THE COD FISHERIES NEAR THE LOFFODEN ISLANDS. G19 



to attcmi)t to catch the live fish with the hands they would, like eels, 

 slip between the fingers, I have more than once witnessed this peculiar 

 fishing process, as I had to get all my bait in exactly this manner. 



Since I had learned to know the taste and i)lace of sojourn of the cod 

 at this period, 1 no longer looked for it in those places where it had for- 

 merly been found in such large numbers, but I cast my lines where I 

 supposed any sand-eels to be, viz, along the edges of the deep ravines 

 rising from the depth of the ocean toward the sandy bays. JMy fishing 

 in these places was successful beyond all expectation, and I returned 

 nearly every time with my boat heavy laden with fish. I not only 

 caught one-year-old cod in this manner, although the greater number 

 were certainly such, but also two and three year old fish ; occasionally 

 I even caught unusually large fish of exactly the same size as the com- 

 mon winter-cod. Nearly all, both the one-year-old and the older fish 

 had a very light grayish-green color with a silvery gloss on the sides 

 and the usual dark spots ; they possessed in other words all the char- 

 acteristics of the so-called "sand-eel cod," well known in the Lofloden. 

 One of the largest fish, measuring 1^ (Norwegian) yards In length, I 

 took home to examine more closely and had its picture taken and col- 

 ored exactly, in order to compare it with the winter fish which was well 

 known to me. It was then seen that even down to the most minute'^ 

 details it was the exact image of the common winter-cod or skrei, and 

 neither I nor the fishermen to whom I showed it could point out a 

 single difference in either shape, color, or size. The only thing which 

 distinguished these large sand-eel cod from the winter-fish was, that the 

 generative organs were not yet fully developed, although in the larger 

 ones both the roe and the milt could be plainly discerned, and so far de- 

 veloped that they certainly during the coming winter would have come 

 to the fishing stations as real skrei with fully matured roe and milt. 



While I continued my investigation of the mode of life and place of 

 sojourn of the so-called sand-eel cod, the pollack began to make its ap- 

 pearance. All the fishermen were now busy getting ready for pollack- 

 fishing, and left the cod entirely undisturbed for the present. The food 

 of the pollack at this time consisted likewise for the greater part of sand- 

 eels. This could be seen by opening the stomach of some that had been 

 caught, but likewise by direct observation. When my fishermen rowed 

 me about among the outer islands I often noticed on the rocky ledges 

 turning toward the Westfiord an unusually large number of birds 

 (gulls) collected in a small space. There was nothing specially striking 

 in this ; but the way in which these birds acted was peculiar in the 

 highest degree. With their snow-white plumage forming a very striking 

 contrast with the dark background of the rock, they sat frequently in 

 regular rows like soldiers, all turning their heads in one and the same 

 ilirection. Not a movement could be noticed, not a sound was to be 

 heard ; they looked as if they had become petrified and had firmly grown 

 to the rock. 



