182 HISTOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



rolling, have partially " tried out" their oil. To make more room in the cask the oil is partially 

 drawn off and stowed in barrels. If the skipper finds that he can get a good price for his oil at 

 Newfoundland or Saint Pierre, he will turn it into money at those places; otherwise it is carried 

 home and disposed of there. Oil from the "bankers" is not pure enough to be used as the great 

 "lung-strengthener," inasmuch as it is not nicely taken care of on board the vessel. It is made 

 into what is known as " tanner's oil," and is sold at the average rate of 38 cents per gallon. 



SOUNDS. The sounds of the fish are, on many vessels, regarded as one of the cook's per- 

 quisites. These, the swim-bladders, lying just under the backbone and in the roof of the general 

 cavity of the body, are of large size in the cod and well stocked with gelatine, though by no means 

 approaching the value of the sounds of the hake (Pltycis) in this particular. The cook, who was 

 not expected to take part in the operations of dressing fish, usually spent the time when the crew 

 were occupied in that work in cutting the sounds out from the backbones. As fast as he obtained 

 these he threw them into a pail of salt water, where they might soak until he was ready for the 

 further operation of scraping them. This he did most frequently at evening, when the dories were 

 distant from the vessel setting their trawls. In scraping sounds a bait-knife is used, and blood 

 and other dirty matters are scraped off, and the sounds are then put to soak in strong brine for a 

 few days. From the brine they are transferred to a barrel for permanent stowage, and then they 

 are heavily salted. At the time of final packing the sounds look white and clean, quite unlike the 

 bloody mass they were at first. On his reaching port the cook sells the sounds, commanding for 

 them a price varying from 2 to 6 cents per pound. Like the Grand Bank livers, Grand Bank 

 sounds are not regarded as first class; they are made very largely into a preparation called 

 ribbon isinglass, used chiefly for settling beer. The best sounds, obtained from the off-shore fish- 

 eries and the fresh fishermen, are made into the better grades of isinglass for refining and sizing 

 purposes, and are also used for food. 



COD TONGUES. In addition to livers and sounds the tongues of the cod are also often cut out 

 and saved by the fishermen, these being likewise the normal perquisite of the cook. On the Victor 

 no tongues were saved, but I was informed that they are often taken and preserved in salt. They 

 are sold at home, and find their way into 'the market as a great delicacy. 



OTHER VISCERA. I am not aware that any other viscera of the cod are saved for sale, though 

 in the halibut tbe fius are often saved, but the pea and the stomach, too, sometimes are saved to 

 be used as bait when other sorts of bait are scarce. This sort of bait was formeily very exten- 

 sively used in cod fishing, but of late years the fishermen believe they must have fresh bait, and, 

 to obtain it, will sacrifice a great deal. On the subject of " gurry fishing" I have spoken at 

 greater length in other places. 



g. BAIT AND BAITING. 



VARYING KINDS WITH SUCCESSIVE SEASONS. During recent years a practice has beeu in vogue 

 among most of the Grand Bankers, and, in fact, among all other cod-fishing vessels, of using fresh 

 bait. Until the past decade, at most, fish were often captured with bait which had been brought 

 from home preserved by salt, or with the entrails and flesh of the cod itself, called in fisherman 

 phraseology "gurry." It seems, however, now to be the a common opinion that during the 

 summer mouths the fish will not bite at all at salt bait or gurry, and it is a very general practice 

 to use some form of fresh bait. This bait is obtained from the land most conveniently acces- 

 sible, which, in the case of Grand Bankers, is Newfoundland. This baiting business has come to 

 be at that island a very important trade, and in the smaller hamlets, which are scattered along 



