224 



AMERICAN FISH CULTURE. 



of Comacchio may be said to begin, for at that time the 

 montee commences, when may be seen ascending up the 

 Reno and Volano mouths of the Po from the Adriatic a 

 great series of wisps, apparently composed of threads, but 

 in reality young eels; and as soon as one lot enters, the rest, 

 with a sheeplike instinct, follow their leader, and hundreds 

 of thousands pass annually from the sea to the waters of the 

 lagoon, which can be so regulated as in places to be either 

 salt or fresh, as required. Various operations connected 

 with the working of the fisheries keep the people in em- 

 ployment from the time the entrance-sluices are closed, at 

 the end of April, till the commencement of the great har- 

 vest of eel-culture, which lasts from the beginning of 

 August till December." 



