OF THE SALMONID^. 83 



gratory fish would choose. About the end 

 of 1870 the colonists allowed an opportunity 

 to slip — down the throat of his Excellency 

 the Governor, alas ! — of establishing once 

 for all the presence of migratory salmonids 

 in their rivers. Several were caught in a 

 fixed net near the junction of the Plenty 

 and Derwent, one of which weighed 7 lbs., 

 and, like its brethren, was pronounced to 

 be as fine in appearance and taste as any 

 Tay salmon. No means appear to have 

 been taken to ascertain its species, whether 

 salmon or salmon-trout, and the intense 

 expectation with which proofs were looked 

 for by all interested in acclimatisation was 

 disappointed by this means of disposing 

 of the question. Obviously, the specimen 

 should have been sent to England for the 

 best scientific opinion. The soundness of 

 Mr. Francis Francis' judgment is beyond 

 dispute, and his opinion was given in un- 

 equivocal terms in a letter to the Field, 

 Feb. 21, 1874 : " I have never wavered in 

 the belief that the fish seen leaping in the 

 Derwent were actual salmon. Mr. Youl's 



