BREYDON IN LEISURELY AUTUMN 171 



known creatures floating over the flood. The tide ripples 

 round the boat, and long phosphorescent lines trickle away 

 beyond the stakes. Shore-crabs come up kicking and fight- 

 ing over the bait and fall into the boat, making strange 

 rasping noises as they creep round the sides ; flotsam comes 

 upstream from the town broken baskets and such-like 

 twirling oddly in the stream ; you just catch sight of their 

 blacker outlines, and conjure up queer thoughts of straying 

 sea monsters. More than once a floating corpse has silently 

 gone by with ghastly upturned face, sightlessly staring at the 

 lone fisher. But one can get used to these things, and none 

 of these move the stolid fisherman ; they are part of his 

 ordinary experiences. Early next morning, ready for a 

 simple breakfast, he may be seen quietly paddling down- 

 stream solaced by his pipe wondering at his luck when the 

 " pailing time " comes silent, self-reliant, satisfied perhaps. 

 As you watch him steadily rowing by, you look upon him as 

 a strange, lone fellow, part and parcel of the wild lone life of 

 Breydon ! 



ON THE EEL 



Much has been written on the eel, and only in recent years 

 has its life-history become fairly well known, and but very 

 recently have its spawning grounds been discovered. Brey- 

 doners still adhere to the old belief that it produces its young 

 alive, and nothing will disabuse their minds of this belief. 

 The old ideas of reproduction from horsehairs and other 

 equally idle notions do not, however, find believers among 

 them, nor will they accept the fact of its spawning. It is 

 utterly useless to argue with them. Nor can you persuade 

 them out of their belief in there being several different 

 species of eels ; they still talk of silver-bellies, grigs, brotts, 

 glotts, and one or two others. Eel-fry are occasionally 

 observed ascending the rivers from the sea ; but the conditions 

 on Breydon are not favourable to studying these juvenile 

 travellers. 



Eels are extremely cleanly in their habits ; and I am not 

 much in love with Ingoldsby's Lady Jane, whose husband, 

 Sir Thomas, was found drowned in the family pond, and 



