CHAPTER XIY 



.The Codfish. — Gadus morrhva. — Linn. 



Does anyone who revels in black bass literature ana bfooK trouc 

 Mstory wonder why, nay, indignantly inquire, what business the 

 " low-down " codfish has in such company ? The New York City 

 angler can tell him. What one of that noble fraternity has not 

 gone to the " Cholera banks " after codfish, and what one of that 

 aforesaid fraternity has ever caught one ? 



Though to fishermen who are joined to their idols in the shape of 

 a six-ounce bamboo joss and a mystic brass wheel, quick-revolv- 

 ing, termed a reel, the codfish is the lowest of the low, yet it is the 

 most important food fish, with the exception of the little herring, 

 known to our age. Whole communities live by catching and gelling 

 the codfish, and the right of fishing for them in certain regions has 

 been made a clause in international treaties. 



The codfish multiplies more rapidly than any other salt water fish, 

 and lives on the small Crustacea that inhabit the depths of the ocean. 

 It is found in the salt waters of New York and New England States, 

 but its home and stronghold is at the fog- shrouded banks of the 

 Newfoundland. There they are caught by the thousands of tons, 

 by means of set lines, consisting of hundreds of feet of line, having 

 a hook at every interval of three feet, baited with small pieces of 

 fish or clam. These lines, heavily leaded, are sunk in the ocean sup- 



