78 MODE OF CATCHING THE 



horses from gaining the bank. The eels, confounded by the 

 hubbub and splashing of the horses, defend themselves by the 

 reiterated discharge of their electric batteries. 



For a long time they seem victorious over the horses and 

 mules ; everywhere we see the latter, stunned with the fre- 

 quency and force of the electric shocks, disappearing beneath 

 the water. Some of the horses recover themselves, and, despite 

 the active vigilance of the Indians, gain the bank; overcome 

 by fatigue, and their limbs paralyzed by the power of the 

 electric commotions, they lay outstretched upon the earth. 



How I wished that a clever painter could have seized the 

 moment when the scene was at its greatest animation. The 

 groups of Indians surrounding the pools, — the horses, with 

 mane erect, and eyes of fright and pain, struggling to 

 escape from the storm which had surprised them ; — those 

 yellow livid eels, like great aquatic serpents, swimming upon 

 the surface of the water, and pursuing their enemy ; — all these 

 objects presented, in truth, a most picturesque ensemble. I 

 remembered the superb painting which represents a horse 

 entering a cavern and scared at the sight of a lion ! The ex- 

 pression of terror was not stronger than we witnessed in this 

 unequal conflict. 



In less than five minutes, two horses were already drowned. 

 The eel, being more than five feet in length, glides beneath 

 the body of the horse or mule ; it then gives a discharge from 

 the whole length of its electric organ. It attacks at the same 

 time the heart, the digestive viscera, and above all the plexus 

 of the gastric nerves. One cannot feel astonished, then, that 

 the effect produced by the fish upon a great quadruped much 

 exceeds that produced on man, which it only touches by one 

 of the extremities. I doubt, however, that the Gymnoti kill 

 the horses immediately; I rather imagine that the latter, 

 stunned by the electric shocks which they receive in rapid 

 succession, fall into a profound lethargy. Deprived of all 

 sensibility, they disappear beneath the water, the other horses 

 and mules pass over their bodies, and a few minutes suffice 

 to make them perish. 



After this commencement, I began to fear that this conflict 

 would terminate very tragically. I did not doubt but that 

 I should in a little time see all the mules drowned. We pay, 

 however, only eight francs for each, if the master of it is 

 known. But the Indians assured us that the fishing would 

 soon be over, and that it was only the first assault of the 

 gymnoti that was formidable. In fact, whether it is that 

 the galvanic electricity accumulates during a state of rest, or 



