Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/289

Rh Eels, though buried in the mud, have been known to perish; and, crawling from their lurking holes

in the agonies of death, have been washed down the stream to the tideway, and thrown upon the beach.”

Much obscurity has rested upon the breeding of the Eel; but it is now ascertained that they are oviparous like most other fishes, and that the spawn is deposited in spring, either in lakes and ponds, and the higher parts of rivers, or at the mouths of the latter, where the salt water mingles with the fresh. In the earlier summer months, thousands of little Eels are seen making their way up the streams, for the most part about three inches long. In the autumn there is