492 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
W. Mark Elliott, and J. A. Connell have found in the beginning and middle 
of October that the trout were fat and in good condition in the Waiwera 
and Waipahi. It seems to me then that the trap formation is eminently 
suitable to the abundant growth of insects and other minute food, and that, 
from situation and exposure to the sun in early spring, the eggs and larve 
of these insects must hatch sooner than in snow-fed waters of Otago. This 
early supply of the finest of food must, together with the excellent shelter 
of the banks of these rivers and warmth of the water, be the explanation of 
the goodness of the trout and their appearing in condition in spring so soon. 
The Pomahaka’s trout, on the other hand, are long of getting into con- 
dition, and poor then with some exceptions ; the river itself, besides being 
snow-fed half the summer perhaps, is frequently polluted by gold-mining 
works, and has a very shingly bottom. It has plenty of the coarser food, 
as the whitebait; but its water comes from a cold region, and flows away 
from the sun. I can recollect very well in Scotland I have found the 
same rule; the best trout were those I caught in streams flowing over 
trap and old red sandstone; the worst in the shingly, slaty, mountain 
streams. 
Generally our low-lying streams and those freest from snow-water are 
the ones where trout are soonest in edible condition. Still, even for these, 
the fishing season begins too soon and ends too late, being from October 1st 
to March 81st. It is true that, in some years, owing to a mild winter, the 
trout may be fairly fat by middle of October, but not as a rule ; while, by 
the middle of March they are black, lazy, and gravid. This season, 1883, 
they are in poor condition, even in November. The fishing season should 
be shortened by six weeks. 
. The food of our trout may properly here claim a few remarks in connec- 
tion with growth. Since 1878, I have examined the contents of the 
stomachs of 62 trout. Frequently I found those of very fat trout quite 
empty, saving a quantity of white sticky mucus. This was more notice- 
able in Shag River and Wakatipu fish than in those from other waters. 
Three or four Wakatipu fish, which were very fat, and almost the only ones 
I have looked at, had nothing in their stomachs. So, also, with a large 
trout taken from the Leith, and another from the mouth of that stream in 
Otago Harbour during the spawning season. But among the other trout 
I found flies and their larve in great abundance, alge very common, beetles, 
grasshoppers, crickets, shell-fish, crayfish, bullies or bullheads, native 
minnows, whitebait, small stones, and grass. I have never found any 
earthworms ; neither in large male trout, even when lean and poor, a single 
case of a small trout having been swallowed. In those streams furthest 
removed from tidal estuaries, and consequently from a supply of whitebait, 
