246 ANIMAL SKETCHES. CHAP. xvn. 



Our dear old sailor friend, William Williams, was not a 

 little excited, and belaboured the great beast soundly, so 

 soon as we had got him into the boat. He called him 

 " Joey," for what reason I know not ; and jerked out 

 between the hearty thwacks, " I guess you're out of your 

 latitude now, Joey," " I'll give you a headache, Joey," and 

 other such remarks. 



Satisfied with our sport, we pulled back across the 

 dancing waves to the pretty little rock-girt cove of 

 Lulworth. And as we plied the oars, Williams related a 

 legend of conger-fishing at Weymouth. Two young 

 fellows went out in a boat, on fishing keenly intent. 

 They remained out longer than they had proposed ; and 

 the coastguardsmen, looking out through their telescope, 

 saw the boat bobbing up and down, but to all appear- 

 ances empty. After a while, thinking that something was 

 amiss, they pulled out across the bay. And when they 

 reached the spot they found the two young fellows in the 

 water, hanging over the stern, and a forty-pound conger 

 in possession of the boat. The great eel had wriggled and 

 snapped and made himself so uncommonly unpleasant, that 

 the youths had jumped overboard and left him in posses- 

 sion. During the recital of this legend Williams gave our 

 conger an occasional dig or thwack, lest he too should 

 turn restive and endeavour to evict us also from the boat. 



And certainly a large conger is a formidable fellow. 

 They are said to reach a length of ten feet and a weight 

 of over a hundred pounds. The wide mouth has several 

 rows of pointed close-set teeth, which form a cruel and 

 powerful dental apparatus. The bite is much dreaded by 

 sailors ; when the jaws once close they are not ready to 

 leave go, and the rapid rotary motion which the eel gives 

 to its body causes a lacerated and even a dangerous wound. 

 The openings of the gill-chambers are relatively larger 



