NEW ZEALAND TROUT AT TEE WESTMINSTER AQUARIUM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10751, 12 May 1898, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND TROUT AT TEE WESTMINSTER AQUARIUM.

' great INTEREST EXCITED. : V [FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] '"'J : London, April 9. Thosh 22 trout caught in the Waitaki River which were brought Home by the Otar.ima, arrived in perfect condition and were landed without mishap. -• The freezing process,appears to have been carried out with entire success, and the 22 big fish could be seen embedded in two huge blocks of , ice as transparent as cubes of glass. . Dr. do Lautour, who has taken such a warm and active interest in the matter, was übiquitous in looking after the safety of tho fish and their accommodation at the Westminster Aquarium. Their arrival at the present time was peculiarly opportune, inasmuch as a great Fisheries Exhibition is now proceeding at that, popular place of amusement. The New. Zealand trout were placed in a very advantageous position, where, they could be seen from all points, and were surmounted by a large square banner bearing in huge letters the intimation of their place of origin. They proved a great attraction to the majority of visitors, especially those who were enthusiasts in the piscatorial art. These literally swarm in England; almost every English man and boy is a fisherman, even on the humblest scale, when he gets the chance. 1 ', ' So tliis great collection of live fish of various ages in big tanks, of stuffed fish of portentous sizes, of fishing tackle, fishing boats, and nil the paraphernalia of the craft, draws its numbers of enthusiastic visitors daily, and to these the New Zealand fish has proved a potent magnet of attraction. With the view of enhancing tile public interest in these New Zealand imports, Dr. de Lautour arranged that so soon as it became evident that tho protection afforded by their environment of ice was diminishing below the point of safety, they should be distributed among editors of sporting papers or other leading daily journals, and that a few should form tho principal item in a menu of somo quiet little luncheons in the Aquarium. Restaurant. At one of these agreeable little functions I had the pleasure of being present. The trout, to which our attention was invited, was a splendid sixpounder, beautifully cooked and served with all the perfection for which the Aquarium cook is famous. One of tho guests was a member of the greatest fishing tackle manufacturing firm in the world, Messrs, Hardy Brothers, of Alnwick, Northumberland, and of Pall Mall, who lias probably sampled as many (freshwater fish as most men living. He was enthusiastic in his praise of the excellence of the Now Zealand fish, which complied with every requirement as to merit in regard to trout. Personally, it seemed to me equal to the best that ouo can taste in tho Mother Country. At our table, in fact, there was quite a unanimous and cordial admiration, and I understand that this was the caso generally. It had been arranged that the two largest of tho fish should be handed over to Mr. Hardy in order that they might lie stuffed and displayed in his well-known window in Pall Mall. Accordingly, later in the afternoon, when it had become noticeable that tho noses and tails of the trout were beginning to protrude too suggestively beyond their ioy envelope, the word was given to break up the blocks and separate the fish. This was done in the presence of a largo crowd of keenly interested spectators, and the biggest fish were duly weighed and measured, tho largest of all being 28Jin in length, 18Jin in girth, and weighing nearly 151b. The striking difference between the silvery fish which had visited the sea, and the brown, strongly spotted ones which had not, was very noticeable when they were clear of the ice. Tho difference seoms somewhat more marked in tins case of New Zealand trout than in thoso of tho Homo breed. The distribution then took place, and tho most interesting exhibit disappeared. . A good deal of space has boon devoted to the trout by various London papers. The Standard had an article on the subject more than half a column in length, and altogether the experiment lias attracted much attention and interest.

A largo amount of correspondence has seen appearing in the Standard during; tlio last few days with referenco to New Zealand trout fishing, some writers assorting that Now Zealand trout could not bo caught with tho fly, while this is as stoutly controverted hy other.-;. Those whoso letters appear to-day are Dr. de T.nlour. Mr. H. W. Rogoreon, and Dr. Arthur Oottow.