EDITORIAL GLEANINGS. 279 



realiable but may be readily understood by the ordinary beach 

 reader, and contains thirty-seven illustrations, of which eight 

 are coloured full-page plates. At the small price charged for 

 the volumes of this series nothing more can well be desired or 

 expected. 



EDITOBIAL GLEANINGS. 



" Enquiries made by Mr. Dudley Le Souef, Director of the 

 Zoological Gardens in Melbourne, in regard to Eels in New Zealand 

 have brought several notes from correspondents. Mr. Le Souef 

 expressed a "wish that those who accused Eels of eating Trout had 

 found Trout inside the Eels caught, as otherwise the evidence against 

 the Eels could hardly be regarded as conclusive. Mr. J. Einlay, of 

 Tokaora, Hawera, writing on March 17th, now supplies the evidence 

 Mr. Le Souef asks for. ' My farm,' Mr. Finlay states, ' has a frontage 

 of about fifty chains on to the beach in the South Taranaki Bight, 

 and is close to the mouth of the Waingongoro Eiver. Complaints 

 reached the custodian of the South Taranaki fishponds that the lower 

 reaches of this river were nearly depleted of Trout, although only a 

 few years previously large quantities of Trout had been liberated in 

 it. The custodian, Mr. Moorehouse, came to my house one forenoon 

 with an Eel he had caught. It was 1 ft. 9 in. long and weighed 10£ lb. 

 When we opened it we found a whole Trout, quite fresh, which 

 turned the scale at 1 lb. 15 oz. The Eel also contained about half 

 another Trout, partly digested, which probably would have weighed 

 about 2 lb. Each Trout had been swallowed head first.' Mr. Finlay 

 adds that it is admitted on the South Taranaki coast that large Eels 

 swallow Trout. About the same time two men who were fencing 

 for him fished for Eels in the same river one night. They caught 

 twenty-six Eels, weighing from 2 lb. to 5 lb. each. The Eels were 

 opened in order to discover if small Eels as well as large ones eat 

 Trout, but no Trout were found in any of them. 



" An adjoining farmer constructed a farm about seven acres in 

 area. It was stocked with young Trout, which thrived for a time, 

 but then gradually disappeared. One day the farmer's sons caught in 

 the dam an Eel that weighed 32 lb. As it was given to Maoris, Mr. 



