94 CEPITALOPODS AS FOOD. 



of XcwfoimdhuKl only in Auo-nsl.nnd in IJonnn P.ny first in Sep- 

 tcniliiT. lis \:ist siioiils proscMit a cnrions :ii)i)(':u;uice, by their 

 • stronoly twiHted, compact form. Wiu'n they ai)pr():u'li. luindrcds 

 of vessels are ready for tlieir (•n])inre. At this season of the 

 year, the scm on the co:ist of St. I'ieiTe is covered with from 400 

 to .^)(»(» sail of Kno-lish and French ships, en-aiivd in the cnttle- 

 fish lisiierv. l>nrinii- violenl ;^ates oi" wind, hnndreds of tons of 

 them art' often thrown np loo-eiher in heds on the Hat l»eaclies, 

 the decay of wliieh spreads an intoh'rable elllnvium aronnd. It 

 is made no nse ol". exeepi lor liait ; and as it maintains itself in 

 deeper water than the eapelan. instead oCnels l)ein<^- nsed to take 

 it. it is jio-o-ed — a Jiuiier beinu' a nnndier of hooks radialino- from 

 a fixed centre. ma(h^ ibi- the ])uri»ose. The cod is in best condi- 

 tion after haviny- I'vd on il. Anoiher nu'ihod of takino- them is 

 sometimes resoi'ted to. Fires ai'c mach' ;dl alon^- the shore 

 during- the nioht. wIkmi the lobyo. aitracte(l by the liuht. ap- 

 proaches too near for his safety, and is h-ft on the strand by the 

 recess of tlie ti(h'. when the fishermen oo to o-ather them."* 



Cuttle-fish are extensively used by man as food, ihronohont 

 the world; and some of the si»ecies are lii^Li'hly esteemed l)y epi- 

 cures. In treaiino- of ihe natural liistory ol' ihe ordinai'y Furo- 

 Itean species, we shall have occasion to mention sonu' of the 

 methods of lishino- them: it will sullice to narrate here the 

 manner in which ;hev are secured by some of ihe less civilized 

 I'accs of man. 



In the Polynesian Islands, the natives have a curious contriv- 

 ance for catching cuttle-fish. It consists of a straight piece of 

 hard wood a foot long, round and polished, aud not half an inch 

 in diameter. Near one end of it, a number of beautiful pieces 

 of the cowrie, or tiger shell are fastened one over another, like 

 the scales of a fish, until it is nearly the size of a turkey's egg, 

 and resembles the cowrie. It is suspended in a horizontal posi- 

 tion liy a sti-ong line, and lowered by the fisherman from a small 

 canoe till it nearly reaches the bottom. The fisherman jerks the 

 line to cause the shell to move, as if it were alive, and the jerking 

 motion is called "tootoofe," the name of the contrivance. The 

 cuttle-fish, attracted b}^ the cowries, darts out one of its arms, 



* Edinb. New Phil. Journ., viii, 395. 



