282 BEACH GRASS 



its borders. Would that white man had been as 

 frugal at that table I Oysters would still 

 abound, shad and salmon and trout and other 

 fish would throng the estuaries and rivers, sea- 

 birds in great multitudes would lay their eggs on 

 the sandy shores, and great auks, Labrador ducks, 

 Eskimo curlews, wild turkeys and wild pigeons 

 would still be with us. 



As one paddles up the creeks at low tide, fol- 

 lowing the winding channels, one is apt to see 

 from time to time a swift moving shadow, dart- 

 ing in and out of the waving forest of eelgrass. 

 Sometimes the shadow remains long enough to 

 record itself on the retina as an eel. The flesh 

 of the eel is firm and rich with fat, and is much 

 sought after by those who have .learned to like it 

 and have no psychological objection to its snake- 

 like form. In these waters it is caught by lines 

 baited with great masses of worms, it is speared 

 at low tide with barbed tridents, and is entrapped 

 in eel-pots — cylindrical affairs with funnel- 

 shaped openings into which the descent is easy 

 but the return is impossible to creatures of the in- 

 telligence of the eel. 



