NATURAL HISTORY of NO RW AT. 107 



" heaps up the mouth of rivers, to go ftill further up, that 

 " the land may participate of the benefits of the ocean, which 

 " lies far off? Whofe hand but thine, O Lord, guides them 

 (C fb wifely ! tho' thy great care is feldom received with due 

 « thankfulnefs." So far Mr. Rollin. 



SECT. III. 



What I have before obferved concerning the dividing and order and di. 

 ranging of birds in different clafles, is applicable to Fifties ; kSm.°. 

 namely, that altho' fuch a method tends to give a clearer idea 

 of them, yet there arifes from it greater confufion ; for many, 

 nearly allied in one refpecl:, may have relation to another clafs in 

 fbme other particular ; fo that thefe frequent exceptions render 

 that method in itfelf uncertain, and liable to great perplexity. 

 For this reafon I fhall here again follow the order of the alpha- 

 bet, diftributing the Fifties of Norway according to their 

 names. Neverthelefs, there are certain Fifh and Sea-animals, 

 which are fo entirely diftincl: from the reft of the inhabitants of 

 the watery element, that one cannot conveniently mix them with 

 the reft : for that reafon I have taken thefe laft: out of the pro- 

 pofed alphabetical order, and put them each by themfelves in 

 two chapters. Thefe are firft the different kinds of Fifh, which 

 are furrounded with a ftony or hard fhell, wherein they live as if 

 in a houfe, that grows with them: and, fecondly, the various 

 Sea-monfters, as they are called, or noxious animals in the 

 North fea ; of which fbme have hitherto been held in doubt, 

 and looked upon as chimeras. Thefe laft, I hope, from this 

 time, will have fbme credit with thole that have not 

 thrown off all hiftorical faith. When thofe two claffes are 

 feparated, then the reft: will follow one another, according to 

 the order of the alphabet, as has been faid above. 



SECT. IV. 



Aal, the Eel, Anguilla, is a long and round Fifh, very well Aai. 

 known every where ; it is befl: and fatteft: in frefh waters, but it 

 feldom grows there above 24 or 30 inches long; but, on the con- 

 trary, the Norway Sea-Eels, which are leaner, are four or five ells 

 long, and are much like a fnake, according to the Latin name 

 Anguilla, which fignifies a kind of fnake, or fbmething allied to 

 that fpecies *. They thrive beft in muddy waters, and are 



* A friend of mine has told me, that he has feen an Eel two fathoms long, 

 and, when cut up, an ell wide ; his people took it to be a fnake, and would not 

 eat it. 



fond 



