AUSTRALIAN FISHES iii 



water's edge, like that of its namesake at 

 Richmond. 



" Let us," says Henry Kingsley, in " Geoffrey 

 Hamlyn," " breakfast in Scotland, and lunch in 

 Australia," and I heartily agree with him. 

 What could be nicer than the fresh salmon en 

 Mayonnaise with cool salad, cold teal and quail, 

 a superb rock melon half hidden by green figs, 

 luscious grapes, big cherries, and a frosted jug of 

 delectable claret-cup with morsels of ice bobbing 

 about the surface ; and — on the sideboard — 

 sundry bottles bearing the familiar name of Bass 

 — a perfect repast on a warm day ! 



Six miles off, at Redlands, were the fish-ponds, 

 and thither we drove in a buggy, between tall 

 English hedges, not of hawthorn, but of sweet- 

 briar, growing most luxuriantly, hop-fields, and 

 orchards. 



We alighted and saw the salmon and trout-fry 

 in their earliest stage, fresh from the ova — their 

 eyes like pin-heads — lying quiescent at the bottom 

 of their troughs, looking for all the world like 

 barley-sugar drops. Then in a succession of 

 ponds were the youngsters in various stages of 

 development, until, finally, we saw them in a 

 pool close to the river, mature enough to be 

 turned out or transported elsewhere. 



