NATAL’S EARLY TROUT 235 
consulted Sir James Maitland. Another ten 
thousand trout ova were most kindly sent. 
Complete failure had to be recorded this time. 
But the determined Yorkshireman does not 
accept as final a preliminary set-back. In his 
lexicon there is no such word as “fail.” Mr. 
Parker induced the Natal Government to take 
an interest in the possibilities of trout acclimatiza- 
tion, and in 1889 they madea grant of £500 in 
this direction. A committee was appointed, and 
a site for the official hatchery was selected on a 
farm between Balgowan and Lidgetton. The 
hatchery box and filters, copied from the designs 
in Sir James Maitland’s “‘ History of Howietoun,” 
were erected under Mr. Parker’s superintendence. 
The first ova under the Government regime arrived 
in 1890, and between then and 1893 a number of 
trout were reared and distributed in various Natal 
rivers. Not satisfied, however, that the venture 
justified further outlay, the Natal Government 
stopped their grant in 1893. But Mr, Parker 
did not abandon hope, and in 1899 a cheering 
discovery was made. In some of the rivers, in 
which distributions had been placed between 1890 
and 1893, trout were thriving ! 
The number (9098, to be exact) of young 
trout distributed in Natal rivers between 1890 
and 1893 formed the basis of trout acclimatization 
in Natal. More distributions were subsequently 
made, but in point of fact the observed results of 
those 9098 young trout induced the Natal 
Government, even though they had temporarily 
