

OSSEOUS FISHES. 555 



into port over fifty million pounds of fish, an avefage of about six 

 millions annually. Two thousand English ships of various sizes, 

 manned by thirty thousand seamen, are now employed in this im- 

 portant branch of industry. 



On the coast of Norway, from the frontiers of Eussia to Cape 

 Lindesnass, the cod-fishery is an important branch of trade, in which 

 a maritime population of twenty thousand fishermen are employed, 

 with five thousand boats. 



The cod is taken either by net or line. The net is chiefly employed 

 at Newfoundland. The net used is rectangular, and furnished with 

 lead at the lower edge, and cork buoys on the upper edge. One of 

 the extremities is fixed on the coast ; the other is carried seaward, 

 following a curve taken by the boats, and the fish are attracted by 

 drawing upon both extremities of the net ; and by one stroke many 

 boat-loads are sometimes taken. 



The modern cod- smack is clipper-built, with large wells for carrying 

 the fish alive, its cost being about 1500. The crew usually consists 

 of ten to twelve men and boys, including the captain. The line is 

 also used for taking cod and haddocks. " Each man," says Bertram, 

 " has a line of fifty fathoms in length, and attached to each of these 

 lines are a hundred ' snoods/ with hooks already baited with mussels, 

 pieces of herring, or whiting. Each line is laid ' clear,' in a shallow 

 basket, and so arranged as to run freely as the boat shoots ahead. 

 The fifty-fathom line with a hundred hooks is in Scotland called a 

 ' taes.' If there are eight men in a boat, the length of the line will 

 be four hundred fathoms, with eight hundred hooks, the lines being 

 tied to each other before setting. On arriving at the fishing-ground, 

 the fishermen heave overboard a cork buoy, with a flagstaff about 

 six feet in height attached to it. This buoy is kept stationary by a 

 line, called the ' pow end,' reaching to the bottom of the water, where 

 it is held by a stone or a grapnel fastened to the lower end. To the 

 1 pow end ' is also fastened the fishing line, which is then paid out as 

 fast as the boat sails, which may be from four to five knots an hour. 

 Should the wind be unfavourable for the direction in which the crew 

 wish to set the Hue, they use the oars. When the line or ' taes ' is all 

 out, the end is dropped and the boat returns to the buoy. The 'pow ' 

 line is hauled up with the anchor and fishing line attached to it. The 

 fishermen then haul in the line, with the fish attached to it. Eight 



