192 SALMONIA. 



not more than two or two and a half inches 

 long; the second of large eels, which some- 

 times are three or four feet long, and which 

 weigh from 10 to 15, or even 20 lbs. There 

 is great reason to believe that all eels found 

 in fresh water are the results of the first 

 migration : they appear in millions in April 

 and May, and sometimes continue to rise 

 as late even as July and the beginning of 

 August. I remember this was the case in 

 Ireland, in 1823. It had been a cold back- 

 ward summer, and when I was at Bally- 

 shannon, about the end of July, the mouth 

 of the river, which had been in flood all this 

 month, under the fall, was blackened by 

 millions of little eels, about as long as the 

 finger, which were constantly urging their 

 way up the moist rocks by the side of the 

 fall. Thousands died, but their bodies re- 

 maining moist, served as the ladder for 

 others to make their way ; and I saw some 

 ascending even perpendicular stones, making 

 their road through wet moss, or adhering to 

 some eels that had died in the attempt. 

 Such is the energy of these little animals, 



