208 



A VISIT TO COMACCHIO. 



ANGLING FOR EELS. 



At Comacchio, near Venice, an immense apparatus, the 

 largest in existence, and constructed on principles which 

 show a profound knowledge of the habits of these fish, 

 provides for their capture on a gigantic scale. 



The " lagoon " of Comacchio, lying about two miles 

 distant from the Adriatic coast, measures one hundred 

 and forty miles in circumference. It contains several 

 islands, on one of which is situated the fortified town of 

 Comacchio. The lagoon is divided into forty basins, or 

 "fields," as they are locally called, by dykes, and each 

 basin is connected with the Adriatic by a canal. Through 

 these canals the fry of the sole, the mullet, and other 

 fishes, but more particularly the eel, enter the lagoon, 

 where they are fattened until they attain a marketable 

 value. 



The government of the lagoon is placed in the hands of 

 the farmer-general, who rents the fisheries from the Italian 

 Government. The men whom he employs are divided into 

 brigades ; and their business consists in the construction 



