50 
THE KAT. 
the eel rendered his footiDg so precarious that, rather than 
have a second pkmge for it, he was rehictantly obliged to 
drop it into tlie water. His first action afterwards was to 
give himself a good shaking, both to revive his spirits and to 
rid his coat from the effects of his morning dip ; and then, 
as before, he resumed his fishing recreation till he got out of 
sight, — the stream preventing the observer from following 
him further. 
As some labourers were cutting through an embankment 
in a field adjoining the river Lime, they met with between 
fifteen and twenty pounds' weight of eels, some quite 
fresh, and others in the last stage of putrefaction. They 
varied from a quarter to half a pound each, and consisted 
of the common silver-bellied or river eel, and Liliputian 
specimens of the conger or sea eel. The latter of course 
had come up with the tide. As teeth-marks were visible 
on the heads of most of them, it was conjectured they had 
been destroyed in that way and stored for winter pro- 
visions by some animal whose retreat was not far distant. 
This proved to be the case, f or, on digging a little farther, out 
bounced a matronly rat with seven half-grown young ones 
at her heels. The workmen gave chase, and ultimately suc- 
ceeded in killing both mother and young ones. The embank- 
ment is about a hundred yards from the water's edge ; so 
that it must have cost considerable time and labour on the 
part of old Ratty to catch and drag the eels thither. 
Rats swarm about the small towns in Scotland where the 
herrings are cured, living amongst the stones of the harbours 
and rocks on the shores, and issuing out in great numbers, 
towards nightfall, to feed on the stinking remains of the fish. 
At the end of the fishing season they may be seen migrating 
from these places in compact bodies, and in immense numbers* 
They then spread themselves, like an invading host, among 
the farms, farm-liouses, and stack-yards in the neighbourhood. 
They again repair to the coast for the benefit of a fish diet 
and sea air ; their wonderful instinct telling them that the 
fishing season has again commenced. 
In the fish-markets of London, and also in the lower 
order of streets, where fish women are in the habit of stand- 
ing, rats have from time to time been seen issuing forth, 
after midnight, to eat up the heads and entrails of fish. 
