106 COD FISHERY. 



they are to eftablifli their fifliery in diftant quar- 

 ters, they go, eight, ten, or twelve men, in boats 

 of feven or eight tons, which they call feules, and 

 carry fome provifions with them. 



They bait their hooks with herrings, pilchards, 

 and other forts of fmall fifh, or, in failure of thefe, 

 with mufckSj five or fix of which are fometimes 

 fufficient to bait a hook. They ufe, alfo, lug- 

 worms, or black- worms, which they gather on the 

 ftrand at low water. 



It is particularly requifite to have good baits in 

 the north, as the cod is ufually not hungry there : 

 it would bite but feldom at the hooks, wer-e they 

 baited only with cad's offals, 



They fiih alfo for cod, with large lines extended 

 on the bottom, called fpillars ; fome of which are a 

 thoufapd fathoms in length, and carry twenty or 

 thirty dozen of hooks. To the end of the leading 

 line they faften a large flone, to keep it fixed ; and 

 at the other end of it is a line, at the extremity 

 whereof is a buoy, or leather bag, filled with air, 

 which they ca.ll blaque, or> a littk empty barrel, 

 that ferves as a mark to iliew where the leading 

 Mne is. Sometimes, inflead of this blaque, they 

 faften the line to a rock or a flake. 



This mode of fifhing is pra&ifed alfo by. the 

 fifhers of the north of Scotland. The lines are 

 laid out in the morning, and taken up at noon ; it 

 often happens, that three-fourths of the hooks are 

 loaded with cod, or fome pther forts of good fifh ; 



the 



