340 THE PRACTICAL FISHERMAN. 



creatures will surmount obstacles. On the Colne I am informed they 

 have been seen surmounting mill dams by means of an iron chain 

 hanging over into the water slantwise. Couch says twenty feet have 

 been known to be passed over. He also says : " A curious instance of 

 the means which young eels will have recourse to in order to accomplish 

 their migrations is annually proved in the neighbourhood of Bristol. 

 Near that city there is a large pond, immediately joining which is a 

 stream ; on the bank between these two waters a large tree grows, the 

 branches of which hang into the pond ; by means of these branches the 

 young eels climb up into the tree, and from thence let themselves drop 

 into the stream below. A friend of mine who was a casual witness of 

 this circumstance informed me that the tree appeared to be quite alive 

 with these little animals. The rapid and unsteady motion of the boughs 

 did not seem to impede their progress." After this the sight of an 

 oyster walking up-stairs, so usually considered an impossibility, may be 

 looked for. 



From the migratory movement upwards of the young eels, eelets, or 

 elvers to the migratory and much disputed movements of their adult 

 relations is but a short transition. I have, therefore, purposed discussing 

 this latter subject with a view of again settling discordant opinions. 



The personal habits of this fish are mysterious. Its nocturnal, equi- 

 noctial wanderings, its quiescence during day and insidious meanderings 

 during the darkness of even winter nights, make difficult the observations 

 necessary for a complete knowledge of its habits. The annual migration 

 of the eel as the land floods rise and winter approaches is of course well 

 known, and by many is described as a realisation of a natural instinct 

 to seek the salt water for spawning purposes. In any case, however, the 

 following seems to be the nearest realization of the truth. 



According to Dr. Boots, of Kingston, who contributed some shrewd 

 and truthful remarks on the subject to Jesse's " Gleanings in Natural 

 History," most writers agree that in the case of adults there are two 

 migrations each year. One downward, as before indicated, for the 

 purpose of spawning, if possible, in brackish water ; and the other a 

 return for the reverse purpose to the salmon of obtaining food and fitting 

 itself in fresh water for the consequent spawning of the autumn. Mr. 

 Pennell says : " Whether the process of spawning requires such a change 

 or simply because it is agreeable to these eelets is not quite certain." 

 Now, I will offer one remark on this. The reader may be sure that 

 amongst fishes that which is agreeable to them and becomes a habit, 

 eventually becomes a necessity. There is no mental range which will allow 

 of the conquering by an effort of will of circumstances which appeal only 

 to the sensory powers, as there is in human beings. It is, therefore, absurd 



