THE COD FISHERIES NEAR THE LOFFODEN ISLANDS. 617 



after having thoroughly examined and smelt the bait, they coolly turned 

 their backs to it. By moving the lino and causing the shining bait to 

 dance about in the water, they could be made to repeat this maneuver, 

 but none of them would bite. Only a line line which 1 had brought 

 from Christiania, and to which a pretty little iish of German silver was 

 fastened, which certainly did not resemble any fish known to the cod, 

 but whose shining gloss, similar to that of the sand-eel, seemed to have 

 some attraction, and by drawing it slowly up through the water I suc- 

 ceeded in attracting a large cod nearly to the surface. It was evident 

 that it had a great desire to swallow the little fish, but, on the other 

 baud, it seemed to have an idea that everything was not all right, and 

 therefore it refrained from satisfying its desire. Only when the bait 

 was a few feet from the surface and threatened to leave the water alto- 

 gether, the cod took courage and with a quick jerk snapped at it, but, 

 as if frightened by its own boldness, it just as quickly shot away again 

 and joined its comrades. In this, however, it would not have been 

 successful if my hook had been stronger; but it was not calculated for 

 such large fish ; the cod consequently escaped with the fright and a 

 slight scratch of the mouth. When I hauled in my line the hook was 

 bent perfectly straight, and the metallic bait had been scratched in 

 several places by the sharp teeth of the cod. This little description 

 may serve to show some of the characteristics of the cod, which cer- 

 tainly is not so stupid as is generally made out, but whose greediness 

 often runs awaj' with its reasoning powers. 



I knew now that the only bait with which for the time being I could 

 hope to catch cod would be its own food at this period, viz, sand-eels. 

 This little fish, which is but little esteemed farther south, plays quite 

 an important part in these regions, as it occurs in enormous numbers. 

 Since it exercises no little influence on the movements of the cod, I shall 

 report what I learned regarding its occurrence and mode of life. Dur- 

 ing winter it seems to live at a great depth, for it is never found near 

 the shore, and only occasionally in the stomachs of fish caught in deep 

 waters. Toward the beginning of summer they commence to make their 

 appearance by coming in large and dense schools to the sandy bays and 

 sounds near the fishing-stations. In spite of its small size (it measures 

 scarcely a span in length), it is a very greedy fish and devours various 

 small pelagian animals, which are often heaped together by the current 

 in the sandy bays in enormous numbers, and these bays are the favorite 

 resort of these fish and their spawning-place during summer. The com- 

 paratively large grains of roe, having a beautiful reddish-yellow color, 

 do not float about like the roe of the cod, but are laid on the loose sand 

 on the bottom, where they go through their development. This fish has 

 the peculiar custom of digging in the sand, so that when the tide is out 

 it may be taken with spades from the dry sand at quite a distance from 

 the water, and this is really the only way in which the fishermen, at any- 

 rate near this fishing-station, procure this bait. It cannot be caught 



