D.—No. 2.

4

PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE INTRODUCTION

No. 5. Copy of a Letter from the Hon. Sir R. Dry to the Hon. E. W. Stafford. (B. —23.) Colonial Secretary's Office, Sir, — Tasmania, 31st January, 1868. In reply to your letter of the 3rd instant, requesting to be furnished with detailed information as to the results of the experiments which have been made in the introduction of salmon into this Colony, &c, I have now the honor to forward to you the accompanying copy of Reports of the Salmon Commissioners from 1862 to 1867 inclusive, which will be found to contain full information on the subject in question. The Chairman of the Salmon Commissioners (Dr. Officer), to whom your communication has been referred, writes, —" lam not aware of any information likely to be of practical use which they do not contain." I would, on the present occasion, take the liberty of recommending the New Zealand Government to secure the services of Mr. J. A. Voul, of Waratah House, Clapham Park, London; his well-known zeal and great experience would be invaluable. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, New Zealand. Richard Dry.

Enclosure 1 in No. 5. Report by the Tasmanian Salmon Commissioners, 1862. To His Excellency Colonel Gore Browne, C.8., Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Island of Tasmania. May it please Tour Excellency,— The Commissioners appointed by your Excellency to direct the measures to be adopted for the introduction of Salmon into the rivers of this Colony have already reported to the Government the arrival of the " Beautiful Star," and the disastrous result of their first experiment. They have now the honor to lay before your Excellency a report of their proceedings in their efforts to fulfil the important duty confided to them, from the date of their appointments to the present time. During the Parliamentary Session of 1860, the question of the introduction of salmon was referred to a Joint Committee of both Houses. In their Report, presented to both Houses, the Committee recommended that all the arrangements necessary to be made in England in furtherance of this highly important undertaking should be intrusted to the Committee of the Australian Association in London ; and before the appointment of the Commission had been issued by your Excellency, that body, acting under the authority and instructions received from the Executive Government of the Colony, had already made progress in the task they had undertaken, and had completed all their arrangements before any communication reached, or could have reached, them from the Commissioners. Aware that among the members of the Australian Association there were many gentlemen of great intelligence, intimately connected with this and the neighbouring Colonies, to all of which the enterprise was of deep interest, who would willingly give their best services to promote its success, the Commissioners cannot but regard as judicious this recommendation of the Committee. Among others to whom the Committee had looked for valuable assistance was Mr. Edward Wilson, of Melbourne, who had already distinguished himself so greatly by his zeal in the work of acclimatization. The services of this gentleman were, however, lost to the enterprise, by his early return to Victoria, and its chief direction fell into the hands of our fellow-colonist, James A. Toul, Esq. The zeal and energy displayed by Mr. Voul in the performance of this voluntary and patriotic duty deserve the highest commendation. No personal labour was spared by him to ensure the successful result of the experiment. Mr. Voul was from the first fully impressed, with the importance of embarking the ova in a vessel at once swift and roomy, and sailing direct to the port of Hobart Town. He appears, however, to have encountered much difficulty in his efforts to secure these three conditions, —essential, in the opinion of the Commissioners, to the success of the undertaking. This difficulty arose chiefly from the fact that, at the season during which the ova could be obtained, none of the regular first-class ships sailed for this Colony, and that none of the clipper vessels trading to Melbourne could be induced to incur the delay and risk involved in calling at this port. After the failure of other negotiations, however, the owners of a large and fast ship, the "Zealander," fulfilling all the necessary conditions, offered to convey the ova to Hobart Town for a sum of £750. At the same time an offer to perform this service was made by the owners of a small iron steamer, of only 120 tons, for a charge of £500, but which was to make the voyage jury-rigged, and with sails only. The Commissioners think Mr. Youl committed a fatal error of judgment in preferring this vessel to the " Zealander ;" and since they heard that the ova had been placed on board the " Beautiful Star," they have regarded the success of the enterprise as all but desperate. The charge of the experiment on board of the " Beautiful Star " was intrusted to Mr. W. Ramsbottom, a son of Mr. R. Ramsbottom, long distinguished for his skill in the artificial propagation of salmon. Mr. W. Ramsbottom has placed in the hands of the Commissioners the journal kept by him during the voyage of the " Beautiful Star," and has also furnished them with a Report on the whole experiment. Erom these sources, from personal communication with Mr. Ramsbottom, and an inspection of the vessel and the apparatus in which the ova were placed, the Commissioners have obtained a clear perception of all the causes which have led to the failure of this undertaking, and of the conditions that are necessary to a successful result on a future occasion. The character of the vessel in which the experiment was made must, without other defects, have rendered success all but impossible.