It is almost inconceivable that they have perished at sea. Other species of Salmonidæ thrive in the sea and grow to a great size, periodically returning to the rivers to spawn. It has been suggested that the fish has changed its habits and that it spawns at sea, but there is not a trace of evidence in favour of such an improbable theory. It has also been suggested that the fish migrate to other shores, but if so-where?

What has been wanted all along in this work of acclimatisation of new species in New Zealand has been some sort of scientific supervision and co-operation. Every centre and society went on its own way, independent, as a rule, of every other. There never has been in the country an organised fishery department. The result has been waste of money and effort right along the line. Had experiments in fish-marking been carried out systematically from the commencement of operations, it is probable that ere this we would have been in possession of information as to our missing salmon. Until some such regular work is undertaken the subject will remain a mystery. It may not be solved even after fish-marking has been undertaken for years, but the strong probabilities are that light would be thrown on the problem. Up to the present nothing has been done to trace the fish when they go to sea.

The following extract from a letter written by Mr Youl to the Superintendent of Otago before any salmon were introduced, is not only very interesting, but it may be in part the explanation of the problem. Unfortunately I cannot find the exact date:

May I beg of you on no account to permit the Brown Trout to be introduced into the Molyneux or any of its tributaries, until you have got the salmon fairly established in them. They are the greatest enemies the Salmon can have. I can compare them to nothing, but wolves in a flock of sheep. Again and again I have warned Dr Officer, of Tasmania, of the danger of admitting these voracious fish into any stream suitable for Salmon before the Salmon are established therein. I am sorry to observe that so many of the Provinces of New Zealand have introduced these Brown Trout before they have got the salmon. Depend upon it, for every £10 spent by these Provinces in this way, they will, in those rivers where they have placed them, have to spend £100 to successfully introduce the king of fishes.

Introduction. The first attempt at the acclimatisation of the salmon in New Zealand was made by Mr A. M. Johnson, who put 600 young fish on board the 'British Empire' bound from London to Canterbury in 1864. Snails, water-lilies and weeds of various kinds were placed in the tanks; contrivances for aerating the water were provided; the tanks were provided with a frame-work case, with double cane matting, which was kept constantly wet throughout the tropics in order to keep up evaporation and lower the temperature.

In spite of all the care exercised, however, the experiment was unsuccessful.

The next attempt was made by the Provincial Government of Otago which took action in 1867, with the result that 100,000 ova were placed on board the 'Celestial Queen' in January, 1868. Most of these were from the River Tay, but some came from the Severn. The ship reached Port Chalmers on 4th May, and the 300 boxes of eggs were at once sent down to the Waiwera Ponds at Kaihiku, which had been specially prepared for them. The Waiwera is a tributary of the Clutha. In 77 of the boxes all the eggs were dead, but out of the remaining 223 boxes about 8000 healthy eggs were taken. On 20th May a flood filled the boxes with mud covering the eggs just as hatching seemed about to begin. On 28th May some began to hatch out, and in a few days, Mr Dawbin, the curator, had between 500 and 600 young fish. In his report he says:

"In about ten or twelve weeks all of the fish had made their way into the tank at the end of the shed and thence dropped into the feeding pond. It was some time before they began to show again, and although I supplied them with plenty of food I am inclined to believe that they mostly lived on the natural food in the water. It was not very long before two or three began to appear round the edge of the pond, grown wonderfully; and after a time, by regular feeding, I could collect little mobs of them at every corner of the pond. I have now fish five, six, and, I believe, one or two seven or eight inches long, and thick in proportion, which in a few months will be ready to go to sea" (this was written on 31st May, 1869), “and if they return safely it might be possible to get ova from them and hatch fish enough to stock a river well. I have only seen three dead since they went into the ponds, which, however, are so large and deep that I am not able to keep so accurate an account of them as I should like. The size and depth of the ponds, however, is advantageous in this respect, that the fish are kept supplied with abundance of natural food. The water of the Waiwera, like, I have no doubt, that of all the New Zealand rivers, seems to be admirably adapted for salmon, but the river itself I do not consider good for breeding. The bottom is rocky, and although there are said to be gravel banks high up, I should be afraid of the floods, which here occur in the winter and spring. The supply of food in the river is most abundant.”

A small lot of these ova (ten boxes) were hatched out in Mr Duncan's ponds on the Leith, just about the mill, but I can find no record of what was done with the fry. They probably escaped into the Otago Harbour1.

1 "In an article in the Field of Jan. 26, 1878, we are told that there were 500 young salmon fry in the ponds out of the 'Celestial Queen' shipment. When they were fifteen months old, and ranged from 12 to 15 in. long, the services of Mr Dawbin were dispensed with by the commissioners, they having appointed a gentleman who seems to have had some influence with the Government, and on whose land the ponds were situated, but who was totally ignorant of the treatment the

The second shipment came to Port Chalmers in April, 1869, in the 'Mindora.' (In the Southland Society's pamphlet, Acclimatisation in Southland, published in 1915, this vessel is called the 'Minerva.') The passage occupied 133 days, and the ova never hatched out. Canterbury received 700 ova, Southland 7000, while 100,000 were retained in Otago. There was some hope of them at first, for Mr Dawbin in the letter just quoted from stated that he had about 2000 good eggs on 31st May, but nothing came of them.

In 1871 the Southland Society obtained about 3000 ova from Mr Frank Buckland in furtherance of an experiment. The eggs were packed in bottles surrounded by saw-dust and presumably by ice, and were despatched by sailing ship to Melbourne; they were delayed in transit to Southland, and none hatched out.

In 1871 the Auckland Society made an attempt to introduce salmon from England via San Francisco. The experiment failed in consequence of the long detention on the Pacific Railway, and from lack of attention to the ova. The transit occupied 100 days, instead of less than 50, as was anticipated. The ova were presented by the Duke of Northumberland.

In 1873 the 'Oberon' brought 120,000 salmon ova to Port Chalmers, of which 95,000 were sent down to the Makarewa ponds, Southland, and the remaining 25,000 went to Canterbury. Between the packing of the ova and the unpacking at the Southland ponds, 114 days elapsed, and 85,000 were dead. The remainder were placed in the hatching boxes, but only 300 fry hatched out. Most of these died, and the remaining 96 were removed when one year old to a pond near the Aparima River. In April, 1875, they were about seven inches long and healthy; in June they were carried by a flood into the river.

fish would need. Mr Dawbin's offer to continue his services gratuitously for a term of six months was refused, and he was instructed to hand over his charge to the new-comer. This was too much for one who had devoted his time day and night for fifteen months to the care of the fish. The new-comer's incapacity would almost inevitably have resulted in their destruction; or, if this had not happened, he would have claimed whatever success might accrue. Impressed with the conconviction that he was doing the best thing possible in the circumstances for the colony, Mr Dawbin chose a night when a slight fresh was coming down, opened the gratings, and allowed the prisoners to escape into the river. It is not our province to defend Mr Dawbin, but we would ask the commissioners why the circumstances which led up to this are suppressed in their reports, and the colonists whether they approve of the arbitrary substitution of an inexperienced manager for one who had abundantly proved his ability and deserved public confidence? Since the above events the magnificent breeding ponds on the Waiwera have gone to ruin, as we are informed." (Arthur Nicols, Acclimatisation of the Salmonida at the Antipodes, p. 49.)

At p. 87 of the same work, Mr Nicols states: "About the middle of 1874 a salmon grilse weighing more than three pounds, was taken in the river Molyneux, no doubt the offspring of a pair of the 500 smolts liberated in that river in 1869 by Mr Dawbin."

Of those which went to Canterbury, only 38 fish were obtained. Some were kept in the ponds and appear to have been lost. With others an experiment was tried.

A large cage was made, which was anchored in the River Avon a little below Victoria Bridge; in the cage were placed on 3rd Nov. eleven of the largest salmon. They remained there sixteen days, during which time they throve well. On 19th Nov. the cage was raised and floated down to a spot in the Avon below New Brighton, where at high tide the water is brackish. The Garden Committee have three times visited the spot. On the last occasion (24th Dec.) the cage was raised and the eleven fish examined; they were in good health and had increased in size considerably. It was calculated that one of them was a foot in length.

The reports of the Society do not contain another word about this experiment, and this is characteristic of the isolated and discontinuous manner in which most of the societies work. Lack of continuity of effort has nullified many of their experiments. In 1875 the 'Timaru' brought 300,000 ova to the Bluff, after a passage of 105 days, but many of the ova had been collected 30 days before the vessel sailed. No fish hatched out. According to the report of the Otago Society, Mr Howard of the Wallacetown Ponds liberated (on their behalf?) 1400 young fish in the Aparima River, but I cannot find a definite record of this, nor is it quite clear what lot of eggs they came from.

In 1876 the 'City of Durham' brought to Melbourne 90,000 salmon ova, which were transhipped, mostly to the Bluff, a few boxes going to Canterbury. The Southland ova were placed in the hatching boxes 69 days after sailing, and about 87 days after having been taken from the parent fish. From 25,000 to 30,000 were apparently healthy, but of those it appeared that about two-thirds were not fecundated. In October about 1500 fry were liberated in the Aparima River. It is quite possible that this is the lot referred to in the preceding paragraph.

The Canterbury Society state that only 175 fry hatched out of the boxes which went to Christchurch, but in the following year they placed 181 fish in the Ashley River; and in 1878, 240 were placed in the Heathcote River. These were seen afterwards, and were from 12 to 14 inches in length. There is no record as to where these fish came from.

In 1878 the 'Chimborazo' brought 45,000 ova to Melbourne. These were transhipped and reached Invercargill on 19th March, commencing to hatch out on 4th April. Altogether about 2500 fry hatched out, of which 1700 were placed in the Aparima. Again the Otago Society report that 2500 fry were placed in the Aparima

River in 1878; the Southland figure is 1700; the one reports the total number hatched, the other the number liberated.

Regarding these shipments Mr W. Arthur, then Hon. Sec. of the Otago Society, wrote in 1880:

Mr Howard has informed me that the ova of the salmon turned out in the Aparima in 1874, 1876 and 1878, came originally from the Tweed, Tyne, Ribble, Hodder, Lune, Avon and Dart Rivers. Yet who can say from which of these rivers the ova were taken which eventually hatched at the Wallacetown ponds?

In 1881 Mr C. C. Capel of Footscray, Kent, sent out 100,000 ova to the joint order of the Otago and Marlborough Societies; but all the eggs were dead on arrival.

In 1883-84 Sir F. D. Bell, the Agent-General for New Zealand, and Sir James Maitland, the eminent pisciculturist, were working together to send out salmon ova to the colony, and a shipment, of which I cannot find particulars, was forwarded in 1884. Sir Francis writing to the Colonial Secretary on 30th October, 1885, says:

I had taken the greatest pains all through 1883 and 1884 to interest many people in this country, eminent for skill and experience in pisciculture, about sending ova to the colony on the supposition that the spasmodic experiments which had been going on for so many years were to be superseded at last by a systematic and persistent action on the part of the Government itself, extending over some seasons at any rate. The first experiment of sending out ova in a "moist-air chamber" and at a regulated temperature was made in the steamship 'Ionic' in January, 1884; and it is hardly open to doubt that this method was not only in itself a right one, but, in fact, the best that had till then been devised. Further experience, however, had shown that the first expense of that method would not have to be repeated. A shipment of trout ova privately made by Sir James Maitland had brought out most valuable information, showing how cheaply as well as safely ova could be got out under certain conditions; and when the reports came home of our shipment by the 'Ionic,' Sir James Maitland wrote to me that he had no doubt whatever of "perfect success next season, as we had now the key to the whole problem, namely, the period which ought to lapse between spawning and packing, and could insure the success of every egg we sent."

Unfortunately neither the Government of New Zealand nor those interested in the subject in the colony were informed of the exertions which Sir F. D. Bell and Sir James Maitland were making in Britain.

Meanwhile there was a good deal of dissatisfaction felt at the poor results of all the attempts hitherto made to introduce salmon, and at the request of several societies, Mr S. C. Farr, Hon. Sec. of the North Canterbury Society, went to Britain in December, 1884, and succeeded in getting 198,000 from the Tweed. Mr Farr had previously complained that not ten per cent. of the eggs hitherto received had