XLIV REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



three of the fishing boats upon the lake, and the salted, smoked, and 

 preserved fish in a special building put up for articles of this descrip- 

 tion, in an unfortunately remote portion of the grounds. 



The exhibition was held in the grounds of the Eoyal Horticultural 

 Society in South Kensington, nearly on the sites of the great London 

 exhibitions of 1851 and 1862. It was the largest special exhibition ever 

 held, being participated in by thirty-one nations and colonies. The area 

 occupied was 21 acres, about one-third of the space being covered with 

 temporary buildings, and the remainder devoted to lakes and gardens, 

 which were decorated and arranged in the most attractive manner, and 

 afforded a delightful breathing and resting place for visitors to the 

 exhibition. 



Although conducted by a corporation of private citizens, the exhi- 

 bition was practically a Government enterprise, its patron being Her 

 Majesty the Queen, and the president the Prince of Wales. It was 

 formally opened and closed by the Prince of Wales, in the presence of 

 the court and its most prominent ofiBcials and promoters, who were men 

 in high ofl&cial position. The surplus proceeds are to be devoted to 

 some public enterprise, such as the improvement of the condition of the 

 fishermen's widows and orphans or the establishment of a zoological 

 marine laboratory for the benefit of the fisheries. 



The buildings assigned to the United States being of a temporary 

 nature, mere rough sheds of unplaned boards, whitewashed with some 

 fire-proof preparation, it was necessary to prepare them by painting 

 them in distemper, both for appearance sake and to prevent the dis- 

 figurement of the collections from the constant shower of flakes of 

 whitewash. This occasioned some delay, but by dint of hard labor, 

 night and day, our party succeeded in getting the section into presenta- 

 ble form in time for the formal opening, which took place on the 12th 

 of May, having been deferred nearly two weeks on account of the ill- 

 ness of the Queen. 



Mter the opening, several we'eks were occupied in attaching labels 

 and finally adjusting the collections, but by June 1 everything was in 

 thorough order, and the section was generally admitted to possess the 

 greatest interest and to be the most important single division of the 

 entire exhibition, both on account of its contents and the manner in 

 which they were displayed. The following paragraph from the Pall Mall 

 Gazette is a sample of several hundred of a similar tenor which might 

 be quoted : 



''The United States section is a department whose importance grows 

 upon the inquiring visitor at every inspection. With fisherman and 

 angler alike it holds the supreme position in the entire exhibition. The 

 section forms a very flattering manifestation of international courtesy 

 upon the part of the Government at Washington, for by far the largest 

 part of the exhibits are from the National Museum and from the 

 storehouses of the U. S. Fish Commission — an institution for which 



