THE GrYMNOTUS. 



349 



" The extraordinary noise caused by the horses' hoofs makes the fi\< h 

 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, disappear 

 under the water. Others, panting, with main erect, and haggard 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. 



"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 wearied 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, 

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



