58 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



flocks and herds. I there noted very striking contrasts, such as 

 tree ferns and orchids powdered over with snow, Nectariniidce, or 

 Sun-hirds, — the Old-World representative of the Humming-bird, 

 — flitting round the blossoms, when I stood watching them ankle- 

 deep in snow ; Baboons were crying from their snow-clad ledges ; 

 the vleys, or small lakes at the foot of the mountains, had ice on 

 them ; and yet this same snow-clad area, only a few years ago, — 

 when the white man appeared first on the scene, — was the haunt 

 of the Eland, Elephant, Hippopotamus, and other large mammals 

 associated in our minds with tropical heat and " Afric's sunny 

 fountains." 



I do not suppose that the temperature of the rivers in Natal, 

 especially in their higher reaches, can be inimical to the breeding 

 of Trout, and though, so far, there is no absolute certainty that 

 the Trout already turned out have reproduced their species in 

 Natal streams, yet there is abundant proof that those turned 

 out have done exceedingly well, and have grown with great 

 rapidity. 



The initial steps in the interesting attempt to introduce the 

 young of Salmon and Trout is due to an energetic and well- 

 known colonist, Mr. John C. Parker, of Tetworth, Karkloof. 

 This gentleman, in or about the year 1885, erected a hatchery 

 on his estate, and imported ova. The shipment was unsuccessful, 

 all the ova had perished. Two years later he imported more, but 

 again with results only short of absolute failure : — out of 10,000 

 ova all were dead but twenty- seven, and these produced no fry 

 strong enough to be turned oat. Disheartening as, was the 

 outcome of these two experiments, Mr. Parker never lost faith in 

 the enterprise, and with the co-operation of Mr. Cecil Yonge, 

 then a member of the Legislature, the Council when appealed to 

 made a grant of ^6500. These two gentlemen, with Col. Vaughan 

 of Mooi River, formed — and still form — the official board for the 

 carrying out of the enterprise for Salmon and Trout culture. 



The first shipment of ova under the new direction took place 

 in 1890; it consisted of common Brook-Trout, Salmo fario, and 

 Loch Leven Trout, S. levenensis ; of both kinds there were about 

 75,000 ova. The Brook-Trout proved almost a complete failure; 

 the Loch Leven ova did better: out of 75,000 eggs some 1500 

 fry were hatched out, and in quantities of 500 were put into the 

 Mooi, the Bushman's, and the Umgeni rivers. This success was 



