AMBROSE — OX FISHES OF ST. MARGARET'S BAT. 91 



tind alIo\Yiiig the eels as tliey came, to pass tlieir heads between 

 the thunib and lingers of the other, thus grasping and throwing 

 them ashore as fast as they came to hand. It is a little surpris- 

 ing that, even if the people living on the banks of the Shuben- 

 licadie cannot bring themselves to enjoy the luxury of eating 

 these excellent fish, they do not take the trouble to catch and 

 sell them to others less fastidious than themselves„, and more able 

 to appreciate the good gifts of a bountiful Providence. 



Eels do not always confine themselves to the rivers, bays, or 

 inlets, but are sometimes found outside of the shore range in the 

 Atlantic itself. Mr. Charles Richardson, of Indian Harbour, as 

 well as several others, testify to having caught them tangled in 

 thrir herring or mackerel nets, two or three at a time, at a dis- 

 tance of two miles from the coast line. Perhaps, as the in-shore 

 beds become too much disturbed by the spears, and denuded of 

 grass roots, eels — with the sure instinct of self-preservation — 

 venture out to the oozy and worm-charged gulches of the ocean, 

 where no spear but the trident of Britannia can bear rule. 



Our lishermen greatly wonder at the secrecy of re-production 

 among these fish. They say that although they catch them at 

 all seasons of the year, they never by any chance find either 

 spawn or young eels in them. But, after all, there is a season 

 immediately after the breaking up of the ice, and also on the 

 point ol its first formation, and before it is strong enough to 

 carry, when eels are not caught here. 



I have remarked that many eels go up the river in spring, 

 and return to the sea in autumn. This is easily proved at Mill 

 Cove, on the western side of this Bay, where a high mound or 

 dam of round beach-stones crosses the outlet of a lake at high 

 water mark. Here at the seasons mentioned, these fish may be 

 seen in large numbers all travelling in one direction among the 

 wet stones from the sea to the lake, and vice versa. Large 

 numbers are then taken by hand. 



Our fisliermen have a high opinion of the efficacy of eel-oil . 

 in removing the ill-effects of a sprain. For this reason they bind 

 the skin of an eel around the injured limb. A small quantity of 

 eel-oil dropped into the ear, is also one of their specifics fpr 

 a recent deafness. 



