144 ITS HABITS AND PEREGRINATIONS. 



the A. acutirostris of Yarrell. Unfortunately, however, 

 I did not bring specimens to England, for their proper 

 identification. 



The eel feeds chiefly during the night. In the day-time 

 he lies embedded in the mud, where he forms for himself 

 a lair, from which there are several outlets. The whole 

 winter, from the end of November to the beginning of 

 April, they hibernate in the mud, not unfrequently, it is 

 said, at a depth of three feet, and apparently in groups. 

 I judge so, from seeing fishermen, after discovering their 

 whereabouts, impale them one after the other with a long 

 and slender spear, called Al-gel, almost as fast as the 

 weapon can be got to the bottom. 



Naturalists do not agree as to some of the habits of the 

 eel. Ekstrom's remarks on this subject, are deserving of 

 attention. 



"It has been the belief," he tells us, " that during the 

 spring, when its wanderings commence, it betakes itself 

 to rivers and streams, the course of which it follows to 

 the sea. But this is a palpable mistake. It is true that 

 the eel, at that season, seeks rivers, but arrived there it 

 goes just as often against as with the current. That the 

 eel should only follow the stream is probably affirmed, 

 because in all large eel-fisheries, the opening of the trap 

 faces the stream, by which the fish allows itself to be 

 borne forward in the same manner as the bream, by 

 storms. In this vicinity the eel is often captured in traps, 

 whose openings are placed with the current. I believe 

 that the eel seeks rivers early in the spring, because after 

 its long winter sleep, it there finds a greater abundance 

 of food; and that as the spawning season approaches, it 



