MULLETS 373 



upper layers of the stream. It is very interesting 

 to watch a troop of them struggling up the river 

 at a point where a landing-stage or flight of steps 

 projects into the stream so as to deflect the course 

 of the current and give rise to the formation of 

 back-waters. Their perseverance in contending with 

 the difficulty is very striking. Everything, of course, 

 favours their advance in the back-water beneath 

 the projecting point, but when the latter is reached 

 their trials set in in full force and without warning. 

 Some fortunate individuals, and especially some of 

 those who elect to force the passage by jumping 

 along the surface, get through at once, but others 

 only succeed after they have again and again been 

 overpowered in the swirl and swept outwards to 

 be carried down by the stream for some distance 

 ere they manage to fight their way into the back- 

 water and begin a fresh attempt. Their experiences 

 are curiously reminiscent of those of country boats 

 under like conditions. Their habit of swimming 

 so close to the surface is a source of danger to 

 them. They are taken in casting nets, and a fisher- 

 man may often be seen following a troop of them 

 along the edge of the stream, guided by their 

 projecting eyes in his endeavours to drive them 

 into a convenient place by throwing stones into 

 the water around them. 



A particularly interesting and pretty spectacle 

 may often be seen in clear ponds towards the end 



