iqS Kershaw, Mi§yatioji of Eels in Victoria. [^^^i^eb^^'' 



A few months after I saw an eel-fare — the young ones making 

 their wav back again. They were from 3 to 4 inches in length, 

 and about the thickness of a lead pencil. It was amusing to 

 watch them working their way up a small fall through the 

 water, and at intervals clinging to the rocks." 



Again, on 12th May, 1905, Mr. J. R. Henty. of Pakenham, 

 says : — " Every dam or waterhole about this district contains 

 eels. \Mierever sunk, the eels seem to hnd them out in a short 

 time. Clearing out a hole last week, the men got 24 large and 

 about 50 small ones. The general impression about here is 

 that the eels travel across country on dewy nights, when the 

 grass is very wet. . . . Some years ago, when driving one 

 clear, de\\y night, I came across an eel on the road. It was some 

 distance from water, very lively, and evidently was travelling. 

 I had a personal experience of eels travelling overland in the 

 same district about three years ago. A man employed on the 

 farm where I was staying reported having just killed a snake 

 in the paddock. It was a bright moonlight night, following 

 a verv showery day. On going to the paddock to examine the 

 supposed snake, I found the very much battered remains of 

 an eel about 18 inches long. It had evidently left a small 

 creek running through the paddock, and was travelling uphill 

 in the direction of a dam in an adjoining paddock." 



Mr. James H. Young, of Meredith, wTiting on 26th August, 

 1908, states that the young eels appear in great numbers at 

 the faUs on the Moorabool River. He says : — " We often go 

 there (to the falls) to view the migration of the young eels, 

 which takes place about January. They have to climb up 

 about S feet of rock to get from the pool at the foot to the one 

 above, and when I say that the water in the bottom pool is a 

 seething mass of young eels I do not exaggerate." 



On 19th November, 1909, Mr. James Evans, of Cudgee, near 

 \Varrnambool, wrote stating that the " elvers " were in great 

 numbers in the Hopkins River. In response to my request to 

 send to the Museum as many as possible alive, I received a 

 couple of hundred specimens, ranging from about 4 to 10 inches 

 in length. Very shortly afterwards Mr. J. A. Leach happened 

 to be in the same locality, and kindly sent me a few more, 

 together with half a dozen lampreys. All these specimens were 

 kept alive for some time, and a number exhibited in the 

 museum, where they excited considerable interest among the 

 visitors. 



Frequent opportunities were afforded to watch their method 

 of climbing vertical surfaces. Every now and then one would, 

 by a sudden, quick twist of its tail, propel itself up the side of 

 the vessel to about half its length out of the water. Here it 

 would remain quite motionless for a short time, adhering to 



