66 BOBBING FOE EELS. 



it is necessary to allow the eel to gorge a portion of the 

 loop well down, which may be judged of by the lustiness 

 of his pulls at the apparatus, and then to transfer him 

 with celerity from the water to the boat, one gunwale of 

 which is kept near the surface for this purpose. It is 

 the common opinion that the teeth of the eel become 

 so entangled in the fibres of the yarn, that he cannot dis- 

 engage them in time to escape ; but this I regard a fallacy, 

 and ascribe the fact of his holding on till lifted out of the 

 wa^er, rather to the savage tenacity with which he grips 

 anything he lays hold of. Only present the tip of a stick 

 to a newly-captured eel's mouth, and with what perti- 

 nacity the slimy gentleman will keep his jaws closed 

 upon it ! This kind of fishing can only be successfully 

 prosecuted during a rather dark night, when the eels are 

 unable to see the boat and crew above them. 



After pursuing our novel, and by no means dis- 

 agreeable sport, for about three hours, during which 

 time we managed to take upwards of twenty pounds' 

 weight of eels, the moon, which had been gradually 

 illuminating the verge of the eastern horizon, at length 

 showed her crescent through the tall belt of trees, that 

 fringes the English banks of the Tweed at this part, 

 and rendering us visible to the voracious but crafty 

 crew below, they ceased taking. 



I shall now ask, what other sense except that of 

 smell, or something analogous to it, could possibly in- 

 form the eels of the presence of our worms in the water ? 

 as it was evident that none were present in the im- 

 mediate vicinity when we commenced operations, and 



