MIGRATION OF EELS. 231 



the waters from the land, at this season, 

 become warmer than those of the sea. Mr. 

 J. Couch (Lin. Trans. T. xiv. p. 70.) says, 

 thatthe little eels, according to his observ- 

 ation, are produced within reach of the tide, 

 and climb round falls to reach fresh water 

 from the sea. I have sometimes seen them, 

 in spring, swimming in immense shoals in the 

 Atlantic, in Mount Bay, making their way to 

 the mouths of small brooks and rivers. When 

 the cold water from the autumnal floods begins 

 to swell the rivers, this fish tries to return to 

 the sea; but numbers of the smaller ones hide 

 themselves during the winter in the mud, and 

 many of. them form, as it were, masses to- 

 gether. Various authors have recorded the 

 migration of eels in a singular way such as 

 Dr. Plot, who, in his History of Staffordshire, 

 says, that they pass in the night, across 

 meadows, from one pond to another: and Mr. 

 Arderon (in Trans. Royal Soc.) gives a dis- 

 tinct account of small eels rising up the flood- 

 gates and posts of the water- works of the city 

 of Norwich ; and they made their way to the 

 water above, though the boards were smooth 



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