Chap. X.] FISHES ON DRY LAND. 347 



commentary on the collection Tlspl ©avfjuacricov aicov- 

 (T/jLarcov, ascribed to Aristotle, has given a list of the 

 authorities about his own times, — GrEOKGius Agricola, 



GrESNER, EoNDELET, DALECHAMP, BoMARE, and GrRONO- 



vius, who not only gave credence to the assertions of 

 Theophrastus, but adduced modern instances in corro- 

 boration of his Indian authorities. 



As regards the fresh-water fishes of India and Ceylon, 

 the fact is now established that certain of them possess 

 the power of leaving the rivers and returning to them 

 again after long migrations on dry land, and modern 

 observation has fully confirmed their statements. They 

 leave the pools and nullahs in the dry season, and led 

 by an instinct as yet unexplained, shape their course 

 through the grass towards the . nearest pool of water. A 

 similar phenomenon is observable in countries similarly 

 circumstanced. The Doras of Guiana 1 have been seen 

 travelling over land during the dry season in search of 

 their natural element 2 , in such droves that the negroes 

 fill baskets with them during these terrestrial excursions. 

 Pallegoix in his account of Siam, enumerates three 

 species of fishes which leave the tanks and channels 



1 D. Hancockii, Cuv. et Val. 



2 Sir R. Schomburgk's Fishes of 

 Guiana, vol. i. pp. 113, 151, 160. 

 Another migratory fish was found 

 by Bosc very numerous in the 

 fresh waters of Carolina and in 

 ponds liable to become dry in 

 summer. When captured and 

 placed on the ground, " they always 

 directed themselves towards the 

 nearest water, which they could not 

 possibly see, and which they must 

 have discovered by some internal 

 index. They belong to the genus 

 Hydrargyra, and are called Swam- 



pines. — Klrby, Bridgewater Trea- 

 tise, yoI. i. p. 143. 



Eels kept in a garden, when 

 August arrived (the period at 

 which instinct impels them to go 

 to the sea to spawn) were in the 

 habit of leaving the pond, and 

 were invariably found moving east- 

 ward in the direction of the sea. — ■ 

 Yarrell, vol. ii. p. 384. Anglers 

 observe that fish newly caught, 

 when placed out of sight of water, 

 always struggle towards it to 

 escape. 



