At,the annual meeting of Jthe Southland Acclimatisation Society, held on Monday last, the President, Mr Wood; stated that about 2700 trout, in various stages, had been deposited in the rivers of the district; during • the year. He stated further, that the Society had introduced a nember of hares during tjie year, which had been sefc at liberty'near Halfwayißnsh, where, they, were said to be fast increasing. ... Fifty California^ quail and a number of starlmgs had also been added to . the importations—the .former being located in the neighbourhood of Makarewa Bush. The balance-sheet showed the assets on 31st March to be £143 6s lid, and'the liabilities ' £56 12s lOd. The President thought iiai both the General and Provincial Govern ments should be strongly impressed with the desirability of assisting the Society to obtain a further importation of salmon ova. In the course of a conversation on the recent ship ment, it was questioned if it made any dif ference whether the ova were brought out in a steamer or a sailing vessel. Mr How ard (the Curator) stated that some time ago he had brought salmon ova from Hob'art Town in a sailing vessel, while Mr Huddle stoue, acting for the' Nelson Society, had brought some from Melbourne in a steamer, and the ova fo conveyed yielded as good a return—about 80 per cent.—as that brought byMrHoward. ..-■■■

In the London Times of February 26th ap pears the announcement that "the Queen has been pleased to confer the honour of knighthood upon Major John Larkins Cheese Richardson, Speaker of the Legislative Coun cil of New Zealand."

The second Saturday evening concert, tinder the auspices of the Good Templars' Committee, passed off very successfully at the Oddfellows' Hall on Saturday night Bro. Armstrong, M.P.C., presided, these concerts are likely to retain their popularity if the Committee continue to prepare excel lent programmes; and we are informed that theie is no lack of competent persons who ha*e volunteered their assistance. -■'<

The Rainford-Vivian combination company gave a performance at the Queen's Theatre i on Saturday evening. The audience was far from: numerous, bat was very appreciative. ■ Mr Rainford sang, in .fine.style " The Colleen :j Bawn," from the play'of that name, and Mrs Sykes played a pianoforte solo—" The Last Rose of Summer" which was very well re ceived. ■ ■'■.
