EELS AND FLOUNDEKS. 161 



which cover the earth in May ; others from the water alone ; 

 others, and this is the most curious of all, that they gene- 

 rated from stray pieces of horsehair 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 question, 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 different 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. These 

 two sorts are commonly called " browett eels " on the Trent. 

 Last year I and a friend caught two eels down at Carlton 

 about two pounds each. They were the silver eels, and they 

 were very marked and distinct species, as I have described 

 above. The non-migratory or yellow-bellied eels are also 

 divided into two sorts, the nose of the one being very much 

 sharper than the other. I have caught some of these yellow- 

 bellied eels with a mouth like a frog ; they are, however, 

 not so big, nor anything like so good eating as the silver- 

 bellied ones. Trent eels will sometimes reach a very great 

 weight four, five, or six pounds being frequently taken in 

 the net. The two largest eels I ever saw taken from the 



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