THE CLIMBING PERCH. 



559 



mostly among the seaweed, where it finds abundance of the smaller 

 Crustacea and molluscs. 



The extraordinary fish called, from its habits, the Climbing Perch 

 is a native of Asia, and remarkable for its apparent disregard of cer- 

 tain natural laws. 



This singular creature has long been celebrated for its powers of vol- 

 untarily leaving the failing streams, ascending the banks, and proceed- 

 ing over dry land toward some spot where its unerring instinct warns 

 it that water is yet to be found. 



Several species, of which the Anahas scandens has been chosen as the 

 best example, possess this singular property of walking over dry land, 

 so that the old proverb of a fish out of water is in these cases quite in- 

 applicable. Several instances of this remarkable propensity have been 



The Climbing Perch {Anahas scandem). 



collected by Sir J. Emerson Tennent, and have been inserted in his 

 valuable work on the natural history of Ceylon. The following ac- 

 count is written by Mr. Morris, the government agent in Trinco- 

 malee : 



" I was lately on duty inspecting the bund of a large tank at Nade- 

 cadua, which being out of repair, the remaining water was confined in 

 a small hollow in the otherwise dry bed. Whilst there heavy rains 

 came on, and as we stood on the high ground we observed a pelican on 

 the margin of the shallow pool gorging himself; our people went to- 

 ward him, and raised a cry of * Fish ! fish !' We hurried down and 

 found numbers of fish struggling upward through the grass in the rills 

 formed by the trickling of the rain. There was scarcely water to cover 

 them, but nevertheless they made rapid progress up the bank, on which 

 our followers collected about two baskets of them at a distance of about 



