226 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



lance to a snake eels arc abhoiTcnt 

 to some persons; but an eel's flesh 

 if properly cooked, is as fine a dish 

 as any other fish meat. Some peo- 

 ple fry or bake the meat after the 

 eel is skinned. The best way to pre- 

 pare them, however, is by putting 

 the entire eel first in salt or ashes 

 and thereby easily removing the 

 slimy coat entirely. Then the eel 

 is laid in vinegar for many hours, 

 and then thoroughly cooked with 

 the addition of laurel leaves, pep- 

 per, salt, cloves and celery. When 

 thus prepared with some lemon 

 juice on top, it is a delicious meal, 

 also when converted into jelly. 



Eels were held in great esteem 

 by the Greeks and Romans, and 

 enormous prices were some times 

 paid for them; by the Egyptians, 

 on the other hand, they were held 

 in abhorrence. Their snake-like 

 appearance has had much to do 

 with the prejudice entertained by 

 many people against eels, and to 

 this may be attributed the fact 

 that in Scotland this valuable fish 

 is almost wholly rejected as an ar- 

 ticle of food. Their value in this 

 respect has, however, been recog- 

 nized in England from very early 

 times. 



Eels are very largely consumed 

 in London, the greater proportion 

 of them, numbering about 10,000,- 

 000, being brought alive annually 

 from Holland in welled boats. 



The greatest eel breeding estab- 

 lishment in the world_ is that at 

 Commachio, on the Adriatic, where 

 an immense swamp has been uti- 

 lized for this purpose.. The indus- 

 try is very ancient, having yielded 

 in the Sixteenth Century an annu- 

 al revenue of 12,000 pounds to the 

 Roman Pontiffs. 



Formerly it was believed by 

 naturalists that the eel was a 

 viviporbus animal; later observa- 

 tions, however, shows that the 

 eel lays its eggs similar to other 

 fish, species. The spawn is gener- 

 ally deposited at some, shallow 

 place near the water's edge in 

 sandy soil where, in time, the small 



worm-like eels are hatched out; 

 and in some regions where they 

 abound more than here, they 

 swarm by the millions against the 

 stream and creep over any ob- 

 stacles encountered in their mi- 

 gratory droves after crawlin^g over 

 obstacles during their migration 

 (according to reliable observa- 

 tion) some twenty-four feet above 

 the water's surface to reach the 

 water ahead. 



During winter eels lie huddled 

 together like so many snakes, and 

 similar to such reptiles, in sandy 

 soil or muddy excavations and in a 

 dormant condition until, during 

 spring time, they awaken and are 

 then very voi'acious for food and 

 thus easier to catch. In their dor- 

 mant state the natives of some 

 countries know exactly where such 

 eels are located, when the eels are 

 easily captured with special spears 

 ^— often by the hundreds — and 

 brought to market. In our Texas 

 climate the eel is often (iaught 

 also during the winter, unless it 

 be a very severe cold one. 



One of the most interesting eel 

 species is the so-called electric eel, 

 belonging to an especial family of 

 eels, and encountered in the mar- 

 shes of Brazil, where they are ab- 

 horred and encountered with ter- 

 ror, owing to their -peculiar elec- 

 trical apparatus these eels conceal 

 and discharge along each side of 

 the lower portion of the tail. They 

 are eaten by the Indians of Brazil, 

 who generally kill them by driving 

 a herd of horses into the marshes 

 and thereby exhausting the eel's 

 electric shocks, when also some 

 horses are killed by these eels. 

 Humboldt, in his travels had first 

 described these eels, and I trans- 

 late the following from Dr. H: 

 Klencke's German works: "Alex- 

 ander von Humboldt's Leben und 

 Wirken Reisen und Wissen; ein 

 Biographisches Dehkmal." 



"In the near vicinity of Calabozo, 

 Brazil, electric eels are very num- 

 erous, in stagnant waters as well 

 as in the inlets of the Orinoco. 



