It is agreed by most men, that the _Eele_ is both a good and a most
daintie fish; but most men differ about his breeding; some say, they
breed by generation as other fish do; and others, that they breed (as
some worms do) out of the putrifaction of the earth, and divers other
waies; those that denie them to breed by generation, as other fish do,
ask, if any man ever saw an _Eel_ to have Spawn or Melt? And they are
answered, That they may be as certain of their breeding, as if they had
seen Spawn; for they say, that they are certain that _Eeles_ have all
parts fit for generation, like other fish, but so smal as not to be
easily discerned, by reason of their fatness; but that discerned they
may be; and that the Hee and the She _Eele_ may be distinguished by
their fins.
And others say, that _Eeles_ growing old, breed other _Eeles_ out of
the corruption of their own age, which Sir _Francis Bacon_ sayes,
exceeds not ten years. And others say, that _Eeles_ are bred of a
particular dew falling in the Months of _May_ or _June_ on the banks of
some particular Ponds or Rivers (apted by nature for that end) which in
a few dayes is by the Suns heat turned into _Eeles_. I have seen in the
beginning of _July_, in a River not far from _Canterbury_, some parts
of it covered over with young _Eeles_ about the thickness of a straw;
and these _Eeles_ did lye on the top of that water, as thick as motes
are said to be in the Sun; and I have heard the like of other Rivers,
as namely, in _Severn_, and in a _pond_ or _Mere_ in _Stafford-shire_,
where about a set time in Summer, such small _Eeles_ abound so much,
that many of the poorer sort of people, that inhabit near to it, take
such _Eeles_ out of this Mere, with sieves or sheets, and make a kind
of _Eele-cake_ of them, and eat it like as bread. And _Gesner_ quotes
venerable _Bede_ to say, that in _England_ there is an Iland called
_Ely_, by reason of the innumerable number of _Eeles_ that breed in it.
But that _Eeles_ may be bred as some worms and some kind of _Bees_ and
_Wasps_ are, either of dew, or out of the corruption of the earth,
seems to be made probable by the _Barnacles_ and young _Goslings_ bred
by the Suns heat and the rotten planks of an old Ship, and hatched of
trees, both which are related for truths by _Dubartas_, and our learned
_Cambden_, and laborious _Gerrard_ in his _Herball_.
It is said by _Randelitius_, that those _Eeles_ that are bred in
Rivers, that relate to, or be neer to the Sea, never return to the
fresh waters (as the _Salmon_ does alwaies desire to do) when they have
once tasted the salt water; and I do the more easily believe this,
because I am certain that powdered Bief is a most excellent bait to
catch an _Eele_: and S'r. _Francis Bacon_ will allow the _Eeles_ life
to be but ten years; yet he in his History of Life and Death, mentions
a _Lamprey_, belonging to the _Roman_ Emperor, to be made tame, and so
kept for almost three score yeers; and that such useful and pleasant
observations were made of this _Lamprey_, that _Crassus_ the Oratour
(who kept her) lamented her death.
It is granted by all, or most men, that _Eeles_, for about six months
(that is to say, the six cold months of the yeer) stir not up and down,
neither in the Rivers nor the Pools in which they are, but get into the
soft earth or mud, and there many of them together bed themselves, and
live without feeding upon any thing (as I have told you some _Swallows_
have been observed to do in hollow trees for those six cold months);
and this the _Eele_ and _Swallow_ do, as not being able to endure
winter weather; for _Gesner_ quotes _Albertus_ to say, that in the yeer
1125 (that years winter being more cold then usual) _Eeles_ did by
natures instinct get out of the water into a stack of hay in a Meadow
upon dry ground, and there bedded themselves, but yet at last died
there. I shall say no more of the _Eele_, but that, as it is observed,
he is impatient of cold, so it has been observed, that in warm weather
an _Eele_ has been known to live five days out of the water. And
lastly, let me tell you, that some curious searchers into the natures
of fish, observe that there be several sorts or kinds of _Eeles_, as
the _Silver-Eele_, and green or greenish _Eel_ (with which the River of
Thames abounds, and are called _Gregs_); and a blackish _Eele_, whose
head is more flat and bigger then ordinary _Eeles_; and also an _Eele_
whose fins are redish, and but seldome taken in this Nation (and yet
taken sometimes): These several kinds of _Eeles_, are (say some)
diversly bred; as namely, out of the corruption of the earth, and by
dew, and other wayes (as I have said to you:) and yet it is affirmed by
some, that for a certain, the _Silver-Eele_ breeds by generation, but
not by Spawning as other fish do, but that her Brood come alive from
her no bigger nor longer then a pin, and I have had too many
testimonies of this to doubt the truth of it.
And this _Eele_ of which I have said so much to you, may be caught with
divers kinds of baits; as namely, with powdered Bief, with a _Lob_ or
_Garden-worm_, with a _Minnow_, or gut of a _Hen, Chicken_, or with
almost any thing, for he is a greedy fish: but the _Eele_ seldome stirs
in the day, but then hides himselfe, and therefore he is usually caught
by night, with one of these baits of which I have spoken, and then
caught by laying hooks, which you are to fasten to the bank, or twigs
of a tree; or by throwing a string cross the stream, with many hooks at
it, and baited with the foresaid baits, and a clod or plummet, or
stone, thrown into the River with this line, that so you may in the
morning find it neer to some fixt place, and then take it up with a
drag-hook or otherwise: but these things are indeed too common to be
spoken of; and an hours fishing with any _Angler_ will teach you
better, both for these, and many other common things in the practical
part of _Angling_, then a weeks discourse. I shall therefore conclude
this direction for taking the _Eele_, by telling you, that in a warm
day in Summer, I have taken many a good _Eele_ by _snigling_, and have
been much pleased with that sport.
And because you that are but a young Angler, know not what _snigling_
is, I wil now teach it to you: you remember I told you that _Eeles_ do
not usually stir in the day time, for then they hide themselvs under
some covert, or under boards, or planks about Floud-gates, or Weirs, or
Mils, or in holes in the River banks; and you observing your time in a
warm day, when the water is lowest, may take a hook tied to a strong
line, or to a string about a yard long, and then into one of these
holes, or between any boards about a Mill, or under any great stone or
plank, or any place where you think an _Eele_ may hide or shelter her
selfe, there with the help of a short stick put in your bait, but
leisurely, and as far as you may conveniently; and it is scarce to be
doubted, but that if there be an Eel within the sight of it, the _Eele_
will bite instantly, and as certainly gorge it; and you need not doubt
to have him, if you pull him not out of the hole too quickly, but pull
him out by degrees, for he lying folded double in his hole, will, with
the help of his taile, break all, unless you give him time to be
wearied with pulling, and so get him out by degrees; not pulling too
hard. And thus much for this present time concerning the _Eele_: I wil
next tel you a little of the _Barbell_, and hope with a little
discourse of him, to have an end of this showr, and fal to fishing, for
the weather clears up a little.