FISH-NOTES FROM GEE AT YARMOUTH. 21 



the sluices that Eels find their way in. Most of our Eels ran 

 from a half-pound to a pound each, and they were of a ruddy 

 or golden hue, owing no doubt to environmental causes. We 

 obtained over a stone, but deemed it a poor half-day's work. 

 Among the catches we discovered a Smelt, some very small 

 Sticklebacks, and a number of Opossum Shrimps ; also one 

 Flounder and a Perch. The paucity of smaller creatures un- 

 doubtedly was due to the hungry Eels, whose patience must 

 sorely have been tried in filling up their stomachs with such tiny 

 prey. In the stomachs of what Eels I dissected I only found in 

 each a spoonful of Gammaras (probably G. daubenii), an ally of 

 the freshwater Shrimp. The Perch was about four ounces in 

 weight, in splendid condition, and had the stripings curiously 

 bifurcated. 



I made very few excursions after that date, for the month 

 provided but one long series of disagreeable weather charac- 

 terized by almost incessant rains or winds. Only one day did 

 I really enjoy a little sport on Breydon, when Jary, the bird- 

 watcher (employed by the Breydon Protection Society), roused 

 me up early in the morning, and got his smelt-boat ready for a 

 "draw " or two. He rowed up one of the wide "drains," and, 

 having been put ashore encased in heavy boots, I took the 

 " lead " line, and slowly squelched through the soft ooze as he 

 payed out the smelt-net, and rowed down-stream with it. At 

 four convenient points we pulled in the semi-circling net, and in 

 four hauls had three hundred and twenty Smelts in our box 

 under the boat's thwarts. Our catch would have been much 

 heavier had not tide and wind proved too strong for us to 

 manipulate the net longer. Some extraordinary hauls have 

 been made during the autumn, bad weather notwithstanding. 

 The utter absence was noticed of Atherines (Atherina presbyter), 

 locally known as " Smolts," a fish in no request locally, being 

 thought dry and insipid. The smelters have a saying, "If 

 you get a lot of Smolts, you get few Smelts," and there 

 may be something in the idea that these strongly scented 

 fishes drive other species out of their neighbourhood. On a 

 visit to Lowestoft I was astonished to note their almost entire 

 absence there, as in most seasons the scores of contented 

 anglers of all ages, baiting with the tiniest morsels of Shrimp, 



