EELS AND FLOUNDERS. 137 



the breeding-grounds were. Years ago, ay, and even up to 

 the present time, old and deep-rooted notions about the 

 breeding of this fish are entertained in various districts ; 

 some supposing they were born of the mud ; others from 

 particles scraped off the bodies of large eels when they 

 rubbed themselves against stones; others from the putrid 

 flesh of dead animals thrown in the water ; others that they 

 are bred from the dews which cover the earth in May; 

 others from the water alone ; others, and this is the most 

 curious of all, that they generated from stray pieces of horse- 

 hair that were thrown, or found their way into the water. I 

 believe it has, however, been proved lately that they produce 

 their young from ova or eggs the same as other fish, and 

 that they deposit their spawn in the sea, that is, as far as 

 migratory eels are concerned. Non-migratory eels, of course, 

 cannot get down to the sea, and so they deposit their spawn 

 under stones, or among the sand and mud at the bottom of 

 ponds or rivers, but I will not commit myself on this ques- 

 tion, leaving it for abler pens than mine. Very old anglers 

 here say that the silver-bellied or migratory eels come into 

 the Trent from the sea with the swallows (I don't mean that 

 the swallows come from the bottom of the sea and travel 

 alongside with the eels, but that they both arrive about the 

 same time) and disappear from the river when the swallows 

 go away. I think they are not far wrong. Other old 

 anglers say that the silver eels come into the river with the 

 first new moon in May. There are, I believe, four difi'erent 

 sorts of eels in the Trent — two that migrate and two that 

 do not. The silver eels that migrate are, if you examine 

 them carefully, two distinct species ; the one sort has a sharp 

 round nose, and is of a bright silvery colour on the belly, 

 and a very pretty dark green on the back ; the other has a 

 broader, flatter nose, and the belly is tinged with gold, as also 

 are his sides ; the back is darker than the other sort also. 



