of easier
travelling, yet they took care to keep in the stream, as I had a
nice opportunity of observing.

At the point where I first saw them, the tail goit of a water-
wheel had its junction with the river, but being Sunday there was
no current there--not a single Eel took its course up the goit,
although the water was deeper there than where they went. The
water being low and perfectly clear, I could trace their course
both above and below the place where I stood without any
difficulty.

If we allowed that they travelled a mile in the hour, and that the
obstructions of the waterfalls and sluice-board took as long to
get over as all the rest of the journey, they would be able to
reach G. H.'s pond in four days from the sea; and from what I have
seen of their ability to surmount such obstructions, I am quite
convinced that they would travel that distance in the time. But
say they were a week--they would not grow much in that time,
particularly if they had been travelling without food the whole of
the distance, and that they must have done so, is proved to my
mind by their keeping in column; for if they had dispersed to seek
for food, by what contrivance were they marshalled into line
again, to enable them to proceed? Now the place I saw them is
forty miles from the sea, although not that distance from salt-
water. T. says it is no proof that Eels are bred in fresh water
because they may be found in ponds having no connection with a
river--the proof required is _ab ovo_. If we wait for this proof I
fear we will have to wait for some time, for I fancy that no one
but Mr. Boccius ever saw the ova of Eels, and he will not
condescend to enlighten us on the subject. At the same time I
admit that finding them there is no proof that they were bred
there, inasmuch as I have myself stocked such ponds for my
friends, and what I have done may be done by others.

T. says further there is also room for inquiry into another
curious subject--do Eels return to fresh water after having gone
to the sea for spawning? In reply to this, I can only say, that no
trace of such a migration is ever seen here, and I think if it
existed at all, I should have observed it, for the following
reasons.

The Ribble here supplies a large mill, the water-wheels of which
are 150 horse-power; therefore, when they are at work in the
daytime, the whole force of the river is often passing through the
mill-lead (goit) and the bed of the river between th