EEL TAKES TO THE LAND 137 



known as " elvers," find their way into the 

 estuaries, and in countless thousands push up 

 stream, some of them reaching the very source 

 of the river. So strong is the subconscious 

 energy in these thread-like creatures that 

 nothing stops their upward progress ; mill- 

 dams, weirs, waterfalls, all are surmounted ; 

 where the elvers cannot swim they wriggle 

 up over rocks and banks until gaining the 

 water above. In fact, wherever suitable water 

 exists, eels will find it, even though it be an 

 isolated pond having no outlet. 



The fact of eels being found in lone ponds 

 in former times surprised no one, for it was 

 presumed they bred in these pools ; but now 

 we know that to get into such places the eel 

 can only come from the river. A small trickle or 

 damp ditch is sufficient water-way, but if this 

 is wanting the eel takes to the land, and with 

 serpentine movement wriggles its way across 

 meadows, traveUing mostly in the evening or 

 at night when the grass is damp with dew. 

 Now that there are many more observers of 

 natural history than formerly, these cross- 

 country excursions on the part of the eel have 

 frequently come under notice. 



Literally this is a case of " a fish out of 

 water"; nevertheless, the eel makes its point 

 as surely as the frogs. 



