214 



ZOOLOGY. 



[PART II. 



pearance, by burying themselves in the mud to await the 

 return of the rains. 



Travelling Fishes. It was well known to the 

 Greeks that certain fishes of India possessed the power 

 of leaving the rivers and returning to them again after 

 long migrations 1 on dry land, and modern observation 

 has fully confirmed their statements. They leave the 

 pools and nullahs in the dry season, and led by an in- 

 stinct as yet unexplained, shape their course through the 

 grass towards the nearest pool of water. A similar phe- 

 nomenon is observable in countries similarly circum- 

 stanced. The Doras of Guiana 2 have been seen travelling 

 over land during the dry season in search of their natural 

 element 3 , in such droves that the negroes have filled 

 baskets with them during these terrestrial excursions. 

 Pallegoix in his account of Siam, enumerates three 

 species of fishes which leave the tanks and channels and 

 traverse the damp grass 4 ; and Sir John Bowring, in his 

 account of his embassy to the Siamese kings in 1855, 

 states, that in ascending and descending the river Meinam 

 to Bankok, he was amused with the novel sight of fish 

 leaving the river, gliding over the wet banks, and losing 

 themselves amongst the trees of the jungle. 5 



The class of fishes which possess this power are chiefly 



1 I have collected into a note, 

 which will be found in the appendix 

 to this chapter, the opinions enter- 

 tained hy the Greeks and Romans 

 upon this habit of the fresh-water 

 fishes of India. See note B. 



a D. Hancockii, Cuv. et Val. 



3 Sir II. Schornburgk's Fishes of 

 Guiana, vol. i. pp. 113, 151, 160. 

 Another migratory fish was found 

 by Bosc very numerous in the fresh 

 waters of Carolina and in ponds liable 

 to become dry in summer. When 

 captured and placed on the ground, 

 " they always directed themselves to- 

 wards the nearest water, which they 

 could not possibly see, and which they 

 must have discovered by some in- 



ternal index. They belong to the 

 genus Hydrargijra, and are called 

 Swampines. KIRBT, Bridycwater 

 Treatise, vol. i. p. 143. 



Eels kept in a garden, when Au- 

 gust arrived (the period at which 

 instinct impels them to go to the sea 

 to spawn) were in the habit of leaving 

 the pond and were invariably found 

 moving eastward in the direction of 

 the sea. YAKRELL, vol. ii. p. 384. 

 Anglers observe that fish newly 

 caught, when placed out of sight of 

 water, always struggle towards it to 

 escape. 



4 PALLEGOIX, vol. i. p. 144. 



5 Sir J. BOWHIXG'S Siam, $c., 

 vol. i. p. 10. 



