"SUN-SPEARING* 143 



stems there is at present an eel of great beauty and 

 volume coiled in a way which an eel alone, or per- 

 haps a tree serpent, could accomplish. Most persons, 

 I presume, will have seen the conventional repre- 

 sentation of Mercury's wand, with a snake twined 

 round it. I can recollect no better emblem of the 

 appearance of the eel in his present condition. If 

 asked what he is doing there, I must candidly own I 

 am not certain on that point. I can only answer for 

 the fact of having met him frequently in the same 

 position, and taken him off his perch with my spear. 

 If conjecture is admissible in the case, I would be 

 inclined to say that he is simply feeding on small 

 water-shells and insects that adhere to the under 

 surface of the leaves of these plants ; and also perhaps 

 on a gelatinous member of the algse family found 

 attached to these and other acquatic vegetables, and 

 which the rustic botanists call "eel-bite." I must, 

 however, leave the subject an open question for future 

 investigation, and request the young spearsman, who 

 lias now had sufficient elementary instruction for the 

 purpose, to place, by a careful stroke, the object of 

 discussion amongst the goods and chattels of our 

 cargo. Diver will be happy to lend a tooth in disen- 

 gaging him from the spear. 



E. X. M. 



