174 SINGULAR STRATAGEM OF EELS. 



but choose a dark, stormy night for their journey. 

 One or two flashes of hghtning will put a sudden stop 

 to their advancement, when, in other respects, they 

 are most completely arranged, and in a state of pre- 

 paration. Numbers of them often gather them- 

 selves into a very curious ball of great magni- 

 tude, and rolling down the stream in this order, 

 break through the nets, and all other obstacles which 

 impede their progress. The fishermen being aware of 

 this stratagem, seek for these balls, and, after breaking 

 them with poles, catch the eels in their nets with 

 greater facility. After the parent fish have escaped to 

 the sea, they do not return ; but the young eels ven- 

 ture back, and show surprising instances of sagacity 

 in finding the rivers, and pursuing their track. 



Your example, and that of the amiable Rachel, have 

 reconciled me to the retirement of the country. You 

 have taught me to find amusement where, fomierly, 

 my inattention overlooked those objects that now so 

 greatly interest me. Natural history, that I consir- 

 dered as the province of philosophers only, I find, 

 is suited to every capacity; and it needs only to 

 acquire the habit of observation, to find a charm in 

 every plant, and throughout all the tribes of ani- 

 mated nature. Not the minutest fly escapes me un- 

 noticed : a frog, a spider, creatures that I once held in 

 abhorrence, now afford me entertainment, and daily 



