MUB^ENlLvE. 245 



by means of a canvas bag, attached to a hoop, at the end of a long stick 

 to which a lantern is fixed. They are thrown into a tub of salt which cleanses 

 them ; they are then boiled, and pressed into cakes, which are cat into slices 

 and fried, making most delicious food. Sometimes they are so abundant that the 

 people about get tired of eating them, and actually feed the pigs with them " 

 (Backland). "At an early peinod in the summer it is an interesting sight (at the 

 Cutts near Coleraine, on the lower Bann) to mark the thousands of young eels then 

 ascending the stream. Hay ropes are suspended over rocky parts to aid them in 

 overcoming' such obstructions. At these places the river is black with the multitudes 

 of young eels, about 3 or 4 inches long, all acting under that mysterious impulse 

 that prompts them to push their course onward to the lake " (Patterson, Zool. 

 for Schools). In migrations elvers appear to be diurnal in their habits, whereas 

 old eels choose the darkest nights after a flood, while in stews they die most 

 in frosty weather should they have no sand or mud to creep into. Thompson 

 remarks that he has been informed that a run of eels at night-time has been 

 completely stopped in its progress by placing three large lamps so that the rays 

 of light fall upon the surface of the water. Similarly at the great eel fisheries 

 of Commachio it is stated that migrations are suspended or interrupted either by 

 a full moon or tires accidentally lighted in the vicinity ; while thunder likewise 

 prevents their " running " when all else is apparently favourable. The direction 

 of the wind is also of importance ; it is favourable when with them or from any 

 point from the south, but if a sudden change occurs they will cease to migrate 

 for the night. 



Some excellent authorities upon fish and fishing are disposed to believe that 

 all eels do not ascend from the sea, some being raised in fresh waters ; and many 

 curious localities have been recorded where detached waters have contained eels. 

 Thus a correspondent of Land and Water (July 15th, 1882) observes: "Last 

 week I saw eel and carp fishing going on in the Co. Wexford marl holes. Many 

 of these holes are at great distances from the streams and river, and have no 

 connection Avith them, so that the eels must go over the land to get to them, and 

 I learn from the people in the neighbourhood that some of the largest eels they 

 get are caught in the grass in summer after rain." Mr. Cornish, among several 

 oases he records, tells us " that at the famous Botallack Mine in St. Just, in 

 Pen with, eels occur in a pond fed by chance supply, situated on the top of a hill 

 close to the blacksmith's shop. And I placed on record some years ago the 

 capture of a large eel in a freshwater pool fed not from the surface, but from 

 the bowels of the earth in one of the old deep levels (or workings) of Wheal 

 Mary Mine, near this place " (Land and Water, June 10th, 1882). Mr. Berry 

 (Mag. Nat. Hist. 1834, vii, p. 301) says he has taken eels of all sizes, from that 

 of a needle upwards, in ponds totally unconnected with and distinct from either 

 river or brook. 



It has been supposed that as eels as large as 11 lb. or more are captured 

 migrating seaward they must have bred in fresh water ; but this does not 

 follow — they may be sterile temporarily or permanently, as the one kept over 

 22 years in an aquarium. Young eels have, as already observed, been known to 

 ascend the flood-gates of lochs, to creep up water-pipes — in short, mechanical 

 difficulties scarcely obstruct them ; they will even quit the water and travel over 

 herbage. Lakes which formerly were well stocked with eels have become 

 destitute of them, due to impassable barriers having been erected between them 

 and the sea, preventing migrations to and fro. 



Means of captvwre. — Eels are in places taken in the largest numbers after heavy 

 .storms and floods. These may be in the form, of "eel-bucks," as used in the 

 Thames, which consists of a number of wicker baskets or "weals," externally 

 somewhat in the form of a sugar-loaf, and internally like a mouse-trap ; several 

 of tliem are supported with a wooden framework, the whole crossing the stream. 

 The open side of these baskets is turned up stream, as it is when these fishes are 

 descending that they are trapped. These wicker-work baskets have to be soaked 

 Borne weeks before being used, or eels will not enter them. At some mills one 

 of the water-gates is left open and a hoop-net fitted to a frame inserted, 



