168 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. PART I. 



more of the Eel, but that, as it is observed he is impatient 

 of cold, so it hath been observed, that, in warm weather, 

 an Eel has been known to live five days out of the water. 



And lastly, let me tell you, that some curious searchers 

 into the natures of fish observe, that there be several 

 sorts or kinds of Eels ; as the silver Eel, and green or 

 greenish Eel, with which the river of Thames abounds, 

 and those are called Grigs ; and a blackish Eel, whose 

 head is more flat and bigger than ordinary Eels ; and also 

 an Eel whose fins are reddish, and but seldom taken in 

 this nation, and yet taken sometimes. These several 

 kind of Eels are, say some, diversely bred ; as, namely, 

 out of the corruption of the earth ; and some by dew, and 

 other ways, as I have said to you : and yet it is affirmed 

 by some for a certain, that the silver Eel is bred by gene- 

 ration, but not by spawning as other fish do ; but that her 

 brood come alive from her, being then little live Eels no 

 bigger nor longer than a pin ; and I have had too many 

 testimonies of this, to doubt the truth of it myself; and if 

 I thought it needful I might prove it, but I think it is 

 needless. 



And this Eel, of which I have said so much to you, 

 may be caught with divers kinds of baits : as namely, 

 with powdered beef; with a lob or garden worm ; with a 

 minnow; or gut of a hen, chicken, or the guts of any 

 fish ; or with almost any thing, for he is a greedy fish. 1 

 But the Eel may be caught, especially, with a little, a 



(1) To this truth, I myself can bear witness When I dwelt at Twickenham, 

 * large canal adjoined to my house, which I stocked will) fish. I had from time 

 to time brood* of ducks, which, with their young oues, took to the water. One 

 dry summer, when the canal was very low, we missed many young ducks, but 

 could not find out How they went. Resolving to make advantage of the low- 

 ness of the water to clean the canal, a work which had not been done for thirty 

 years before, I drained and emptied it, and found in the mud a great number of 

 large Eels. Some of them I reserved for the use of my family; which being 

 opened by the cook, surprised us all; for in the stomachs of several of them 

 were found, undigested, the necks and heads of young ducks, which doubtless 

 were those of the ducks we had missed. Uawkim. 



