APODAL MALACOPTERYGII. 173 



the shore. The Eels, stunned and confused by the 

 noise of the horses, defended themselves by the 

 repeated discharge of their electric batteries. For a 

 long time they seemed likely to gain the victory over 

 the horses and mules ; these were seen in every 

 direction, stunned by the frequency and force of the 

 electric shocks, to disappear under the water. Some 

 horses, however, rose again, and, in spite of the 

 active vigilance of the Indians, gained the shore, 

 exhausted with fatigue ; and, their limbs being be- 

 numbed with the electric commotions, they stretched 

 themselves at full length upon the ground. 



" I could have wished that a skilful painter had 

 had the opportunity of seizing the moment when 

 the scene was most animated. The groups of In- 

 dians surrounding the basin, the horses with their 

 manes bristling, terror and anguish depicted in their 

 eyes, trying to escape the storm which surprises 

 them, the yellowish and livid eels, which, like 

 huge aquatic serpents, are swimming on the sur- 

 face of the water, and pursuing their enemy ; all 

 these objects presented, without doubt, the most pic- 

 turesque assemblage imaginable. 



" In less than five minutes, two horses were al- 

 ready drowned. The Eel, more than five feet long, 

 glides under the belly of the horse ; it then makes 

 a discharge from the entire extent of its electric 

 organ. * * * Deprived of all sensibility, they dis- 

 appear under the water ; the other horses and mules 

 pass over the bodies, and they perish in a few mi- 

 nutes. I was afraid that the sport might termi- 



