41 



and Thomas Christy, who have sent me specimens from the 

 Edwards Eiver, Eiverina. Several of the leading fishmongers 

 have kindly assisted me ; but even their influence has been of 

 little avail with the fishermen. 



At the Cape of Good Hope, fish forms the principal article of the 

 food of the population, and the poorer classes live almost entirely 

 on it, its price being lower than in almost all other civilised 

 countries. In Australia, on the contrary, its very high price 

 makes it an object of luxury, almost entirely reserved for the 

 tables of the wealthy. Till this day very little has been done to 

 provide Melbourne with an efficient supply of this useful com- 

 modity, and high prices making the demand very limited, the 

 fishermen have little inducement to send large quantities to the 

 market. It would be much to be desired that the Government 

 of the Colony should make some attempts towards giving to the 

 working-classes a sufficient supply of this wholesome article of 

 food. 



It was the intention of the Acclimatisation Society to publish 

 with this paper illustrations representing the different sorts of 

 fishes observed, till this day, in Victoria, and mentioned in this 

 paper ; but great difficulties have been encountered, and it has 

 been resolved to postpone to a more favourable opportunity the 

 execution of this project. It is to be hoped that these plates will 

 be published in the next Annual Report, at the same time as a 

 supplement containing notices of all the new sorts that will most 

 likely be obtained in the course of the year. 



I think it useful to give here the characters of all the families 

 of fishes found up till this day in Australia. These are extracted 

 from Dr. Gunther's work. I thought it better to compile this 

 part than to attempt to convey the same ideas in different words, 

 which could never have been done in such a concise and correct 

 way. In doing so, I follow the example of the learned zoologist, 

 Mr. Gerard Krefft. (" Industrial Progress of New South Wales, 

 1871.") 



