350 



sibility 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 ani- 

 mals engaged ; but by degrees the impetu- 

 osity 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, where 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 fish into 

 the air. In a few minutes we had five large 

 eels, the greater part of which were but slightly 

 wounded. Some were taken by the same means 

 toward the evening. 



The temperature of the waters, in which the 

 gymnoti habitually live, is from 26° to 27°. 



* The Indians assured us, that when the horses are 

 made to run two days successively into the same pool, none 

 are killed the second day. See, on the fishing for gym- 

 noti, and for the particulars of the experiments made at 

 Calabozo, a memoir published in my Observations de Zoologie, 

 vol. i, p. 59 — 92. ; and my Tableaux de la Nature, vol. i, p, 

 58 — 57. I have been enabled to add here some new consi- 

 derations, founded on a more intimate knowledge of the 

 action of electromotive apparatuses. 



