l8 VIKINGS OF TO-DAY 



scavenger, and, in foul companionship with his friend 

 the flounder, may be seen sweltering on the rotting 

 heaps of offal which surround every Labrador fish- 

 stage. He appears to have no feelings, but one all- 

 absorbing idea " to swallow " with his stupendous 

 mouth. I have caught on the sharp-pronged jigger, 

 when fishing for " torn-cod " for breakfast, the same 

 sculpin three times in succession, until for self-pro- 

 tection it was necessary to club him with a rowing 

 pin. 



The sleeper shark also infests the coast, and in 

 hundreds gather to devour the dead bodies of the 

 baby seals left by the sealers in the spring. It has 

 a callous nature, and Scoresby tells us, on one occa- 

 sion while one was feeding on a dead whale, and 

 scooping out at each bite pieces as large as a man's 

 head, a sailor pierced it through with a scythe 

 knife. It took little notice, however, and went on 

 feeding in exactly the same spot. Mackerel appear 

 in the straits of Belle Isle only. 



Two series of submarine banks lie off the Labrador 

 shores, over which it is shallow enough to fish with 

 small boats and hand lines. These have been esti- 

 mated to cover an area of over 7,000 square miles. 

 Over these the northern current spreads countless 

 animalculse, in the form of a vast ocean of living 

 slime. This food attracts the bait fishes especially, 

 and they, in turn, attract the cod. No doubt also, 

 this is the attraction to the numerous whales, whose 

 loud " blowing," as they laze along in the sunshine 



