  Total and differential cross sections for the dp --> 3He eta reaction have
been measured near threshold for 3He center-of-mass momenta in the range from
17.1 MeV/c to 87.5 MeV/c. The data were taken during a slow ramping of the COSY
internal deuteron beam scattered on a proton target detecting the 3He ejectiles
with the COSY-11 facility. The forward-backward asymmetries of the differential
cross sections deviate clearly from zero for center-of-mass momenta above 50
MeV/c indicating the presence of higher partial waves in the final state. Below
50 MeV/c center-of-mass momenta a fit of the final state enhancement factor to
the data of the total cross sections results in the 3He eta scattering length
of a = |2.9 +/- 0.6| + i (3.2 +/- 0.4) fm.
