THE NOEWEGIAN HERRING-FISHERIES. Ill 



with the whale and the codfish, whose element is the sea, and who can 

 follow the herring far helow the surface. These therefore give more 

 trustworthy signs of the herring's whereabouts than the birds; but, in 

 pursuing the schools of herring, there is also a difference between the 

 whale and the codfish which it may be interesting to notice. The whale 

 can easily be distinguished, even when far out in the sea, as it is obliged 

 to come frequently to the surface for the purpose of breathing, while the 

 codfish always keeps below the surface, and can only be seen when caught. 

 Both of these, while following the "herring mountain," for the purpose 

 of obtaining food, may, however, furnish useful signs forjudging of the 

 probable condition of the herring fishery. The whale invariably keeps 

 outside the great schools of herring, along the edges, never attempting 

 to penetrate auy farther. It is, therefore, an auspicious sign for the 

 fishermen when they see whales in a wide circle, round some well-known 

 fishing-place. They then know that the herring are approaching the 

 shore in dense masses, and they may justly expect a rich harvest. In 

 the year 1862, Boeck saw whales, in a long and imposing line, stretch 

 from the northwest of Rovrer as far as Utsire, and on the following day 

 the fisheries commenced near Rovajr and along the entire coast. If, 

 on the other hand, the whales are seen to spread over a large area, or 

 in small numbers, it: is safe to predict that the herring will not approach 

 certain places in large masses, but that they will be scattered, and thus 

 the schools be smaller. If, after the fishery has been going on for some 

 time, the whales are seen near the coast in the spawning places, it is 

 absolutely certain that the herring are leaving the coast, although on 

 that day fishing may be very good. In the same year,! 1862, remarkable 

 examples of the truthfulness of these phenomena were witnessed. The 

 codfish does not exercise the same influence on the masses of herring 

 that the whale does. Being a very greedy fish of prey, it plunges into 

 the school of herring, scatters them, if possible, surrounds the fright- 

 ened fish on all sides, pursues them fiercely, and often drives them to- 

 ward the shore loug before the chief mass of the school reaches there. 

 The approach of such smaller scattered schools, before the fisheries 

 commence, are termed, by the Norwegian fishermen, "sejejag," (codfish- 

 chase.) When the school approaches the shore, the codfish is found 

 not only on its edge, but in the middle of it; and if codfish are caught 

 having herring in their stomachs, it is a sign that the herring fishery is 

 near at hand. Of the greediuess of the codfish, and its power to scatter 

 the herring-schools, amusing illustrations may frequently be seen in the 

 full seines. This sight is, however, more amusing to the spectator than 

 to the owner of the seine, as it frequently happens that the scared her- 

 ring press the seine down so heavily as to allow them to escape. Seine- 

 fishermen are, therefore, afraid of the codfish. If fche schools are already 

 scattered before coming near the shore, the codfish is found mixed with 

 the herring during the whole fishing season; and it is not a sign of 



