ON FISH. 2 1 



the rivers and ponds of South America. When 

 the Indians want to catch them, they assemble 

 and drive the wild horses of the plains, by 

 shouts and other means, into the river. The 

 electric eels then attack them : now and then a 

 horse will receive so severe a shock that he is 

 killed. Others contrive to swim across the 

 river, and then throw themselves down ex- 

 hausted on the opposite bank. The eels are 

 thus deprived of their electric power for a time, 

 and are then speared by the Indians, who feed 

 on them. There is another singular fish, which 

 is able to bring its prey within its reach by dis- 

 charging a different element than that of the 

 electric eel, and that is water. It is a small 

 fish, remarkable for its singular shape, the bril- 

 liancy of its colours, and the quickness of its 

 movements. It may be called the fly-shooter, 

 from its food being chiefly flies and other in- 

 sects, and especially those that are found on 

 aquatic plants. When it sees one of these on a 

 leaf, it blows out a drop of water with some 

 force, which knocks the fly off the leaf, and it 

 then feeds on it. I will mention another fish, 

 and an ugly one it is, which you are probably 



