274 ANGLING. 



from the mutual penetration and condensation. Such 

 a mixture is constantly taking place at the mouths 

 of rivers that run into the sea, and the mixed water 

 maintains a temperature two degrees warmer than 

 that of the river or the sea. This elevation in 

 the temperature of the water of estuaries and the 

 mouths of rivers is, I have no doubt, one reason 

 why they in general abound in young fish." * 



As we have ourselves more than once ascertained 

 that eels have bred in fresh water ponds, from which 

 they were debarred all access to the sea, we infer 

 that their descent to the brackish water, though 

 customary, is not indispensable. These fish some- 

 times attain to a great size ; the most common 

 species, called the sharp-nosed eel (Anguitta acuti- 

 rostris, Yarrell), has been taken near Cambridge, 

 of the weight of 27 pounds. 



In relation to their mode of capture by the 

 angler a few words will suffice. As the habits of 

 eels are nocturnal, the largest and finest are usually 

 caught with night lines. They are a troublesome 

 fish, from their great tenacity of life, and the tor- 

 tuous motions by which, in their natural enough 

 endeavours to disengage themselves, they entangle 

 or destroy the angler's tackle. In rivers their 

 natural haunts are under large stones and in the 

 clefts of banks, while in lakes they affect weedy 

 places and the muddy bottom of indented bays. 

 They are usually angled for with a worm, but 

 they may also be speared successfully at an early 



ibid. 



