DESCRIPTION OF THE STAGE. 121 



covered with grass and vegetation. On the southern side the land 

 slopes down regularly to the sea, and an elliptical shaped beach 

 of rock and sand, visible only at low tide, separates the land from 

 the water, in this direction. On the west is a series of low, 

 rocky elevations ; in the north, another series of much higher 

 knolls is terminated abruptly by the water. In the centre of this 

 little plot of ground, comprising about one one-hundredth of the 

 whole island, the house is situated. 



I say the house is situated, but it would be better to say the 

 houses are situated ; for there are generally several buildings con- 

 nected with a well conducted fishing post, or summer residence. 

 I will give a brief description of them : — 



The stage consists of a platform some sixty or seventy feet long 

 (according to the necessary distance), and built from the beach into 

 the sea — generally so that the farther end will always be some feet 

 above the water even at the highest tide — and about sixteen feet 

 wide. It is built on posts or poles which raise it some six or eight 

 feet above the ground, and covered with boards. The regular 

 fishing boats are generally moored only a short distance from 

 the wharf or stage in deep water, while several small boats are fas- 

 tened to the stage by means of which the men get from the wharf 

 to their boats and back. The inner half of the stage is called the 

 house, and is covered over with a sloping roof and board sides. 

 It encloses bins for salt and fish, barrels for either or both, 

 and the general necessary things contained in such places. This 

 house has usually a loft for the storage of nets, or anything not 

 needed for immediate use but which are too good to be thrown 

 away. A simple board walk leads to the front door, while the back 

 partition, generally open to the stage beyond, completes the fishing 

 house and stage, where cod are split and cured, salmon and trout 

 salted, mackerel cured, and where all kinds of fish are prepared 

 and preserved. One curious fact may be mentioned : that the 

 primitive way of fastening doors exists here almost everywhere 

 in spite of the cheapness of door fastenings as purchased of the 

 traders ; the whole contrivance is made of wood, and the door is 



