276 



THE EEL. 



approbation or dissent by cheers, claps, or groans. There were 

 certain rules for the regulation of the dance, one of which was 

 that the individual who shuffled off the shingle lost the prize, 

 and was considered beaten. On some occasions, to produce more 

 excitement and stimulate them to greater effort, larger bunches 

 were put up for the dance. The grotesque appearance of the 

 crowd, with the negro in the centre, attired in a white or check 

 shirt, little the worse for absence from the wash-tub, an old 

 straw hat, and pantaloons rolled up to the knees, 



" Intense emotion glitter'd in their eyes, 

 Each eager watching for the slimy prize," 



surrounded by the fishermen with their red shirts and tarpaulin 

 hats, the various dark-skinned polished face and white-teeth 

 competitors with shingle in hand, watching anxiously their turn, 

 surrounding the inside of the nng, and the motley laughing, 

 joking, and betting crowd without, furnished a scene which we 

 believe has been undeservedly neglected by the artist, and 

 belongs to the history of New York as it was. 



The discussions of naturalists respecting Eels, have been as 

 crooked as their line of locomotion. Ichthyologists are gene- 

 rally of opinion that Eels make two migrations in each year, 

 one in the autumn to the sea, and one, returning up the rivers 

 in the spring. Yarrell says, " I am, however, of opinion that 

 the passage of adult Eels to the sea, or rather to the brackish 

 water of the estuary, is an exercise of choice, and not a matter 

 of necessity ; and that the parent Eels return up the river as 

 well as the fry." 



There are several different kinds of these fish found in both 

 fresh and salt water ; a singular description, called the Syren 

 Mud Pup, or Rain Eel, is taken in one of the rivers near 

 Charleston, S. C. Their shape is similar to the ordinary Eel, 



