178 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



to turu to the left, and it requires the utmost attention of the fishermen 

 to make sure of either. 



24. A net for catching liornfisli. — It costs, when new, from GO to 80 

 rigsdalers, and can be used for five or six years if kept in careful re- 

 pair. 



25. A model of the preceding net, showing in what manner it is placed 

 in the water. 



Toward fall the hornfish returns from the Baltic and travels through 

 the sound toward the North Sea. They can then no longer be caught 

 in the same place and in the same mauner as described above, for they 

 are spread at this season of the year over the whole sound. The whole 

 coast of Zealand, south of Kronborg, is now closely packed with large 

 nets, and the fish are not chased by men alone, for a large number of 

 porpoises are all day long busy in securing their share of the booty. 

 These porpoises appear in August, and chase the hornfish with the 

 greatest zeal. They are not at all shy, and they pursue the fish close up 

 to the boat, so that they can easily be caught. Their flesh, however, 

 cannot be eaten, but they prove useful, inasmuch as they actually assist 

 the fishermen in the chase for the fish. Special nets, called in Danish 

 "nedgarn," are used for this kind of fishing. 



26. One of the above-mentioned nets, («' nedgarns. v ) — At night the fish 

 will enter this net very readily, but by day they are very careful to avoid 

 it, and now comes the porpoise in its useful capacity of hound. But 

 for these animals the fish would remain at the bottom of the sea below 

 the nets. The fisherman rows toward the place where the porpoises are 

 seen and where the hornfish leap out of the water. Here he casts his 

 net and lies in ambush like a spider. Suddenly a rushing sound is 

 heard; it is a school of hornfish jumping toward the net on the surface 

 of the water. Behind them is the porpoise chasing them, now shooting 

 along under the surface with incredible swiftness, now leaping out of 

 the water, and not infrequently casting up some fish or holding one in 

 its mouth. Sometimes it turns a somersault, but, for the most part, its 

 large body falls straight back into the sea, splashing the water in all 

 directions. The school of fish turns directly into the net, and only those 

 that leap over it manage to escape and the fisherman gathers the fish 

 caught in the net and makes it ready to receive another school. When 

 the weather is favorable and the porpoises are lively, this chase is very 

 amusing. Porpoises, like trained dogs, never touch a fish that is caught 

 in the meshes, and with the most admirable dexterity they avoid tear- 

 ing the net in their bold leaps. The porpoise is often seen swimming 

 patiently alongside of the net waiting for a fish to fall off; but should 

 it be ever so hungry it would never think of plucking off one by itself. 

 It is therefore considered as a friend by the fishermen, and none of them 

 would ever venture to injure one of these animals. 



27 and 28. Nets for catching herring. — These nets are of different 

 depth, but all equally long. They are twice as long as the common nets, 



