FISHERIES OP THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC 35 



a wooden rod the length of the cod, two fingers thick and 

 nailed opposite to him on the bench to hold the fish steady 

 and prevent it from sliding in its fat during the operation.' 

 The dresser still wears the mitten and the table still has the 

 wooden rod. 



' ' As then, so now, the fish are laid head to tail and salted, 

 are arranged on the stages, grouped en mouton at night and 

 in piles on the beach. The stages of flakes on a well-construct- 

 ed beach are now as they were then, though the fir boughs 

 with which they were overlain are now being driven out by 

 wire netting ; the introduction of which was a decided ad- 

 vance in the curing of fish as it is less liable to harbor the 

 multitude of flies which are attracted by the fish during the 

 first days they are on the flakes as well as in damp weather. 

 The mow shaped piles on the beach are sometimes thatched 

 with gaff cod laid tail upward, but more often with birch 

 rinds, or in heavy weather with sail cloth as in the old days. 



"In fact, throughout Denys' description, the procedure 

 is that still regarded as essential to making good fish. The 

 gentleman I have referred to finds a slight difference in the 

 mode of drying the fish then and now, and suspects that the 

 old way may be the best. Now the fish are spread on the 

 flakes flesh up, and towards evening turned skin up for the 

 night. Then they were laid skin up first, turned flesh up later 

 in the day and then again turned skin up for the night. The 

 old process involved another turning, but gave the skin a 

 chance to dry first, and the back must be thoroughly dried 

 in all well cured cod. 



"The changed conditions of the coast to-day, of course, 

 have made the final stages in the packing for shipment wholly 

 different from formerly. Now the fish are packed in tubs and 

 drums containing one Portuguese quintal of 128 pounds for 

 the Brazil markets, in casks of 448 pounds for the Mediter- 

 ranean and West Indies. 1 



1 Mr. Dolbel remarks that the 448 pound cask is a quite recent 

 innovation and being shipped by steamer puts the fish on the mar- 

 ket much earlier in the season than was usual by the old system 

 of shipping in bulk by small sailing vessels carrying from 1800 to 



