Artuur.—On Diseased Trout in Lake Wakatipu. 199 
fungus among them, eventuating occasionally in the death of very large 
ones. It was only recently, however, that I was so fortunate as to 
see these trout and to observe this fungus on them. One morning in June 
of this year I took a walk round the shore, past the mouth of the small 
Town Creek already referred to. The water from this stream enters the bay 
at its north-east corner exactly, and in almost direct alignment with shoal 
water frequented by the trout, consequently the influence of the creek water 
is noticeable for thirty or forty yards along the shore. Here within a few 
yards of the mouth of the stream I saw several large trout quietly resting, 
but the great body of them was stretched along from this point for a distance 
of about a hundred and fifty yards, in three shoals or “ schools,” containing 
more than a hundred fish each, and distant from the water’s edge as far as 
the belt of weeds grew. In weight I estimated them from 8 lbs. up to near 
201bs. They all lay with their heads towards the creek mouth, except 
when one or two took a leisurely turn round and resumed their former . 
position again, or when others evidently excited by some influence threw 
themselves wildly into the air, falling heavily, or splashed along the surface. 
They did not seem to care much for the presence of a human spectator, 
and in this their habits differ from what obtains in rivers or streams 
usually. Presently I was surprised to observe a trout of about 6 lbs. 
in weight, swimming within a rod of me parallel to the shore. As it showed 
no alarm I moved along with it, and then discovered that it was all covered 
with fungus. Concluding that it would probably soon die from its un- 
natural movements, I endeavoured to secure it for examination, but 
although I passed the crook of my stick easily over its tail, yet it resented 
the effort I made to draw it ashore, and swam off into deep water. Aban- 
doning all hope of seeing this fish again, I examined as carefully as I could 
the other fish in the shoals, when I perceived easily, as the water makes the 
white spots very plain to the eye, that at least 25 per cent. of them had 
marks of fungus on their bodies. On the larger trout a patch or two of 
dirty white was seen on the head generally, and a tuft hanging out of the 
side of the mouth; while in breathing they could not close their jaws, and 
showed very little motion in them at all. Some of the smaller ones were 
worse, their bodies and fins being covered with spots or patches. The most 
of these trout were dark in colour, while one or two I occasionally noticed 
were light-coloured, but whether these were diseased or not I could not make 
out. So clear was the water, and so tame and subdued were the trout, that 
standing as I did on the shingle, I could plainly distinguish the sexes from 
one another in the larger individuals. I then walked along the beach to- 
wards the reef at the point of the peninsula, but saw no more trout till I 
reached that place. There, however, I soon saw a number of them, from 
