THE ACCLIMATISATION GARDENS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXXII, Issue 10482, 20 October 1894, Page 4

THE ACCLIMATISATION GARDENS.

There are not many places around Christchurch more pleasant, on a hot day, than the

gardens of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society. Eye and oar alike are charmed by the sight and sound of plashing, running waters, for a score of fish-ponds, joined by sinuous creeks or races, are filled by the streams from a dozen constantly flowing Th^abhadauc^of^^pjaake^

abundance of verdure; hence grass and shrub tun riot. They are, indeed, top exuberant, and from a causa to be mentioned hereafter, their riotousness is little re* strained. There is, however, more to interest the attentive visitor than tree, grass and stream. In the waters of the ponds and creeks are' the thousands of fish which form the stock-in-trade of the Society. The ponds, varying in length from a chain to two chains, contain the stock fish, trout, used for breeding. Here are half a dozen varieties brown. Loch Levan, salmon trout, Scotch burn trout, American brook trout or char, and the lively and voracious American rainbow trout. These fish vary from one year to six years old. The creeks are the present habitation of this year’s fry, and well-nigh a hundred thousand tiny fish dart to and fro in their clear waters, and luxuriate upon the food, mostly sheep’s liver, raw and finely grated, supplied to them by the curator. Nearly sixty thousand of these are brown trout, which it is intended to retain, for the most part till next year, when they will ho sold or otherwise distributed. The fry of the other varieties are all ready for immediate distribution. Five hundred of last year’s fish are kept in one of the creeks* A thousand of the same age were, by the way, liberated in the lower Avon a couple of days ago. A good deal of fish distribution has been done this season. The Avon has received, besides the above-mentioned thousand, five thousand brown trout, about twelve thousand of the Loch Leven variety, and a hundred and fifty of the older fish from the ponds. Five thousand brown trout have been turned out in- the Heathcote. Two thousand char have gone into the Irwell, and two thousand more into the Oust. A month ago the proprietor of Rookwood Station, North Canterbury, took a thousand char and a thousand salmon trout for his private ponds. The Society’s ponds and races, though for obvious reasons fenced ofi from the public, are always open to the inspection of any visitor who will ask the curator, Mr Starkiss, for permission to enter the enclosure. The Acclimatisation Grounds furnish all that Christchurch has in the way of zoological gardens. Within the enclosures of barbed-wire and wire-netting in the front part of the grounds are a couple of llamas, a pair of small scrub kangaroos from Tasmania—the female with a little “joey” in her pouch—a wallaby, a couple of the quaint Australian cranes known as native companions, and some English wild ducks. Not a very ambitious collection, but one which seems to afford considerable entertainment to juvenile visitors.

Probably tbo tiny zoological collection would be

AN APPEAL.

larger, and certainly tbe riotous exuberance of the vegetation would be more restrained, had the Acclimatisation Society a longer purse. The increasing shortness of that indispensable adjunct has created uneasiness in the minds of the Council of the Society, which recently issued a circular appealing for support to old members and others who take an interest in acclimatisation. The following quotation from this circular will show the present position of the Society, and the grounds on which it bases its appeal: “ The present number of subscribers is very limited, and unless help is afforded by the public it will be almost impossible for the ; Society to continue its operations, and should this take place the labours of the last thirty years will be virtually lost—what little game is left will speedily disappear, and the well-stocked public streams will be depleted of their fish, and one of the best piscicultural establishments which the colony possesses will quickly decay. It may bo mentioned that, irrespective of other fish, over 100,000 brown trout have been annually hatched out and apportioned among various public streams of the district. The cost of keeping up the gardens and fish hatchery, and the annual salaries of the curator and a ranger, are now more than can be met, the fishing and snooting licenses as well as subscriptions being practically absorbed in current expenses,, leaving nothing available for any further extension of the Society’s operations. The Society has. it will be admitted, done good work in the past—in the successful acclimatisation of trout, perch, Californian salmon and hares. It also successfully introduced feathered game, such as pheasants, partridges, prairie chicken, quail and other birds, which were thoroughly established in the province until the use of poison to keep down rabbits and small birds unfortunately nullified the efforts of the Society in this direction. The successful acclimatisation of the humble beo, duo solely to the efforts of this Society, has undoubtedly proved of great commercial value to this province and to tbe colony at large.” What the Council desires is an increase in the number of subscribing members, for more members mean not only more money, but also a deeper and more widely-spread interest in tbe work of tbe Society, a work which, the Council is confident, can be extended in various useful, practical ways, provided the financial position of the Society bo strengthened Mr H. A. Bruce, of 145, Hereford Street, is tbe present secretary, and to him may be seat the replies to the appeal, an appeal which should certainly not be made in vain.

MORE ABOUT COREA.

The war in the Far East has been quite a godsend to every European traveller who has anything to say

about the scene of the struggle. Two or three dozen boohs of more or less merit dealing with the belligerents or their “ bone of contention” have been published in London alone during the past few months, and there are probably as many more now in course of preparation. The great majority of these volumes tell us nothing that is new, and very little that is even interesting; but a sketch of “Korea, and the Sacred White Mountain,” just issued by Captain Cavendish, appears to contain a great deal that is well worth reading. The work is simply an amplification of a diary kept during a journey through the peninsula in 1891, and conveys a very admirable idea of the condition of the country and the peculiarities of its people. Although Corea is, to use the expression of Captain Cayendish, “ run by Japanese and Chinese,” who compete eagerly for the lion’s share in the direction of her affairs, and thus form a sort of protection against Russian aggression, the King—-the Son of the Ten Thousand Islands, the Son of Heaven, the Father of his People—is supposed to vivify and enlighten every inhabitant of his capital, while the persona and property of his subjects are at his absolute disposal. He, however, is but a puppet in the hands of his strong-minded Queen aad his Prime Minister, one of her near relatives j and he is

Adviser” and his "Military Adviser,* both of them Americana, who have intro*, duced foreign instructors of varioufj nationalities to train the army. Captain-j Cavendish eaters into some amusing ticulare with regard to military and gives curious instances of the King'd extravagance and of the corruption that] exists in every department of State affairs., He describes Corean boys and men os good* looking—even handsome —but the womenand girls as hideous. It should be re-: numbered, however, that he saw only tho. lower classes of the "fair sex,” who havej to labour from early morning to late at] night in the fields, the gardens, and] the stables, while the male peasants*! except during the four months of seedtime and harvest, do nothing bat gossip] and smoke. A Corean’a chief sources of] expense lie in his clothes and pipe. He has] a great distaste for personal ablation, bat: he insists upon having bis clothes scrupa-] lonely clean and beautifully glazed. Until: ho is engaged to be married, a man, whatever his age, wears his hair in a and may not cover his head 5 bat as soon; as his betrothal takes place, which often] happens in childhood, the boy’s head id partly shaven, and his hair twisted into aj knot on the top of it, and he may then wear] one of the many kinds of masculine hatsj' ThoCoreans are evidently a carious people,] but scarcely worth the fuss, one wonldj think, that is now being inade ovet thep privilege of protecting them. f