184 Transactions.—Zooloyy. 
The Catfish, (Pimelodes cattus) was also obtained in 1877, by Mr. T. 
Russell, from America. In all 140 living fish arrived, and these were put 
in St. John’s Lake. This fish is esteemed good eating, and may be caught 
by hook and line. 
Besides other shipments of brown trout and Californian salmon, this 
society in 1871 got a direct consignment of salmon ova from England, by 
way of New York; but this was altogether a sad failure. The acclimatizing 
of salmon and of trout does not seem as yet to be a success in the province 
of Auckland. The temperature of its rivers and lakes is, I believe, not too 
high for Californian salmon (these can live in water at 83°), but I fear it is 
so for the brown trout. Unless in high mountain ranges, where the streams 
flow in a southerly direction, and other conditions are favourable to a mean 
temperature of 48° or 50° Fahr., it is doubtful if trout will succeed at all; 
or, if they do, will they thrive and propagate? I ought to mention, how- 
ever, that when fishing in the Deep Stream some years ago I found its 
temperature up to 62° Fahr. A gentleman just arrived in Dunedin from 
Victoria has assured me that the trout in that colony are fat, sluggish, and 
give no sport when caught with rod and line. The secretary of the Auck- 
land society, Mr. Cheeseman, F.L.S., in a letter which I received in May 
last, thus summarizes the results of their principal venture in fish rearing :— 
‘With regard to trout, you will find in the report for the last year a state- 
ment of all our introductions; but I am sorry to say that we have no 
evidence to prove that trout exist in any of our streams at the present time. 
With respect to the Californian salmon, repeated statements have been 
made during the last year of specimens having been caught in the Thames, 
Waikato, and their tributaries, and it is probable that there is some founda- 
tion of truth in them, although I have not myself seen a young salmon.” 
Hawke's Bay Society. 
This society, which has been at work for a number of years, has 
evinced considerable spirit and perseverance in the introduction and estab- 
lishment of brown trout and Californian salmon, and with a fair amount 
of success. I cannot illustrate this better than by giving here the chief 
incidents of fish culture in Napier, as communicated to me by the secre 
tary, Mr. J. N. Williams, of Hastings, on May 17th, 1880. He says:— 
“In reply to yours of the 20th April, I am sorry to say I cannot give you 
much information about fish-breeding in this district, as so little has been 
done, and there are no annual reports. I cannot find any record of im- 
portations previous to 1876, and it was not until the following year that any 
attempt was made to form regular fish-breeding ponds. This has been done 
by making artificial ponds, similar to those in the Christchurch gardens. 
These ponds are fed from two artesian wells, giving together a water supply 
of about fifty or sixty gallons a minute. 
