614 KEPOKT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. 



over a larger space of the bottom iu a day tliau I could otherwise have 

 done iu a week. I was uot particularly successful near the shore, but 

 the pulling at the line by fish biting the bait was quite lively when I 

 approached the hidden depths lying farther out toward the places 

 where the bottom falls off abruptly toward the great deep. During 

 winter when the weather is stormy these places are almost inaccessible, 

 and then present one mass of seething foam. They are well known to 

 the fishermen as good summer fishing-places, and are visited by them 

 especially during the time when the pollack approach the shore. The 

 pollack-fisheries are almost exclusively carried on in these places. At 

 this time, however, the pollack had not yet arrived, and such localities 

 were therefore exclusively held by their relatives, the cod. 



The majority of the cod which I caught here (and I caught no other 

 fish) were certainly one-year-old fish, having an average length of one 

 foot; but occasionally I also caught larger fish which required consid- 

 erable exertion in hauling up, and whose age was certainly three years 

 at the very least. Of two-year-old cod I found but few. Most of the 

 cod caught here were of the variety generally termed " algce fish," as 

 their color was more or less a reddish brown with a beautiful golden 

 gloss on the sides, and their shape somewhat stouter than is generally 

 the case. I knew, however, that this was only owing to their living 

 among the red algse ; and during the course of my observation this 

 opinion was fully confirmed. 



During the following days I continued my observations in the many 

 deep j)laces which are near this fishing station, and with the same result. 

 There was no difficulty in obtaining as many one-year-old fish as I de- 

 sired. These excursions were not without danger, and would have been 

 still more so if I had not had experienced people with me. As soon as 

 the heavy waves begin to come in from the sea, which cannot always 

 be distinctly seen from a small boat, these places are not to be trusted. 

 The weather may be perfectly calm, and the sea around these places be 

 as smooth as a mirror, and still there is danger, unless great care is 

 taken, of being suddenly ingulfed in the waves without the least chance 

 of escape. It is, therefore, not advisable to go with the boat on these 

 deep places, but rather to keep near the edge. It is astonishing to ob- 

 serve how the sea near to the boat suddenly rises iu the shape of a 

 broad pyramid, which slowly sinks down to the general surface. For 

 a long time again the sea may look perfectly smooth, but as soon as the 

 fishermen have noticed the above-described suspicious movement of the 

 sea they cannot be induced to approach the place, for if the boat should 

 be where the pyramid of water rises, it would surely be dashed to pieces. 

 These dangerous places have caused many losses during the winter- 

 fisheries, when boat-crews which were not well acquainted with these 

 waters got within their reach. But by keeping at a certain distance 

 one may, without any special danger, witness the grand and interesting 

 sight of the great waves rising and falling. It may happen, however, 



