It may be asked, who is the man who obtrudes his opinions on the colony unasked, and what can be his motives? As I am not aware that I know a single person in Tasmania, I cannot refer to anyone there; but I happen to know one or two gentlemen in Melbourne, and if you will take the trouble to refer there to Messrs. W. and B. Hick, or to W. Bailey, the corn merchant, they will be able to satisfy all inquiries. If it be asked what I know of the habits of fish, and Salmon in particular, I beg to refer the inquirers to Loudon's "Magazine of Natural History" for 1834 (if there is a copy of that work in the colony), and they will there find two papers (signed "T.G.," Clitheroe) which will show that I then knew all that has since been proved by the elaborate experiments made at Perth by Ramsbottom, and moreover I taught Ramsbottom himself the art of propagating fish artificially. I want no compensation: the honour of being the first man who succeeded in introducing these valuable fish into the colonies would be a sufficient reward to me. But with Birch the case is different: he is a working man, and L500 would be a fortune to him. On the other hand, he could not afford to come to Hobart Town from England at his own expense, as he has not the means. Would the colony, if other attempts failed, be willing to pay Birch's passage out and home if he failed also, and would he receive the L500 if he succeeded? By success I mean that he would either bring live fish or ova that would hatch into live fish. Either of these objects being accomplished, he ought, in my opinion, to receive the reward; for although he would attempt both, he would probably fail in the former. Should he attempt this under my advice, I should not only send Salmon and Salmon Trout and their ova, but the common brown Trout and its ova also, for the reason previously given in this letter; and although I am by no means sanguine of success, on account of the temperature, the experiment is too important to be abandoned for a mere theoretical objection which may be erroneous. I think New Zealand offers far greater chances of success. It is not only further removed from the tropics, but, if I am rightly informed, the streams are more abundant and constant than those of Australia and Tasmania--in fact, I believe it is as well watered as this country; and if the authorities there are as much alive to the importance of introducing these fish into their rivers, I would undertake to do this with much greater confidence of ultimate success than I should have if I undertook to introduce them into Tasmania or the sister colonies.