188 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK 



ejection, as is the case with other oviparous fishes. They 

 spawn in salt or brackish water, and the vernal migration 

 to fresh- water streams commences at an early period of their 

 existence. The autumnal journey towards the sea begins 

 in September in this latitude. 



It would appear without reflection that it is strange that 

 there are no Eels in the Mississippi and its thousands of 

 miles of tributaries, at least I have never seen one there ; 

 but if we look at the immense distance upward and down- 

 ward, and the time it would occupy, it would seem that 

 instinct or some wise law of Providence annuls the rule 

 which obtains in the tidal streams of the Atlantic States. 



Although a prejudice exists against Eels, on account of 

 their reptilian form, they are excellent eating. Sometimes, 

 when taken in a muddy creek or mill-pond, they are purified 

 by putting them in a box with holes bored in it, in a spring 

 branch, when they rid themselves of any strong taste they 

 may have acquired in their former home. 



