Omniana/Volume 2/Amphibious Fish
195. Amphibious Fish.
Among the number of odd things in New Holland, the amphibious fish is not the least remarkable. "We found (says Captain Cook) a small fish of a singular kind; it was about the size of a minnow, and had two very strong breast fins; we found it in places that were quite dry, where we supposed it might have been left by the tide, but it did not seem to have become languid by the want of water; for upon our approach it leaped away, by the help of the breast fins, as nimbly as a frog; neither indeed did it seem to prefer water to land; for when we found it in the water, it frequently leaped out and pursued its way upon dry ground; we also observed that when it was in places where small stones were standing upon the surface of the water at a little distance from each other, it chose rather to leap from stone to stone, than to pass through the water; and we saw several of them pass entirely over puddles in this manner, till they came to dry ground and then leap away."
This probably explains a fact mentioned by Capt. Percival in his account of Ceylon. "One circumstance (says that author) has often struck me with astonishment, that in every pond or muddy pool casually supplied with rain water, or even only recently formed, and entirely unconnected with any other water, swarms of fishes are continually found. The only explanation (he adds) which it appears possible to give of this phenomenon is, that the spawn is by some unknown process carried up with the rain into the sky and then let down with it upon the earth in a condition immediately to become alive."P. 318.
These fish may be of the same kind as those which Captain Cook observed in New Holland,. . a much more easy solution of the apparent wonder than Captain Percival's hypothesis. Yet I have been assured that small fish have been found in India, after a shower, upon the roof of a house. The thing was affirmed so positively that it could not be disbelieved without rejecting the direct testimony of one whose veracity there was every reason for believing; it certainly appears impossible, nevertheless it ought to be mentioned in justice to Captain Percival's opinion. The stories which are to be found also of its raining frogs, might have been quoted by that author as cases in point.