184 THE LANG-REF. 



pose of keeping the interior of the Verke as dark as 

 possible. 



Should the fisherman not possess the requisite number 

 of Mjardar to fill up the several Bas, he ought at the 

 commencement to place those that he has at different 

 depths : one, for example, at the bottom ; a second near 

 to the surface, and so on. By the adoption of this plan he 

 will soon ascertain where most captures are to be made ; 

 and this point ascertained, he will place his Mjardar 

 accordingly. 



When the Mjardar are vittjade, or examined, and the 

 water is so deep that they cannot be reached by the hand, 

 they are brought to the surface by the assistance of a gaff, 

 or hooked-stick. 



The device called Ldng-ref was in much request in my 

 vicinity. As the name denotes, it consists of a long line, 

 to which at stated intervals the Tafsar, or snoods, as 

 English fishermen call them (short pieces of string fastened 

 to the hooks), are appended by a slip-knot. Two persons- 

 women as well as men frequently officiating are required 

 for this kind of fishing, the one to manage the boat, the 

 other the line. 



The Lang-ref is of two kinds : one is called the Botten- 

 ref y or bottom-line, because of its always lying at the bottom ; 

 the other, the Flott-ref, or floating-line. 



The Botten-ref is in more general use of the two, a 

 greater variety as well as quantity of fish being captured 

 near to the bottom than at the surface. The number of 

 hooks depends in some measure on the extent of the water. 

 Less than from one to two hundred are seldom used, but five 

 to six hundred are much more common ; and when two or 



