NATURAL HISTORY of NORWA T. 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? Whole hand but thine, O Lord, guides them 

 <c fo wifely! tho' thy great care is feldom received with due. 

 « thankfulnefs." So far Mr. Rollin. 



S E C T. III. 



What I have before obferved concerning the dividing and Order and di- 

 ranging of birds in different clafles, is applicable to Fifhes ; FiSes.° 

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

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

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

 fome 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 Fiih 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 Ihell, wherein they live as if 

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

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

 North lea ; of which fome have hitherto been held in doubt, 

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

 time, will have lome credit with thole that have not 

 thrown off all hiftorical faith. When thofe'two claries are 

 feparated, then the reft will follow one another, according tp 

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



- SECT. IV. 



Aal, the Eel, Anguilla, is a long and round Filh, very wellAai. 

 known every where ; it is beft and fatteft in frelh 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 fomething allied to 

 that Ipecies *. 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 t-ook it to be a fnake, and would not 

 eat it. 



fond 



