'.'4 cKIMI.\l,oI>o|>S AS POOl). 



of Newfoundland only in Au^iis-. and in Bouna P>ay first in Sep- 

 tember. Its vast shoals present :i curious appearance. ly their 

 strongly t wist ed. com pact t'orni. When they approach. hundred- 

 of vessels are ready lor their Capture. At t his season of : he 

 year. thr sc;i on ihe coast of St. I'ierre is covered with I'roni 400 

 10 .")00 sail of Knii'Iisli and French ships. cn^:iLi'c<l in the cuttle- 

 fish fishery. IMirino 1 violent u'ales of wind. hundreds of tons of 

 them :tre ol'len thrown up ioovlhcr in beds on the tint beaches. 

 Ihe decay of which spreads an intolerable diluvium ni'onnd. li 

 is in.-ide no use of. excepi for l>:tit : and :is ii nuiinl.-iins itself in 

 deeper wnter linn the cMpclMii. inste.-id of nets lu'inii' used to t:d<c 

 it. it is jio-o-cd :i ji^ci- liein^ :i nnmltcr of hooks r:idi:i; inu' from 

 :i fixed centre, made for the purpose 1 . The cod is in l>e-! condi- 

 tion after having fed on it. Anoiher me! hod of taking them is 

 sometimes resoried to. Fires are made all alon^-ilie shore 

 diir'niii" the niji'lit. when the loliu'o. al t ract ed liy the li^ht. :>p- 

 proaches too near for his safety, and is left on the strand l>y the 

 recess of the tide, when the fishermen ^o io ii'ather them."' 



Ciittle-lish are extensively used by man as food, throughout 

 the world; and some of the species are highly esteemed 1>\ epi- 

 cures. In t rcMtino 1 of the natural history of the ordinary Kuro- 

 pean species, we shall have occjision to mention some of t lit- 

 methods of fishing them: it will sntlice to narrate here the 

 m.-inner in which ihey ai'e secured by some of ihe less civili/ed 

 raees of nirin. 



In the Polynesian Fslands. the natives have a curious contriv- 

 ance for catching cut tle-lish. It consists of a strai^li'. piece of 

 hard wood a foot, lonis round and polished, and not half an inch 

 in diameter. N'car one end of it. a number of beautiful pieces 

 of the COWlie, OF tiger shell are fastened one over another, like 

 the scales of a fish, until it is nearly the sixe of a turkey'- e^Li'. 

 and resembles the cowrie. It is suspended in a hori/ontal posi 

 lion by a stroii"- line, and lowered by the fisherman from a small 

 canoe till it nearly reaches the bottom. The fisherman jerks l In- 

 line to ea use 1.1 ir shell to move. MS if it were alive, and t he jerking 



motion is called "tootoofe," the name of the contrivance. The 



euttle-lUh, attracted by the cowries, darts out one of its arms. 



I-', In.', \r,r /////. ,/,/rt).. viii. :',. 



