6 LECTURE I. 



these ponds and tanks are dried up, and you 

 would suppose that the fish would also be dried 

 up with them. But this is not the case. The 

 fish have the power of penetrating deeper and 

 deeper into the mud as it gradually dries, till 

 they find a sufficient moisture to keep them alive 

 till the periodical rains come some months after- 

 wards, when they find their way back again 

 into the water. In the meantime, their retreat 

 is occasionally disturbed by the natives, who dig 

 down and find them generally at a depth of two 

 feet. The soil is clay, into which they have the 

 power of burying themselves. In some of the 

 sandy plains of the East Indies there are large 

 but shallow ponds, or rather hollows, which are 

 filled in the rainy season, but in hot weather 

 are perfectly dry. As they become so, great 

 numbers of small fish may be seen dead on 

 the sandy surface; but on the recurrence of 

 heavy rains these hollows are again stocked 

 with fish. 



Now, Dr. Buist, a learned and observant na- 

 turalist, gives us many instances of fish having 

 fallen from the clouds. He tells us that, on 

 the 19th February, 1830, at noon, a heavy fall 

 of fish occurred at Nokuthatty factory, and that 



