104 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE NATURAL 



But in the habits of these little creatures, there are inexhaustible 

 materials for closer observation. The angler well knows that the in- 

 habitants of the waters present equal varieties ; that they appear and depar 

 in their appointed seasons, and have each a distinct character, which he 

 finds it necessary to study. 



*' It is a curious circumstance," says Dr. Hastings, "that though the salmon 

 ascend many other tributaries of the Severn, and are frequently caught in the 

 Teme, yet neither that fish, nor the shad, lamprey, nor lampern, ever attempt to 

 enter the Avon at Tewkesbury, which joins the Severn at that place. There are 

 certainly various impediments to the passage in mills and weirs, but such obstacles 

 are in other places surmounted by salmon. It is, however, stated by the fishermen, 

 that the salmon manifest the utmost aversion to the Avon water, and if forced 

 into it by them, when deposited in the trunks of their boats, they turn round to 

 escape, and soon die if they are not relieved. It seems probable that some un- 

 pleasant vegetable particles are held in solution by the waters of the Avon, which, 

 notwithstanding its universal praises by the poets, is in effect little better than a 

 winding stagnant pool, and offers no advantages to the fish, who prefer a quick 

 flowing stream with a gravelly bed, and dislike the muddy bottom of the Avon. 



*' In the month of April the shores of the Severn are annually darkened with 

 innumerable quantities of elvers, which are seen fringing the sides of the river with 

 a black ascending line, which appears in constant motion. The elvers, in their 

 progi'ess from the ocean, continue visible for many weeks, and precede the migra- 

 tion of the shads. These elvers were formerly considered to be the young of the 

 conger eel, Anguilla conger, but Dr. Fleming suggests in his"' History of British 

 Animals,' what has indeed been since fully confirmed, that they are the fry of the 

 common eel, A. vulgaris. It is well known that the latter spawns in the sea, 

 and great numbers migrate to the coast in the dark and stormy autumnal nights 

 for this purpose. The young ones appear as elvers in the following spring, and 

 proceed in myriads up the mouths of rivers to journey to the fresh-water lakes and 

 marshes inhabited by their parents. When the elvers appear in the river they are 

 taken in great quantities with sieves of hair cloth, or even with a common basket, 

 and after being scoured and boiled are offered for sale. They are either fried in 

 cakes, or stewed, and are accounted very delicious. 



Some of the gigantic tenants of the great deep, occasionally wander into the 

 Severn. November 1st, 1819, a pike-headed whale, BaJeenoptera boops, was left by 

 the receding of the tide within ten miles of Gloucester. It was sixty feet in 

 length. In the summer of 1813, a large sturgeon, Accipenser sturio, was caught in 

 the Severn at Worcester, on the side of Pitchcroft.* Daniel, in his ** Rural 

 Sports," states, that ' In the Severn, near Worcester, a man bathing, was struck, 

 and actually received his death wound from a sword fish, Xiphias gladius. The fish 

 was caught immediately afterwards, so that the fact was ascertained beyond a 

 doubt.' These monsters are found of the length of fifteen feet, and the snout, or 

 sword, two or three feet more." 



To those young persons who desire to become well acquainted with 

 these and other particulars of a like kind, we must recommend not 

 reading only, but diligent personal observation. ITiey might with much 

 advantage commence a series of such observations, beginning with the 

 simplest : putting down in writing, for instance, the names of the birds 

 seen or heard by them during their walks, with the date of such walks ; 

 and, in case of meeting with birds of which the names were unknown to 

 them, writing as accurate a description as they are able of the form and 

 colour of such birds, and of the localities in which they were observed, 

 and taking the first opportunity of consulting some good book on 

 ornithology in the library of the nearest naturalist ; or, if they are so 

 fortunate as to have a Natural History Society in the county, of examin- 



* " Several sturgeons are recorded in the annals of Tewkesbury, as having been taken in 

 the Severn at that place ; and in 1829 a large specimen was caught there and landed in the 

 Bushlcy meadows, in this county ; the lord of the manor, J. E. Dowdeswell, Esq. having 

 waived his riglit to it, the fishermen cleared upwards of ten pounds by exliibiting it, and 

 disposing of the flesli, 8cc. in small portions to the curious. Tliis sturgeon was seven feet 

 in length, two feet ten inches in girth, and weighed one hundred and twenty pounds." 



