EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING. 35 
and look into it, when they invariably rise to the surface, some- 
times for food, and at others merely to play with the hand or to 
take fingers into their mouths.” . 
And in this connection I will quote the following from the 
Chicago /veld, although it bears important testimony on another 
question of which I shall speak presently : 
“How Eets are Caucut In Maine. Frank E. Dyer of 
Belfast, now at South Deer Isle, in charge of an eel-fishing es- 
tablishment, writes some particulars concerning the business. 
The fish are sent fresh to New York markets. At South Deer 
Isle there are two large ponds, three miles inland, which are 
connected with a creek by small running streams. In the 
autumn the fish run up through these streams into the ponds, 
where they pass the winter imbedded in the mud. The run be- 
gins the first of September, and ends the last of October. In 
order to capture them, traps are made and placed in the streams 
through which the eels pass. These traps are wooden boxes, ten 
feet long, four feet wide, and two feet deep, with ends made of 
wire netting. The end in which the fish enter is constructed 
after the style of the lobster-pot, so that when a fish enters it 
cannot easily get out. To make the fish enter the trap a dam is 
built across the stream, the only opening being the mouth 
of the trap. Some will not enter, but will bore a hole un- 
derneath the dam. This is the fisherman’s greatest annoy- 
ance, having more or less of these holes to close every day. The 
fish only travel in the night time ; not one is to be seen after 
daylight. They prefer dark, stormy weather, and on such nights 
as high as ten barrels are taken from the traps. At high water 
the fisherman visits his traps in a dory and dips out the catch, 
which is taken to floating cars in the creek, where the fish are 
kept alive until wanted. This company has now sixty barrels, 
or 15,000 pounds of the fish. After the weather becomes 
freezing cold the catch is prepared for market. The skin is 
stripped off and the fish is laid straight on a board, where it 
freezes. They are then packed in boxes and shipped, and often 
bring from fifteen to twenty cents per pound.” 
In salt water eels are not taken in pots after the fall months, 
