fish are quite plenty in the river in this vicinity [Coxsackie, 
Greene County, N. Y.]; also a fish about the sizeand shape, which is called a silver- 
fish, but they do not correspond to Captain R[obinson]’s description of the silver-fish. 
These are nearly or quite as dark asa rock-bass. JI have seen none that would weigh 
over one pound andahalf. When caught in fykes by the fishermen, they are usually 
pronounced unfit to eat and thrown back in the river. However, last fall I saw 
them peddled through the streets, and the fishermen told me they could catch 
scarcely any other kind, and they sold as well as perch or bass. I have not had an 
opportunity to taste any of them, therefore am no judge of their flavor. 
It is to be noted that he makes no mention of the carp. That Pro- 
fessor Baird was inclined to the opinion that there were no true carp 
in the Hudson is shown by the following paragraph taken from his 
report for 1877 (U. S. Fish Commission Report, 1879, p. *43): 
Considerable discussion has arisen as to the person to whom the introduction of 
the carp into America is due; indeed, it is claimed that this was done many years 
ago. Certain fish-ponds on the Hudson River are said to have been emptied of their 
contents by a sudden freshet, one, as a eNOS the Hudson is now full of what 
a Here, again, ieee is a discrepancy in the ane The aortic tion of the fish could not haye been 
more than forty-three years before. 
