CATCHING THE GYMNOTUS. 363 



alive, but much enfeebled, we repaired to the Cano de Bera, 

 to make our experiments in the open air, on the borders of the 

 water itself. We set off on the iQth of March for the village 

 of Rastro de Abaxo, thence we were conducted to a stream, 

 which, in the time of drought, forms a basin of muddy water, 

 surrounded by fine trees. To catch the gymnoti with nets is 

 very difficult, on account of the extreme agility of the fish, 

 which bury themselves in the mud like serpents. We would 

 not employ the barbasco, that is to say, the roots of Piscidea 

 erythrina and Jacquinia armillaris, which, when thrown into 

 the pool, intoxicate or benumb these animals. These means 

 would have enfeebled the gymnoti ; the Indians therefore told 

 us, that they would ' fish with horses. ' We found it difficult 

 to form an idea of this extraordinary manner of fishing ; but 

 we soon saw our guides return from the Savannah, which they 

 had been scouring for wild horses and mules. They brought 

 about thirty with them, which they forced to enter the pool. 



" The extraordinary noise caused by the horses' hoofs makes 

 the fish issue from the mud, and excites them to combat. 

 These yellowish and livid eels resemble large aquatic serpents, 

 swim on the surface of the water, and crowd under the bellies 

 of the horses and mules. A contest between animals of so 

 different an organization furnishes a very striking spectacle. 

 The Indians, provided with harpoons and long slender reeds, 

 surround the pool closely ; and some climb upon the trees, 

 the branches of which extend horizontally over the surface of 

 the water. By their wild cries, and the length of their reeds, 

 they prevent the horses from running away and reaching the 

 bank of the pool. The eels, stunned by the noise, defend 

 themselves by the repeated discharge of their electric batteries. 

 During a long time they seem to prove victorious. Several 

 horses sink beneath the violence of the invisible strokes which 

 they receive from all sides, in organs the most essential to life ; 

 and stunned by the force and frequency of the shocks, dis- 

 appear under the water. Others, panting, with their mane 



