BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 231 



always sure of securing what he has caught. His greatest annoyance 

 is the ground-sharks or nurse -fish, as the sailors call them, which will 

 often eat the bodies of the black cod, leaving only the heads attached 

 to the hooks. Another annoyance is from a small fish called by the 

 Elaidah Indians " nee-kaio-kaiung," the Blepsias cirrhosu.s (Pallas) Gun., 

 one of the family Cottidw, which steals the bait and often gets hooked ; 

 as soon as the Indian discovers this pest he quits fishing and goes to 

 another place. 



As the depth of the w^ater varies in different places it is usual to have 

 a lot of spare lines in the canoe which can instantly be knotted together 

 and form a line as long as required; sometimes 200 fathoms will be used, 

 as the line when fully supplied with hooks becomes a trawl. 



The sinler. — A most ingenious contrivance is the sinker used by 

 the Haidahs in this deep-water fishing. This is a stone, from 10 to 20 

 pounds in weight. A small kelp line is wound round this stone and held 

 by a bight tucked under the turns, and the end made fast to the end of 

 the larger line, which large line is wound round this stone, and a smaller 

 stoue which serves to bind it fast and as a sort of tripping-stone. The 

 large line is secured in a similar manner as the small line, by a loop or 

 bight tucked under the turns. The stone is then lowered to the bottom 

 and the line paid out. As soon as the fisherman sees enough pegs 

 floating to warrant his pulling in the line, he gathers in the slack till he 

 feels the weight of the stone, when he gives a sudden jerk, which pulls 

 out the bight and loosens the tripping- stone, which falls out and loosens 

 the big stone, which in turn becomes detached from the line, which is 

 then pulled in relieved of the w T eight of the sinker. 



Method of curing the black cod. — On my arrival at Skidegate, 

 in the last of August, 1833, I arranged with Mr. Andrew McGregor, one 

 of the partners in the Skidegate, to send some Indians to the west coast 

 to procure some black cod. He sent four Indians, Scanayuue, Ske-at- 

 lung, Ingow, and Skatsgai, who all belong to the Gold Harbor band on 

 the west coast. I sent a sack of salt with the Indians, with instructions 

 to take out the gills, remove the viscera without splitting the fish, and 

 then fill the cavity with salt, which was done, and the fish were re- 

 ceived in prime condition. 



On the 2d of September, Scanayune returned with twenty fine fish. 

 A council was now called to decide the best way to split them. There 

 were a number of eastern fishermen present, who were the crew of the 

 little steamer Skidegate, engaged in dogfishing for the oil works. Some 

 were of the opinion that the fish should be split in the back, like a salmon ; 

 but I objected, as I thought people would say they were the white-flesh 

 dog-salmon and be prejudiced, so I had them split and dressed like cod, 

 and well salted in a vat. But now my trouble commenced. I was of 

 he opinion, as were all the others, that the fish should be barreled like 

 salmon; but we had no barrels or coopers, and the question was how 

 1o get them to Victoria without rusting, for we all thought that so fat 



