390 



THE ANGLBR-NATUEALIST. 



it is possible the Eels may eat the greater part of their 

 o-vni families." * 



Tame Eels are known in various parts of the world. 

 They are very common ia Otaheite, where^ according to 

 Ellisfj they are domesticated and are fed until they at- 

 tain an enormous size. These singular pets are kept in 

 large half-fiUed holes 2 or 3 feet deep^ on the sides of 

 which they usuaUy remain^ unless called by the persons 

 who feed them. Mr. Ellis was present on one of these 

 occasions. The young Chief to whom the house belonged 

 sat down by the hole and gave a shriU whistle^ when an 

 immense Eel instantly issued forth and moved about over 

 the water, eating readily out of his hand. 



If Eels are kept in confinement and not closely covered 

 up, or shut in with smooth steep sides, they wiU almost 

 certaioly make their escape — generally in the night-time — 

 and travel overland to any water which may be in their 

 neighbourhood. The same thing occurs on a streara or 

 pond being dried up in summer, when the Eels will quit 

 it and wind through the wet grass in search of another. 

 Occasionally they appear to migrate in this manner in 

 pursuit of frogs and other suitable food, and at other times 

 merely from a desire to change their residence. 



There are some ponds that continually produce Eels, 

 even where great efforts are made to get rid of them owing 

 to their destructiveness to the spawn and fry of other fish ; 



* EdinbuTgli New Phil. Journ. for April 1841. 

 t Polynesian Kesearclies, vol. ii. p. 286. 



