ECONOMIC VALUE OE CUTTLE-EISHES. 93 



Cuttle-fishes are employed as bait by fishermen, and, by their 

 abundance at certain seasons in the neighbourhood of Newfound- 

 land, they exercise an important influence on the cod-fishery; 

 thus playing, as D'Orbigny remarks, an important part in the 

 commerce of the most flourishing nations of Europe. 



From a letter from Mr. W. E. Cormack, an intelligent Newfound- 

 land merchant, who distinguished himself by being the first 

 European who succeeded in crossing Newfoundland — communi- 

 cated by Professor Jameson to the " Edinburgh New Philosophical 

 Journal" (1826, p. 32) — we learn that more than a hundred millions 

 of cod are caught annually with cuttle-fish as bait, about two 

 hundred millions with the capelin, and one hundred millions with 

 herrings and " shell-fish." 



Poole, in Dorsetshire, has long been one of the principal ports 

 and depots of the Newfoundland trade. My friend Mr. Wm. 

 Penney of that town, very kindly obtained for me, in compliance 

 with my request, some authentic recent information on the 

 subject from a gentleman who for many years resided m New- 

 foundland, as the agent of a Poole firm. He writes : — 



"My friend Mr. E , who has |Bpent some years in New- 

 foundland, informs me that the bait used for the cod-fishery there 

 at the commencement of May is the herring ; during June, July, 

 and August, the capelin; and about the end of August, and 

 throughout September they use the squids, which come into the 

 bays in great abundance. They are caught by means of a 

 ^'jigger," which is a conical piece of lead, round the circumference 

 of the base of which are inserted eight or ten hooks. The fisher- 

 men go out in punts squid-jigging of an evening, to catch the bait 

 required for the next day's fishing. About 100 or more squids 

 are caught by each boat, and thousands of them are taken during 

 the season about 150 or 200 yards from the shore, in tolerably 

 deep water. In many stations more than a dozen boats are 

 engaged in squid-catching. During the squid-jigging the fisher- 

 men hollo and shout, and make a great noise ; for what purpose 



