CHAP, x.] EEL-CURING. 461 



which are exclusively attended to by men. All the fish for 

 which the spit is unsuitable are fried in these pans with a 

 mixture of the grease dropped from the eels and olive- oil. 

 They are exposed to the air for some time, even during very 

 warm weather, before being cooked. This operation renders 

 them fitter for preservation. The eels roasted on spits, and the 

 fish cooked in the frying-pans, are placed in baskets of open- 

 work to dreep and cool. They are then packed in barrels of 

 large and small sizes. The packing is carefully and regularly 

 done similar to the method of packing herrings. A mixture of 

 vinegar and salt is poured into the barrel before it is closed 

 up. The vinegar must be of the strongest, and the salt 

 employed is grey rock-salt instead of white salt. Previous 

 to exportation the barrels are branded with different letters 

 according to the nature of the fish contained in them. 



Another method of preserving the fish is by salting. In 

 the room devoted to this operation is a raised quadrangular 

 space inclined so as to have a flow into a kind of ditch or 

 trough, similar to that which receives the grease from the eels 

 in the kitchen. On this raised space a layer of grey rock-salt 

 is spread, and upon this salt the eels are disposed, laid at full 

 length and closely squeezed together. Another layer of salt 

 is spread upon the eels, and then another layer of eels is 

 disposed crosswise on the first row, and so on until the pile is 

 sufficiently high. A layer of salt is spread on the top, which 

 is crowned by a board heavy with weights to press the fish 

 close together and prevent the air from penetrating into the 

 pile. The brine that exudes from the heap of fish and salt 

 flows into the trough already mentioned. When the fish are 

 considered to be well impregnated with the salt, which re- 

 quires a period of twelve or fifteen days according to the size 

 of the eels, the fish are taken down and packed in barrels, the 

 same as the cooked eels, but without any liquid. There is a 

 third mode of preparation, which consists in first immersing 



