6l8 . THE OCEAN WORLD. 



says, "belong principally to the ports of Granville and St. Brieuc; and 

 the crews of their ships consist of two very distinct elements ; the 

 smaller portion being specially raised among the fishermen properly 

 so called, they form the aristocracy on board ; to these are added a 

 larger number of mere labourers, who are landed on the arrival of the 

 vessel at her port. Their functions are limited to receiving the fish 

 from the boats, opening it, washing off the glutinous matter in the 

 chauffant, putting the liver apart, and laying out the split fish between 

 the layers of salt ; finally, subjecting it to the different phases of the 

 drying process on the strand. 



"The chauffant is a shed raised upon piles, standing one half in 

 the water and one half on shore ; it is constructed of planks and 

 posts, through which the air is suffered to circulate freely, but covered 

 in with some of the ship's sails. Here the process of separating the 

 intestines from the body of the fish and the salting process are 

 carried on, in the midst of an atmosphere charged with all manner ot 

 disgusting smells, for the labourer is by no means delicate, and never 

 thinks of removing the disgusting impurities which he is creating. 

 There he stands, knife in hand, tearing and cutting out intestines and 

 separating vertebrae, his only care being to avoid cutting himself 

 which is the chief danger he runs in the midst of odours sufficient to 

 produce suffocation. 



" Connected with the platform on which this rough operation is 

 performed is a cauldron, sunk in the earth, to receive the oil pressed 

 out of the liver. This cauldron is surmounted by a roof some nine 

 feet in height, in the fo~m of an inverted cone. Here the oil which 

 flows from the open way above is suffered to remain, after which it is 

 drawn off into casks. 



"The drying sheds, formerly of wood, are now constructed of 

 stone, and in places well exposed to the sun, and especially to the 

 wind. The sun, it is said, does not dry, but scorches ; the wind, on 

 the other hand, marvellously fulfils the purpose, and in order to 

 avoid the one and court the other, an apparatus has been invented, 

 consisting of long movable branches, which can be inclined so as to 

 bring the wind directly upon the row of cod, in connection with the 

 sun's rays, which are, indeed, not very formidable in this foggy 

 region." 



The cod-fish thus dried at Newfoundland are forwarded for con- 

 sumption to all parts of the world ; but only a small part of the 

 products of the fishery are thus prepared. More than half the pro- 

 duce of the French fleet are sent to France merely salted, by ships 

 which carry salt, bringing back fish in return to Rochelle, Bordeaux, 



