284 



Cod 



the vessel, washed, dried so that it does not drip ; 

 that is all. It is carefully freed from bone (the sea 

 process only ridding it of the main bones), cut into 

 neat squares of meat that have no skin or any particle 

 of uneatable matter attached to them. A number, say 

 six, of these squares are pressed together, are neatly 

 fastened with string, packed in a pretty parcel and, 

 behold, the clean, newly caught, lightly salted Cod 

 is ready for transportation among the seventy million 

 people of the United States, most of whom are exceed- 

 ingly fond of ' Cod-fish balls ' (made of fish and potato 

 and fried brown) for breakfast. So that now only 

 the inferior fish not considered good enough for home 

 consumption is exported. 



Practically nothing is wasted of the Cod. Even 

 the offal which is flung overboard goes to nourish those 

 that remain to be caught perchance some other day, 

 so that it cannot be said to go unutilised. But such 

 an immensely valuable product as cod-liver oil needs 

 only mentioning as one of the greatest gifts the ocean 

 makes to ailing mankind — a specific in wasting dis- 

 eases that has no equal. Even the swim bladders 

 and tongues of the fish are saved, and, salted down 

 in * kits ' (little tubs), are sent all over America. They 

 look, before cooking, like pieces of wet white kid, and 

 when ready for table are lumps of glutinous jelly, 

 which need some getting used to by strangers before 

 they can be eaten with comfort. But they are highly 

 esteemed in America, and with reason, for they are, 

 without doubt, a most nourishing and economical 

 food. They are much too salt for British palates, 

 but the average American loves his food as salt as 

 brine, and so they just suit. 



It may seem unfair of me to have made no mention 

 of the great share which Canada and Newfoundland 



