NATURAL HISTORY. 109 



" Oh, we shall be very glad to hear of him." 



"Listen, then. There is a kind of eel, 



which when it is touched will give a very 



hard blow, just like an electric shock, to the 



person who touches it." 



" Is there any spark. Uncle Philip ?" 

 " No, boys ; there is no spark, but the blow 

 is tremendous. I remember reading of one 

 of these fish which was caught in a net, and 

 a foolish sailor would take it up, though he 

 was told it would hurt him. The fish shocked 

 him so violently that he fell down in a fit, 

 and it was a long time before he came to his 

 senses ; and his story was, that the moment 

 he touched the fish, ' the cold ran swiftly up 

 his arm into his body, and pierced him to the 

 heart.' The fish has this power to defend 

 itself, and to kill other fish for food." 



" But, Uncle Philip, how do they ever man- 

 age to catch them alive 7 I should think they 

 would be shocked to death." 



" I will tell you. A very sensible traveller 

 and learned man* gives an account of the 

 manner in which they catch them, by a way 

 called, by the South American Indians, ' fish- 

 ing with horses.' " 



* M, Humboldt. 

 K 



