SPOTTED GUNNEL. 27*7 



and thither ; kindle your enthusiasm. " We must 

 have that! What was it? It certainly disappeared 

 under this stone/' " Well ; lift it up and see." 

 " Yes, there it scuttles away. Oh dear ! 'tis gone 

 under another stone." " Up with this too. Now 

 then, be quick, or you 11 certainly lose him." " There 

 he goes again." By this time, however, we have had 

 a pretty fair glimpse, at least, of our prey, that is to 

 be. It is a slender serpent-like creature, mottled 

 with shades of warm brown, and handsomely marked 

 with regular square spots of deep black all down the 

 long back. Is it a fish ? or what ? Yes, surely : it 

 is the Spotted Gunnel, one of the Goby family of 

 spinous-finned fishes, rejoicing in the aliases of Butter- 

 fish, from its sliminess, and of Swordick, from its 

 blade-like form ; and variously called by Ichthyolo- 

 gists, Blennius gunnellus, Murcenoides guttata, and 

 Gunnellus vulgaris, which altogether make a by no 

 means bad catalogue for a little fish to choose from, 

 when he has occasion to sign his name. 



As yet, however, we have only seen him, and that 

 but momentarily : we want to possess him. This is 

 a not very easy achievement, so nimble and evasive 

 is he. He has learned also by this time that he is 

 " wanted," and makes no secret of his preference for 

 liberty. " I'd rather not !" is expressed in every slap 

 of that little tail-fin, in every undulation of that snaky 

 form. The channels between the stones communicate 

 with one another, and the fish seems to have an intui- 

 tive and instant perception in what direction the most 



