THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 51 



generations. The water is salter than the sea, and in a wet 

 season large numbers of eels are washed into it from neighbouring 

 waterholes, and die there. How did these eels get to the holes 

 they had just left ? 



All over the parts of the Murdeduke and Turkeith estates 

 that have tanks and dams flowing into the lake on the south- 

 west side eels are found, but farther on to the west, on the 

 Mount Side estate, no eels are found. 



Now, I think we can take it as proved that eels must either go 

 overland in some form that we do not recognize, or else they 

 must be carried as ova or young in the mud on the feet of birds. 

 Just close to the southern corner of Lake Murdeduke are a series 

 of dams, which, though dry of late years, were for years before 

 fully stocked wiih eels, and there is every indication that eels 

 bred there. Birds coming from the lake would generally make 

 to these holes, especially at night, and would then go on to other 

 holes, and, if they carry eels, might in this way distribute them to 

 various holes. I may mention that a small hole was excavated 

 near these dams, and two years later no less than four dozen 

 young eels were found in it. 



Another curious fact is that whenever a hole goes nearly dry 

 the young and half-grown eels invariably bury themselves in the 

 mud, as also do most of the large ones, but there are always a 

 few large eels which seem unable to do this. Has this anything 

 to do with the breeding question ? 



On one dam built on the end of a swamp, when the water got 

 low the eels retired as usual. The eels left in the water were 

 taken out, but every day or so a large eel seemed forced to make 

 back into the water again. While standing on the bank I saw a 

 large eel act in a singular way. It rushed across the water, seemed 

 dazed, lashed the water with its tail, and tried to swim on when 

 it got to the bank ; after a while it turned and rushed to the 

 opposite bank, then in a little while seemed to calm down, and 

 swam slowly into the centre of the water. On one occasion lime 

 was put into a hole whicli contained a great many eels, the water 

 being fairly low. After a while an eel just showed itself ; next day 

 this eel was found lying on the bank, exposed to a hot sun, 

 gazing at the water. On cleaning out that hole a few weeks later 

 large numbers of eels were found in the mud. 



On the Murdeduke estate it was decided to excavate a tank 

 on a site where there was a small hole about three feet six inches 

 in depth, which for two years had never had more than a few 

 inches of water in it, and which of course soon dried up, yet in 

 making the tank the men found numbers of eels at a deplh of 

 about six feet in solid clay, all standing straight up, with their 

 tails downward, all seemingly in good condition. 



In Queensland stockmen are in the habit of driving cattle 



