H.—l4

5

The ship's engineers, into whose charge the ova-chamber has been given, will enter in a journal the temperature of the 'twe'en decks, the chamber, the insulating-case, and the main deck, as well as that of the sea, at 8 a.m., noon, and 4 p.m. daily. I enclose copies of their instructions, and of a memorandum which they are to deliver on arrival to the officer whom you will have appointed to meet the ship. They are to receive gratuities of £10 and £5 respectively, and I have to ask that instructions may be given to your officer to pay the gratuities accordingly. Both the shipping companies have very handsomely responded to my request not to charge more than £3 per ton for the space in the " Arawa " and " Aorangi." I referred in my last letter to the saving that would be made in freight and other expenses if ova-boxes could be sent on shelves in the cool-chamber without insulating-cases. Some of the ova taken out by Sir Thomas Brady last year were at the last moment put upon rough shelves to take their chance, and turned out well. Freight being by far the greatest item in the total cost of a shipment, I wished to ascertain by careful experiment whether the method of shelves could be safely adopted in future, and I shall therefore send some of the ova by the " Aorangi " in that way. I do not think there is much danger during the voyage, but great care will have to be taken on the ship's arrival. So long as the Howietoun boxes are in an insulating-case, this case can be taken out of the ship bodily, and no harm can happen to the ova, because the temperature of the case itself can be kept at the temperature that is wanted; but boxes placed only upon shelves would, without proper precaution, be suddenly exposed to the high temperature of the air. What I would therefore ask you to do is to give orders for some planks to be ready fora few rough insulating-cases to be made on the spot, in which to put the boxes that were on shelves during their transport to the ponds, taking care to leave a good margin in which to pack pulverised ice round the boxes. The receiving hatcheries would then note with care any difference between the ova sent to them that way and ova sent to them in the regular insulating-cases taken out of the ship. " Please to give orders for the Howietoun boxes to be returned to me; but it will not be worth while sending back the insulating-cases. I should be very glad for the journals kept by the engineers and the notes by the hatcheries to be sent to me as soon as they are received. I have, &c, The Hon. the Minister of Marine, Wellington. F. D. Bell.

Salmon Ova from Forth District, Tweed Commissioners.

No. I.—lnstructions.—Salmon-ova Befbigeeator, s.s. "Abawa." The cool-chamber containing the eight Howietoun boxes with salmon is built on the starboard side of No. 2 'tween decks, adjoining the after end of the refrigerating engine-room, with a cold-air trunk leading from the ship's provision-chamber. This is done so that an even low temperature may be secured—say, not lower than 33° or higher than 35°. It is necessary that this low temperature be maintained so as to prevent the waste of store ice. It will be necessary for the attendant in charge to examine daily the ice-trays of the ova-boxes fixed in the refrigerating-case, and keep them well charged with pulverised or broken ice during the voyage. Also to fill the ice-wells encasing the ova-boxes in the same way, taking care to keep the door of the ova-chamber closed after each operation. The ice-water to be drawn off at least once a day from the well fitted with a draw-off tap, taking care to shut off the tap immediately after the water is drawn off. The time for charging the ice-trays of the ova-boxes and the wells of the case will be best determined by careful observation. It is absolutely necessary to keep the cool-chamber securely locked up, and on no account is the attendant to allow any one to interfere with his duties, or to disturb or examine any of the cases containing the ova. The temperature of the 'tween decks, outside of cool-chamber, inside of cool-chamber, and inside ol case containing ova-boxes to be taken daily at 8 a.m., noon, and 4 p.m. The temperature on deck and of sea-water should also be taken at the stated times, and all duly entered in the journal under the respective headings. This journal to be handed to the Government officials on arrival in New Zealand. Instructions relative to the Howietoun Gases containing the Ova. After taking off the lids screws not intended to be reinserted during voyage), remove sawdust and the cross-bar at the top. Lift the board and replenish ice-tray as required. Take care the boxes are so placed that the waste water, if any, from ice-melting may drip out at bottom. Ice should be kept in the ice-tray until the eggs are finally unpacked, and they should on no account be disturbed during the voyage. Thomas Johnson,

I 'acked in Box Dec. 13. Dec. 15. Deo. 17. Deo. 18. Dec. 20. Dec. 21. Dec. 22. Totals. 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 13,800 1,150 18,000 4,750 6,900 20,000 20,000 2,500 11,000 18,550 19,150 17,900 20,000 20,000 16,200 19,200 19,200 1,150 2,950 9,600 19,200 19,200 I i 14,950 18,000 4,750 8,050 ! 42,500 13,950 48,000 150,200