MODERN EELERIES. 201 



kind from those found elsewhere, but the eels are of 

 large size, and very sweet." The lake is now, according 

 to Colonel Mure,* a large yellow swamp, overgrown with 

 sedges, reeds, and canes, through which the river Cephissus 

 may be distinguished oozing its sluggish path for several 

 miles. But it is still famous for its eels, which Leake 

 describes as large, white, of delicate flavour, and light of 

 digest ion. t 



The principal modern " eeleries " would seem to be the 

 streams at Narbonne and Montpellier, and the Seine near 

 Elbceuf, in France ; the Elbe, where specimens weighing 

 sixty pounds reward the industrious angler ; and "Worken, 

 in Prussia, which sends tens of thousands to England 

 every year. In England we are all acquainted with 



" The Kennet swift, for silver eels renowned ;" 



while Ely, or Eel Island, Elmore on the Severn, and 

 Ellesmere on the Mersey, owe their names to the quan- 

 tity and quality of the eels found in their waters. The 

 Cam produces good eels ; and they are also to be taken, 

 and when taken valued, in the streams of Norfolk and 

 Lincolnshire. An old couplet says of two localities in 

 the latter county : 



" Ankham eel and Witham pike 

 In all England is none like." 



The eels caught in the Thames and in the water-courses 

 of Essex are never of large size, but they are tolerably 

 good eating. 



The most fantastic theories have been broached in 

 reference to the reproduction of eels. One authority 



* Mure, " Tour in Greece," i. 227. 

 t Leake, " Northern Greece," ii. 159. 



