EEL 



393 



point of so much importance ; for until this fact was 

 made out, it is evident that any attempt to treat them 

 artificially could be no better than mere guess-work. 

 In all fishes, indeed, which are reared in ponds or 

 other artificial waters- for economical purposes, it is 

 absolutely necessary that the economy of the fishes 

 should be well understood. 



How the eels dispose of themselves after spawning 

 time, whether they ascend the rivers again during the 

 same season, or remain a season ormore in the brackish 

 water, or in the lower part of the river, in order to 

 recruit their strength, has not been ascertained ; 

 though there is some reason for thinking that they 

 do not breed every season ; and, indeed, this is, pro- 

 bably, the case with a great number of fishes, espe- 

 cially with those which are migratory in the breeding 

 season. Some of the large eels have been observed 

 ascending the currents of rivers ; but they have not 

 been so observed in any thing like such runs as on 

 their descent. This might, perhaps, be expected, at 

 least in might be so, from the analogy of other fishes. 

 In the salmon, for instance, we know very little of 

 their descent to the sea, after spawning in the inland 

 waters, though there is no doubt that, in consequence 

 of their numbers, in rivers favourable to them, many 

 must descend, notwithstanding the numbers that are 

 taken. They appear, however, to get to the sea in 

 the speediest manner possible ; and for this purpose 

 they keep the middle of the stream, and do not, per- 

 haps, come so near the surface as when they are on 

 their ascent. In ascending the estuaries and larger 

 rivers, the salmon are generally at no very great dis- 

 tance from the shores, as they have there the advan- 

 tage of the eddy water, against which they can make 

 way more rapidly than they could do against the 

 stronger current in the main channel of the river. 

 One would naturally suppose that the eels would also 

 make their ascent near the shores, to have the advan- 

 tage of the eddy, and probably this is the case with the 

 old ones, as it is known to be with the young. It is 

 not near the banks that the eels are taken in such 

 numbers while descending the streams, it is where the 

 whole of the current can be received into a net, or 

 basket, which allows the water to pass through, but 

 retains the fish. 



But though the time and manner of the eels which 

 have spawned ascending the rivers, has not yet been 

 clearly made out, the case is different with the youn 

 fry. In the larger rivers, and especially in those 

 which flow through places so rich in small particles, 

 as to have their waters generally tinged, the march 

 even of these is not seen ; but in the clear rivers they 

 have been observed, and observed in such numbers 

 as to demonstrate that the fishes spawn in the lower 

 parts of the rivers, and also that they arc exceeding!} 

 prolific. Unless when swollen by rains, the river Dee 

 which empties itself into the sea at Aberdeen, is re- 

 markable for the transparency of its waters, and per- 

 haps there is no stream of equal magnitude in the island 

 where the movements of fish can be better observed 

 At the season when the salmon are ascending, one 

 may stand on the old bridge and see them moving u) 

 the stream in a continued shoal, which continues for i 

 long time. In the same river the ascent of the young 

 eels from the sea has been described by an eye wit- 

 ness in the following terms : " I know, and it has 

 been observed by others, that in the month of June 

 yearly, immense swarms of young eels make a pro 

 gress from the lower part of the river towards the 



higher, with a quickness and unremitted assiduity that 

 are surprising. This phenomenon was remarked in 

 he river Dee, in Aberdeenshire. The eel is a fish 

 .hat seems (unlike the trout) to dislike running 

 streams, and therefore avoids that part of the river 

 where the current is strong. It had, probably, been 

 this circumstance that induced them, in the rapid Dee, 

 to direct their progress only along the edges of the 

 river close to the banks. A line followed the wind- 

 ngs of the river, being often suddenly deflected by 

 stones or other interruptions without any breach of 

 its continuity. This line having frequently caught 

 my eye, my hand was put into the water to touch the 

 line, with a view to examine what it was : the line 

 became discontinued when my hand approached ; but 

 it united again as soon as my hand was withdrawn. 

 This induced a nearer examination ; and I then per- 

 ceived, with astonishment, that this line was formed 

 by a series of small eels, moving forward with great 

 celerity. These eels did not exceed half an inch in 

 length, but were in all respects perfectly formed like 

 the common eel. The line might, perhaps, on an 

 average, consist of from twenty to thirty in breadth, 

 and the individuals being in dilferent degrees of for- 

 wardness, and close to each other, made the line uni- 

 form. The progress with which they advanced was 

 not less than four miles an hour ; and this continued 

 for eight days and nights together ; and there was no 

 apparent diminution of it when I left the place. 

 There was a similar line on the opposite side of the 

 river. The water in which they floated at the place 

 where I observed them was, in general, about two or 

 three inches deep." 



In the lower part of the Thames, though that is a 

 good eel river, the motions of the young eels upward 

 cannot be so easily observed, because of the quantity 

 of mould which is generally suspended in the water. 

 This circumstance is, however, as favourable to the 

 breeding and security of eels, as it is unfavourable to 

 the observation of them. There is one place in the 

 river where, however, they may be seen in great 

 numbers, and this is at Teddington lock. The river 

 is, generally speaking, rather low at the time when 

 they reach this obstruction on their passage outward ; 

 and they have been observed climbing up not only 

 the weir, but the wooden posts with very considerable 

 adroitness, so as to gain the water above. We 

 believe that those clirnbings are generally performed 

 during the night, and consequently, they are not 

 observed to their full extent, though when the sky is 

 overcast, considerable numbers of them make their 

 passage upward during the day ; and it is on these 

 occasions that they are seen, and seen in sufficient 

 numbers to prove the fact in this river, as well as in 

 others. 



To what height an eel can climb in making its way 

 up the rivers has not been ascertained ; but as they 

 are found much higher up than salmon, it is probable 

 that they can scramble up the rocks by the side of 

 waterfalls, which are too lofty for the leap of that active 

 fish. Indeed, there are some well-authenticated in- 

 stances of eels making their escape from ponds, either 

 where there was an overstock, or in consequence of 

 the natural instinct of getting to the brackish water, 

 by climbing trees, especially weeping-willows having 

 the points of their pendent branches in the water of 

 the pond. The eels ascend those branches pass the 

 bole of the tree, and then descend the branches on 

 the other side. If they find water at or near the 



