The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-04-30
The Electric Eel.

In a recent stress of weather a trad;ro
schooner hailing from the upper ANA
zon,s and bound to New York, put in o.
Hilton Head for water, and the curioc;tTs
of a throng of darkies was aroused hu
monkey and several parrots, and thew
fairly overran the vessel until the skin,
per's patience was on the ebb. At length
-ene fellow lifted the. cover of a. fye.eal.
Ion tin-can full of water that was las6ad
to the foreside of the galley and asked
s'What you got yere, bossp'' NJ "A -
"They're a couplelof Chinese cells ),
said the cook, looking out of his bonso
and tipping a. wink to the skipper. who
was sitting on the rail.
+" OATS jest my business, ,boss,n said
the darby, while the others gathered
around, sim de boss tredder for sbead>
ers an cells dis side Of Newhern.n
!" These amt scrubs like Won find
around here" said the cook.
"Look ERE, boss dis place beats de-
world for eels," the darby retorted. 81
tried one de oder day over three feet
long" "a a.1
tsOh, you're talking about minnies
They wouldn't count them as cells IN
China. 1t takes a man to handle q
China eel. | don't believe you could
lift one from the can.iIG el.UI7TT'
| "'Spose you don't want to bet on
datp'' the boss eeler asked ga. . " -.
"Wal, don't mind" the cook 70.
piled, reaching under his apron and
bringing out a dollar.
The darkies held consultation. and
soraped together dollar, which was
placed in the skipper's hands. Rolling
up what sleeves he had, the champion
bent over the big can and commenced
to feel around, as the water was rather
too muddy to see anything. n
"Dey amt nothin' to be so brash
about" he said, as he came across
something at the bottom. l''Stan' back,
Keeping one hand on his find, he put
in the other hand and took hold. There
was splash in the can, and with veil
that could be heard half a mile away.
the darby jumped in the air with his
eyes sticking out of his head, and his
arms. rigid and fastened like rods to an
eel that was more than five feet in
length. He roared like a bull, until
the eel finally squirmed out of his hands
and fell into the water, when the darky
staggered back and rushed to the pier,
followed by his astonished friends.
"What's the matter2" the cook cried;
but the "boss tredder" had disap.
peared. 'i' .rH ".'H
The "China eels' were a pair of cleo.
trio eels-Gymnotus-th were on their
way to an aquarium in Boston, and the
darky's feelings may be imagined when
it is known that as soon as he touched
the fish with both hands and completed
the current, he was struck with shock
equal to fifteen Leyden jars of $500
square inches of surface. This wonder
full power is confined to four genera of
fishes, and that of the Gyna1e0tus is the
most powerful. In the Upper Brazil
country they are used by the natives to
facilitate the capture of wild horses A
herd is surrounded and driven in the
direction of the stream or lake contain
ing the eels, and into which the fright.
ened horses rush, stamping on the fish,
many of which are as large as q mans
leg and six feet in length, that in de-.
Tense thrown out their shocks of cleo.
tricity, SO completely benumbing o.
horses that they are easily caught. The
eels also exhaust their powers and are
captured with comparative safety, rally
ing again, however, in few hours
Ne10 York Sue., ...l ........