shut down, and the fish are then securely inclosed, and they never seek to leave till their breeding instinct moves them to gain the sea, at which time they have attained to a considerable size—from four to five pounds weight. The eel seems to grow at the rate of about one pound weight in each year. At first the fry will number so many as 1800 to the pound, and that number, in the course of a year or two, will be worth £40! It is difficult, even at Comaccio, to obtain precise information as to the growth of the eels. Some of the fishermen say that it is ten years before they arrive at maturity; others say they grow to their full size in half that time. Mullets, which are also cultivated to a large extent in the lagoon, are very small at the beginning, and number 6000 to the pound weight; but in the course of a twelve, month that quantity will have so grown as to be 1500 pounds in weight.
As to the average weight of fish taken from the lagoons in the course of a year, it is known, for instance, that between the years 1798 and 1813 the annual take averaged close on 2,000,000 pounds weight. At present the average yield is about 1,000,000 pounds. This comparatively short supply is caused by the mortality of former seasons; but it is known that the annual yield of fish does not represent anything like the breeding capacity of the lagoon. The quantity stolen by poachers is very considerable; so that M. Coste estimates the true production at 4,000,000 pounds weight each year. Three successive accidents killed nearly 10,000,000 pounds weight of fish. When a large capture is taken on any particular night a gun is fired in order to proclaim the good news; and next day a grand feast is held in celebration of the event. The harvest season begins at the end of autumn, and is inaugurated with solemn religious services. The sluices are opened to let in the sea-water, which is supposed to excite the migratory instinct of the fish, and lead them to seek their way out of the lagoon. Dark nights, accompanied with rain or wind, are those on which the largest captures take place. During a furious storm, on an October night in 1697, 1200 baskets of fish of different kinds were caught, the weight of which was close upon 700,000 pounds. The trouble attending the capture is not great: the fishermen wait patiently and silently round the basins and labyrinths till the fish rise, when they are handed out with great celerity. The harvest, like the seeding time, lasts for three or four months, and all engaged in it are gay and excited.
As the eels are caught they are transferred to the great cooking houses, where they are at once prepared for the spit—all, or most of the fish taken at Comaccio being sold in a ready-cooked state. To admit of this there is an immense series of kitchens, with gigantic fires, where the best of the eels are roasted, the smaller kind being fried in the fat of those which have been put on the spit. Even the grease is of great value, and flows from the fireplace to appointed reservoirs in a little canal which has been constructed for the purpose. Some of the fish are cruelly roasted alive; and on this delicate point we may quote the opinion of Eude, the great artist cook, who gives the reason for his process of throwing them on the live coals previous to their being skinned. In his book on cookery, he says: “Take one or two live eels, throw them into the fire; as they are twisting about on all sides, lay hold of them with a towel in your hand, and skin them from head to tail. This method is decidedly the best, as it is the means of drawing out the oil, which is unpalatable. Note. Several gentlemen have accused me of cruelty, for recommending in my work that eels should be burned alive. As my knowledge in cookery is entirely devoted to the gratification of their taste, and the preservation of their health, I consider it my duty to attend to what is essential to both. The blue skin and the oil, which remains when they are skinned, are highly indigestible. If any lady or gentleman should make the trial of both, they will find that the burnt eels are much healthier; but it is, after all, left to their choice whether to burn or skin.”
At Comaccio a great portion of the flat fish are fried in huge pans; but we are told that they are not thrown alive into the frying-pan.
Another mode of preserving the fish is by salting them in great stacks, and after time has been given for their being thoroughly saturated, they are packed in barrels of various sizes, and along with the grilled eels sent away into the interior of the country for sale.
The remaining style of cooking is by immersing the fish in a boiling pickle. “This cruel necessity,” we are told by Professor Coste, “is absolutely indispensable, otherwise the cure would be quite spoiled. If immersed after death, the entrails of the fish, absorbing too little salt, would corrupt, while the skin would present a deceitful appearance. If established usage was departed from, there would be the risk of our having at table beautiful fish, which on being carved would be rotten. To see if the conditions of cure have been fulfilled, the merchants on making a purchase always open the mouths of the fish, in order to smell them.” An insertion of powdered salt into the insides of the fish completes the operation.
Although we have not in this country such a place as Comaccio—the only fish-breeding pond being, as we have stated, on the river Tay, at Stormontfield—the example of the inhabitants of Comaccio might be followed, and a pond, or series of ponds, be erected about some of our marshy places, which would yield large quantities of wholesome fish-food, at a rate that would bring it within the reach of the poorest portions of the community. The Comaccio ponds could be easily imitated; and there are fens and watery places in England that seem naturally suited for the construction of such places. It is certain that there are very large quantities of eels in this country, and that these, when properly cooked, form a wholesome and palatable food. Somehow, the Scotch people have a terror of the eel, and decline to partake of it; but in time this prejudice might be overcome, and the rivers of Scotland made to yield up in large quantities those eels which are known to grow in them. Large quantities of this serpent-like fish are used in
