From Fox's Earth 



Say it is unlikely that elvers came from horse 

 hairs, and that the link of connection must be 

 sought in the tail of the steed grazing on the rich 

 streamside grasses. Nor is there any such thing 

 as spontaneous generation. Life comes out of 

 life, and a break means death. That is all nega- 

 tive. How much more can the savant tell ? 



That the big eels went down stream in the 

 autumn was known. Men forecast the time, and 

 prepared traps which they set facing up current, 

 whence the rush of migrants would come. Before 

 they left, they were seen to pass through certain 

 changes. The eyes grew bigger, so did the ears ; 

 as though they were preparing for a place harder 

 to hear and see in ; going to deeper and dimmer 

 wastes than the shallow spring burn. 



A certain sheen came over them, the promise 

 of something brighter, a faint glory of attire, such 

 as other creatures don on the eve of wedding. 

 Plainly they were bound on a fateful journey, 

 fraught with a faint sense of bliss, increasingly 

 dawning ; every stage of which brought them 

 nearer to a promised land. Many wildlings set 

 themselves for the same land ; but not so stead- 

 fastly, nor over so dim or mysterious a way. So 

 far can we follow, to the kiss of burn and salt 

 wave, where the eel vanishes in the autumn, and 

 the elver appears in the spring. They were going 

 to spawn. 



But where ? And when? Not near, nor soon. 



74 



