THE GYMNOTUS. 



345 



" The extraordinary noise caused by the horses' hoofs makes the fish 

 issue from the mud, and excites them to combat. These yellowish and 

 livid eels, resembling large aquatic serpents, swim on the surface of the 

 water, and crowd under the bellies of the horses and mules. A contest 

 between animals of so different an organization furnishes a very striking 

 spectacle. The Indians, provided with harpoons and long, slender reeds, 

 surround the pool closely, and some climb upon the trees, the branches 

 of which extend horizontally over the surface of the water. 



" By their wild cries, and the length of their reeds, they prevent the 

 horses from running away and reaching the bank of the pool. The 

 eels, stunned by the noise, defend themselves by the repeated discharge 

 of their electric batteries. During a long time they seem to prove vic- 

 torious. Several horses sink beneath the violence of the invisible 

 strokes, which they receive from all sides, in organs the most essential 

 to life ; and, stunned by the force and frequency of the shocks, they 

 disappear under the water. Others, panting, with mane erect, and hag- 

 gard eyes, expressing anguish, raise themselves, and endeavor to flee 

 from the storm by which they are overtaken. They are driven back 

 by the Indians into the middle of the water ; but a small number 

 succeed in eluding the active vigilance of the fishermen. These regain 

 the shore, stumbling at every step, and stretch themselves on the sand, 

 exhausted with fatigue, and their limbs benumbed by the electric shocks 

 of the gymnoti. 



"In less than five minutes two horses were drowned. The eel, being 

 five feet long, and pressing itself against the belly of the horse, makes 

 a discharge along the whole extent of its electric organ. It attacks, at 

 once, the breast, the intestines, and the plexus coeliacus of the abdominal 

 nerves. It is natural that the effect felt by the horses should be more 

 powerful than that produced upon man, by the touch of the same fish 

 at only one of his extremities. The horses are probably not killed, but 

 only stunned. They are drowned from the impossibility of rising, amid 

 the prolonged struggle between the other horses and the eels. 



a We had little doubt that the fishing would terminate by killing, 

 successively, all the animals engaged ; but, by degrees, the impetuosity 

 of this unequal combat diminished, and the w T earied gymnoti dispersed. 

 They require a long rest and abundant nourishment, to repair what 

 they have lost of galvanic force. The mules and horses appear less 

 frightened. Their manes are no longer bristled, and their eyes express 

 less dread. The gymnoti approach timidly the edge of the marsh, when 

 they are taken, by means of small harpoons fastened to long cords. 

 When the cords are very dry, the Indians feel no shock in raising the 



