THE CALIFORNIAN SALMON. 
149 
attention that could he devised, and after having, as I 
thought, mastered all the difficulties attending the transit 
of these fish, I had the sickening feeling that I could do 
nothing to prevent the loss of possibly the whole of the 
lot, and that after all the trouble I had given to so many 
people, I should have put them to this inconvenience 
without any good result. As the night wore on I observed 
a little improvement however, and those that remained 
alive, showed plainly that they had recovered from what- 
ever had sickened them. I have not been able to account 
satisfactorily for this loss, but think it may have been 
caused by feeding the fry immediately before starting, to 
prevent the necessity of doing so in the night, and thereby 
spoiling the water ; and the fish, from their increased size, 
owing to their rapid growth, probably required more space 
in the cans than I had given them. The motion of the 
waggon immediately after their being fed, and the vibration 
of the train may have sickened them. It is somewhat 
curious however, that out of over twenty lots of fry, only 
the two going to Q-ippsland should have suffered any 
serious loss, and that it should have occurred between 
Burrumbeet and Melbourne in both cases. 
On arriving at Melbourne, Mr. Le Souef was waiting 
with Messrs. Eobertson and Wagner’s express waggon, 
and a spring van (carrying two boxes of ice), to convey the 
fish to Oakleigh railway station. An express train was 
waiting there on our arrival, and soon we were on our 
way at a good rate of speed. On arriving at Buneep, 
Messrs. Fishbourne and Mortons’s engine was attached 
to the van containing the fish, and we sped on through the 
forest in the darkness, 
Mr. Le Souef was desirous of going through to the 
Snowy, but owing to the roads being bad, I thought it 
better not to have too large a party. Mr. O’Brien, of 
