228 THE SAND EEL FISHERY. 



wards of a Imndred pounds, but its ordinary dimensions are 

 from five to seven feet. It is entirely a marine species, al- 

 though frequently found in the mouths of rivers, its object 

 being, it is thought, that of feeding on the fish that ascend 

 or descend the stream. Of these it devours large quanti- 

 ties, not objecting to crabs and shell-fish, which the strength 

 of its jaws permits it to masticate without difficulty. The 

 smaller kinds of fish it swallows entire, and thus fortified by 

 good nourishment, it becomes a formidable adversary when 

 hauled into the boat by a fisherman's line, or found among- 

 the rocks, where it is sometimes left by the retiring tide. 



This does not seem to be a matter of complaint in our 

 time. The conger, however formidable, also finds a danger- 

 ous adversary in the spiny lobster of the Mediterranean 

 Sea, which is said to enter into a fierce battle with the con- 

 ger, and generally becomes the victor, from the superiority 

 of its weapons of defence, the claws, which lacerate and 

 wound the monstrous eel, proving the death summons. 



The conger, when properly cooked, has a most delicious 

 flavor, but somehow or other there is a great antipathy to this 

 fish, as being, probably, too much of the serpent form ; but 

 travelers in Cornwall find a conger-pie delicious, and those 

 persons who have visited the Channel Islands will not 

 easily forget the delicious soup that is made from this fish. 

 Even as far back as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, there was 

 a singular mode of curing congers in Cornwall, which Avas 

 merely to slit them in half, and without any further prepa- 

 ration to hang them up in a kind of shambles erected for 

 that purpose ; such parts of them as were not gone^ were 

 considered fit for use, and exported to Spain and Portugal. 



The Sand-Ed fishery, although of a very primitive char- 

 acter, being mostly carried on with spades, shovels, three- 

 pronged forks, rakes, and in fact any implement of a raking 

 character at hand, is very exciting and amusing. Large 

 slioals are observed frequently swimming near the shore. 



