EELS. 269 



Reader, are you fond of eels 2 We ourselves 

 dislike them in all their stages, whether on hook 



or table ; and yet kind Mrs of Linlith- 



gow, sends us some every year from the Loch of 

 that name, beneath " The Royal house of Scot- 

 land"^ ancient Kings." With our accustomed 

 liberality, however, and setting aside for the pre- 

 sent our own personal feelings on this slimy subject, 

 we agree with Mr. Yarrell that eels are in truth a 

 valuable kind of fish, being extremely prolific, con- 

 sequently very abundant, widely distributed, easily 

 caught except with the hand and nutritious as 

 an article of food, though somewhat heavy from 

 their oily nature. " In this country they inhabit 

 almost all our rivers, lakes, and ponds ; they are 

 in great esteem for the table, and the consumption 

 in our large cities is very considerable. The Lon- 

 don market is principally supplied from Holland 

 by Dutch fishermen. There are two companies in 

 Holland, having five vessels each : their vessels 

 are built with a capacious well, in which large 

 quantities of eels are preserved alive till wanted. 

 One or more of these vessels may be constantly 

 seen lying off Billingsgate ; the others go to Hol- 

 land for fresh supplies, each bringing a cargo of 

 15,000 to 20,000 pounds weight of live eels, for 

 which the Dutch merchant pays a duty of ^13 per 

 cargo for his permission to sell. Eels and salmon 

 are the only fish sold by the pound weight in the 

 London market."* 



* BRITISH FISHES, vol. ii. p. 285. 

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