THE COD FISHERIES NEAR THE LOFFODEN ISLANDS. G37 



are fouud on the algce-bottoms near the coast, and are known by the name 

 of " algoB cod," " small-cod," &c. The youngest fish I observed several 

 times in that peculiar transition period when they go under the medusse. 

 On calm and clear days, when carefully watching the large number of 

 medussB which were Hoatiug past our steamer, I was always sure to see 

 some with the little fish sticking out underneath. But 1 only succeeded 

 in catching two of them, which, however, convinced me that they were 

 really young cod, and not the young of other fish. All this I had already 

 observed during my former journeys to the Loffoden, so that all my in- 

 vestigations could only be of interest as corroborating my former obser- 

 vations of the development and mode of life of the cod. 



As regards the zoological results of my observations, which were ob- 

 tained incidentally by means of the bottom-scraper, they were quite 

 considerable, and all the more interesting, as so far at least these por- 

 tions of the sea had never been explored by a naturalist. I was spe- 

 cially interested in gathering specimens of the different bottoms, with a 

 view of ascertaining the influence of the bottom on the development of 

 animal life. The results of these investigations will be published in the 

 reports of the Academy of Sciences (" VidensJcabs sehJcah^^) as soon as 

 all the material has been collected and arranged. 



But as it was likewise my desire to make practical observations of the 

 fisheries, and as I soon found that that portion of the ocean where the 

 surveys were to be made was but little suited for such observations, I 

 considered it my duty to change my original plan, and exchange the 

 comfortable life on board the steamer for the more difficult and danger- 

 ous method of making observations from an open fishing-boat. I was 

 furthermore induced to take this resolution as two weeks after I had 

 gone on board the Hansteen festivities began in honor of the Crown 

 Prince (our present King) in connection with the unveiling of the 

 Harold monument, V7hich would take the steamer for some time out of 

 its regular line of duties. I therefore respectfully bade adieu to the 

 life on board and the pleasant company of Lieutenant Wille and Lii u- 

 tenant Kropelin, and with all my apparatus left the Hansteen on the 14th 

 July to continue my observations on my own account. 



Since I was not, as in my previous voyages, jn a cod-district, but in a 

 herring-district, my attention was of course chiefly devoted to the her- 

 ring. It was my special object to examine the so called fat or summer 

 herring, because 1 had a lingering suspicion that its true nature had not 

 been properly described by older naturalists and by Mr. Boeck. With 

 this intention I took my first station in the city of Stavanger, from 

 which point I made excursions to the different fiords in the neighbor- 

 hood. The Stavanger fish-market likewise afforded ample opportunity 

 for examining herrings, which about this time were brought to town in 

 large quantities. After these observations had come to an end, it was 

 my intention to visit one of the outer fishing-stations where the spring- 

 herring fisheries are going on during winter, partly to get information 



