HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 173 



night, at which time most of them are taken ; and on the succeeding day they are pre- 

 pared and secured below. At any time, however, when the decks are full of fish, they 

 proceed to cure them ; and this is the process. The operators being placed in juxta- 

 position before a bench or platform, about mid-height, the 'cut-throat,' wielding a 

 sharp two-edged knife, which bears the same sanguinary and ominous name, seizes the 

 fish, and, separating the connecting integuments between the head and the body, he then 

 passes his knife through from the nape to the vent, and abstracts the viscera. He then 

 passes it to the ' header,' who, by an adroit process, separates the articulation of the 

 spine at the shoulder, and detaches the head from the trunk, which he passes to the 

 ' splitter ' ; who, commencing at the shoulders, proceeds to lay the fish open to the tail, 

 and detach the sound-bone. The fish, being thus prepared, is thrown into the hold, to 

 the ' Salter,' who strews on the salt and stows it neatly away, in compact layers, with 

 the skin down. And in this manner they proceed daily till all the salt is wet, if they 

 are so fortunate as to get a full fare. They are sometimes obliged, however, by the 

 scarcity of fish, by losing their anchors, by sickness or casualty on board, or other 

 causes, to return without wetting all their salt. 



" Besides the bodies of the codfish, and the bounty, there are other emoluments accru- 

 ing to the adventurers ; such as the oil extracted from the livers of the cod, of which 

 about fifteen barrels to eight hundred quintals of fish is produced, and is sold at about 

 fifty cents per gallon ; and halibut, which was mostly thrown away formerly, but now 

 constitutes a considerable proportion of the profits. It is salted like the codfish, and 

 sold green from the vessel, on arrival, at about two dollars per quintal ; the subsequent 

 processes of drying and smoking for the market being performed by the purchasers. 

 This article is mostly derived from the second fare ; and about fifteen thousand quintals 

 are annually brought into Marblehead, and, with the oil, are divided in the same propor- 

 tions as are the codfish and the bounty. As regards the proportional proceeds of the fare, 

 on return of the vessel to port, one quarter part is considered to be the property of the 

 shoresman, and the other three quarters of the crew ; but the shoresman is allowed one 

 eighth part more on articles that it is his province to prepare for the market, such as 

 drying the codfish, &c. The sounds, or air-bladders, and the tongues of the codfish, 

 with the fins of the halibut, collectively called ' garney,' are the perquisites of the crew, 

 but of which the shoresman is allowed some proportion, according to mutual conven- 

 tion. From twenty to thirty barrels to a fare are saved ; the fins selling for about eight 

 dollars per barrel, and the sounds and tongues for from six to seven dollars. When the 

 vessel returns, she is moored, head and stern, at about a cable's length from the shore, 

 and the crew proceeds to 'wash out' the fare ; which is done by unlading it into boats, 



