850 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



II 



and it is solely in this way that 

 every piece of water, however, or 

 wherever it may be situated, re- 

 ceives the eels that are found in it. 

 The smallest possible trickling of 

 water from any pool to the near- 

 est brook, is sufficient to enable 

 these little indefatigable animals 

 to wind their way up to the source. 

 The instinct, indeed, which im- 

 pels them upwards against ail 

 moving waters seems incessant 

 and irresistible ; it surmounts every 

 difficulty, and perseveres success- 

 fully against every obstacle, how- 

 ever imperious. During the low 

 state of streams in the early part 

 of summer, they may be found 

 at wiers, mill-dams, cascades, and 

 other elevations across the streams, 

 ascending by the margin of the 

 water perpendicular walls many 

 feet in height, where the least 

 crevice in the stone, or patch of 

 moss, affords them a hold ; 

 and they will even find their way 

 over vertical dry boards, by adroit- 

 ly employing ilieir glutinous exte- 

 rior. I have taken them in hand- 

 fuls, from patches of wet moss 

 against erect walls, completely out 

 of the water, and where the height 

 and distance to be surmounted 

 would require the persevering ef- 

 forts of many da3'S. In very small 

 pellucid brooks, adjacent to rivers 

 where they abound, they may be 

 seen wriggling up the little streams 

 in endless succession for weeks to- 

 gether. Great numbers doubtless 

 perish by ascending the temporary 

 rills produced from rain, and by 

 reaclrfng spring heads, and situa- 

 tions where the water is insufficient 

 for their growth and support ; but 

 in this, as in every other mstance, 

 pi'ovident nature has guarded 

 against all such casual expenditure, 



by the superabundance of the pro- 

 duction. 



In the large rivers communi- 

 cating with the sea, although the 

 elvers appear to advance in vast 

 bodies, I do not imagine their mi- 

 gration, either in its commence- 

 ment or progress, is made in con- 

 certed shoals ; it seeming more 

 probable that the number found 

 together is accidental and arises 

 from the continual supply sent off 

 from the quarter where they origin- 

 ate. This is confirmed in the small 

 streams, where each individual is 

 seen making its way by its own 

 solitary eflbrts. 



In summer all the large eels in 

 rivers and brooks conceal them- 

 selves during the day under large 

 stones and roots of trees, and in 

 the crevices of rocks and walls, 

 and even in earth-holes of the 

 banks ; and in these situations 

 they obtain a large proportion of 

 their food, being always on the 

 watch to seize small fish, or other 

 prey that the stream or accident 

 throws into their concealment ; 

 and I think it is much more proba- 

 ble that the eels which do not find 

 their way down to the sea, pass 

 the winter in similar situations, 

 rather than bedded in mud, or in 

 any other of the fanciful modes 

 which have been assigned them. 



Such are a few of the principal 

 facts in the natural history of the 

 common eel, a creature which 

 every where surrounds us in the 

 greatest abundance, and yet its 

 origin and final disposal are equally 

 unknown. That it never does 

 breed in fresh water seems to be a 

 fact well established ; and the pe- 

 riodical descent of the old ones to 

 the sea, and ascent of the young 

 ones from thence, strongly evince 



that 



