BANK NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2083, 25 January 1894, Page 34

BANK NOTES.

In acknowledgment of his services to the Otago Acclimatisation Society, of which body he was treasurer for 13 years, Mr A. O. Begg was on Monday presented by the council of the society with a fishing rod and fishing basket. Mr Begg in the course of his reply alluded to the success which had attended the society's efforts in the introduction of trout, and mentioned that sportsmen at Home, to whom he had, during his recent visit to Great Britain, shown photographs of some of the larger trout captured in the colony, had (pressed their utter astonishment at the size to which the fish grew in the colony. At Home, Mr Begg remarked, a fish weighing l£lb to 21b was considered a very big trout ; whereas nothing was thought in the colony of catching fish up to 71b in weight.

The Waimea Plains Review says : — "Trout fishing- seems to be quite as fascinating as ever it was, although the season is well advanced and the streams, ia many cases, well thinned. Messrs J. P. Matheson and Edward Smith, of Riversdale, have started on a fishing tour, and intend whipping all the streams in their way between Gore and Catlins. It will be surprising indeed if such experienced fishermen do not establish somewhat of a record on such a trip. On their return no doubt we shall have something to say of their trip. Mr W. H. Paterson, of Wendonside, has had another good day's sport in the Mataura. Inthe courseof one hour he caught, with the cricket, seven magnificent fish averaging 31b in weight, and what is most extraordinary, within a space of four chains."

Mr: William Rankin, of Cromwell, has recently been doing good execution among the trout,, having caught 40 odd in the Upper Clutha during the past week. None of the fish scaled more than 31b, the larger fish being difficult to get. The "North British"— a local manufacture, first suggested by Mr Jameson, of Quartz Reef Point, and afterwards adopted and improved upon by Mr Rankin — was the minnow used. Mr Rankin claims that good baskets follow its use.

Referring to the impression which was entertained, when the " gentle art " was introduced into the colony, that trout could only be caught by ground bait, Mr A. O. Begg said at the meeting of the council of the Acclimatisation Society on Monday that he thought he was the first person in New Zealand who caught trout with the fly. He demonstrated that trout could be so caught on the morning of the Ist December 1874, when, with a number of others, he was up in the small hours on the Water of Leith.

OTAGO ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY.

The monthly meeting of the Council of tho Otago Acclimatisation Society was held on Monday afternoon, and attended by Messrs J. P. Maitlaud (chairman), A. C. Begg, P. F/ Stoddart, F. Deans (manager), D. Russell (secretary), A. C. Stronach, G. P. Clifford, J. Edgar, R. Chisholm, John Roberts, and G. M. Thomson.

PRESENTATION TO MR BEOG. The Chairman said that a pleasant duty fell to nis lot— that of asking Mr Begg to accept a fishing rod and fishing basket as some indication of the society's sense and appreciation of the valuable services he had rendered to the society for many years.— (Hear, hear.) There was no need for him to dilate upon Mr Begg's services, for from the very first Mr Begg had been a firm, consistent friend of the society and had been a constant worker in all branches of the society's operations, and had never during those many years spared time or trouble on its behalf. Not only had Mr Begg been for many years on the council, but besides that he had held the responsible position of treasurer for 13 yearß, ending last year ; and very valuable had those service&been. The speaker had always looked on Mr Begg as the sheet-anchor of the society * he had exercised a wise and careful control of its finances, and it was, he (the chairman) thought, in great measure due to Mr Begg's services that the society was in its present sound and healthy condition. On Mr Begg's resignation

of the position of treasurer last year, it suggested itself to the council that it would be in accordance with the feelings of the general body of the members that they should recognise in a tangible form their appreciation of Mr Begg's services ; and he hoped, in presenting Mr Begg with a rod, which had been procured from Europe and was of the best and latest construction, that the presentation had taken a form that would be entirely agreeable to him. The' speaker hoped that Mr Begg would long be able to wield the rod which the council presented to him, and that it would be his useful and agreeable companion in many a happy stroll along the banks of our pleasant streams. Upon a silver band on the rod the following was inscribed : "Presented to Mr A. C. Begg by the Otago Acclimatisation Society, in appreciation of his many years' valuable services."

Mr Begg said he was really very pleased to receive this acknowledgment of the services it had been in his power to render to the society during many years, and he was much obliged to Mr Maitland for the kindly remarks he had made in connection with it. All that he had done was to take care of the funds for 13 years, and prior to that he was secretary for some years. During that time probably some £13,000 of the society's money passed through his hands in one shape and another, and no doubt a good deal of work was attached to his duties; but he had always looked on it as a labour of love, and anything he had done for the society was really for the benefit of the public, for whom they had striven to stock the rivers and lakes||witn trout and salmon. They had succeeded wonderfully with trout, and he hoped it was not absolutely impossible that they would yet succeed with salmon. Tho salmon thrived to a certain point, and ho thought it might yet bo discovered why they did not thrivo beyond that point. This year the society had turned oub a number of young salmon in a tributary of the Waiau, which had all the appearance of being a good salmon river. As the members were aware, he had recently been on a trip Home, and he had done what he could there to make known the capabilities of the oolony for trout fishing. They had no idea here how interested sportsmen at Home were in the subject, and when they saw photographs of some large trout which he was in a position to show — trout from 151b to 201b — they were utterly surprised and confounded at the size the fish grew to in the colony, and they could scarcely believe there were such fish.

The Chairman : They thought it very like a whale ?— (Laughter.) Mi? Begg : At Home, as they all knew, a fish" of l£lb to 21b was considered a very big trout, whereas they did not think anything in the colony of catching fish of 51b, 61b, or 71b, but when they got up to 101b or 121b it was perhaps worth while recording in the newspapers. lie had no doubt that year after year an increasing number of tourists would be attracted to the colony by the trout fishing, and thaVeven from a monetary point of view, the fishing offered in the streams would become a great asset. As to the other work of the society, they all knew how much they had been hindered in introducing game by the invasion of rabbits. For some time they were successful in introducing pheasants and partridges, and he thought that one season was opened for shooting partridges. At that time there were a few coveys of fine partridges in the Tuapeka and Tokomairiro districts, but the birds were afterwards decimated by the poisoned grain which was used to check the increase of the rabbits. Another consequence of the rabbit invasion was that people took to protecting hawks, and the native hawk was about the most deadly enemy they could have to imported game such as pheasants and partridges. When the hawks were allowed to increase without any attempt being made to destroy them, the imported game had very little chance with them. They were in fact so numerous now that he did not think that any imported game that lived out of the bush had any chance at all of survival; so that really, while they were reminded that their work should not altogether consist of pisciculture, it was difficult to see how, with the obstructions to success that existed, they could introduce imported game. Lapwings, however, were birds which, he thought, might be imported. They were insectivorous, and they were also in a sense game birds. They were very numerous at Home, and he thought they would do no harm if they were introduced here. They would furnish a certain amount of sport, and he did not think it would be difficult to introduce them. Snipes were migratory birds, and he did not know whether, if introduced, they would stay. He did not know of any other birds at Home which the society could introduce, but he had noticed great flocks of swallows at Hobart, which were very like the English swallows and lived in the same way, and it had struck him that, as the great drawback to the introduction of swallows was the distance of the colony from England and the difficulty of feeding the birds, if a number were caught at Hobart and shipped over to the Bluff the introduction of them was quite practicable. He thought the matter was worth considering. He would not detain them longer, but he thanked the members for their kindly feelings towards him, as evidenced by the beautiful rod they had presented to him. — (Applause.) In reply to the chairman, Mr Bego said he took Home with him a' number of photographs of etags' heads from the Morven Hills and Tapanui, and gave them to Mr Ewen, who had taken a keen interest in the introduction of deer into Otago. He might mention that Mr Ewen had paid something like £30 out of his own pocket in connection with the lobster experimtnf, and was always willing to render all assistance to the society in London. ~. *£3 manager's report. The manager's monthly report was in the following terms : —

I beg to report that we are still pushing on with the distribution of the fry, there being now some 415,000 in all distributed to date, consisting of salmon 18,000 (10,000 from our stock n"3h and 8000 from the Kaikoura shipment) ; Loch Leven trout, 34,000; Scotch burn trout, 19,000; American brook trout, 15,000 ; and brown trout, 329,000. The salmon were placed in a small tributary of the Orawia,' which empties into tho Waiau, and is about 10 miles from Otautau. This creek has evidently plenty of food and shelter for young fish. About 400 of the young salmon were retained for the purpose of supplementing our stock of salmon. There will be a surplus of a few thousand brook trout, which I would recommend should be placed in some of the more sluggish parts of the Pomahaka, Waipahi, Waiwera, or tho Leith. I also expect to have a few Scotch burn trout to spare. The rivers in this locality are getting low again for want of rain— the only exception being the Poinahaka, which is now in flood, but will soon be fishable again, as it is receding fast. Some good baskets have been made in this river recently. The pheasants are in good condition, but, as I expected, little good will be done with them this year, as I have got only three eggs from them, and it is doubtful whether they will be any good. In our spare time we are effecting repairs to the ponds and races. I regret to say trout are being caught in nets at the mouths of some of the rivers. While Ranger Morris had occasion to be at the mouth of one of our trout streams he came upon some fishermen, using nets, and having a number of trout in their possession. The fish were mostly

small, some being under regulation size. Under the circumstances, I think it is advisable to take proceedings against the persons in question. I wish, also, to refer to the recent action on the part of the Government in altering the netting regulations at the mouths of three streams, two-of which are within our district, and two being good angling streams— namely, the Waihemo and the Kakanui. This having been done without consulting the societies interested. I would, therefore, recommend that this society, in conjunction with the Waitaki Society, take steps to have this Order-in-Council cancelled.. As the law stands at present, no nets, other than an angler's landing net are allowed to be used in any river or stream, or within half-a-mile of the mouth of any such stream where salmon or trout have been placed. The society does not wish to carry out this act to the letter, and prevent settlers from netting indigenous fish in a hanajliU manner. They havo hitherto looked upon netting at the mouths of rivers with rather a lenient eye, so long as they confined their operations to native fish, and did not interfere with the salmonidro. . But if this wholesale slaughter of trout by netting the mouths of the rivers is to be carried on, it 1b possible that more atringent measures will have to be adopted. Those who are in the habit of using nets as indicated stand very much in their own light by slaughtering the trout in this manner.

The report was adopted. THE KAKANDI, WAIHEMO, AND PLEASANT RIVERS. The Secretary of the Waitaki and Waimate Acclimatisation Society wrote enclosing a dopy of a letter sent to the Colonial Seoretary re amended regulations for trout, perch, and tench fishing in the Kakanui, Waihemo, and Pleasant rivers, as per Order-in-Council in the New Zealand Gazette of December 21, 1891.— The letter was received.

DEER SITOOTINO.

The shooting season for red deer at Morven Hills waff fixed from the Ist of April to the end of May ; license fee, £3 for four stags. For fallow deer at the Blue Mountains the shooting season was fixed from March 15 to the end of April; license fee, £2 for three stags.

LOBSTERS AND PRAWNS.

Mr 6. P. Clifford reported as follows : —

Having obtained permission from tho Harbour Board to fish at the mole, so as to ascertain, if possible, the success of the lobsters, I placed the matter in the hands of Messrs Kenton and Noble, fishermen of the Port. The trap I constructed I handed to them. It acts well, up to the present crayfish have been caught, but no iobsters. On December 20 the Manapouri brought 6doz prawns, which I liberated about a mile below the dock at the Port. With respect to those turned out at St. Clair last November tho bathkeepei* tells mo' that when the baths were emptied some of the prawns were found inside the baths, and they were quite healthy. The report was received. THE LATE MR MACKENZIE. The following resolution was recorded on tho minutes :— " The council desire to place on record their sincere and deep regret at the loss the society has sustained through the death of the Mr J. O. Mackenzie, one of their members, and the high appreciation of the services rendered by Mr Mackenzie to the society ; and that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Mrs Mackenzie."