262 PREHISTORIC FISHING. 



They are about'half a foot long. They do not spawn till May and June, 



at which time the Greenlanders lade out whole boat-loads of them with hoop 

 sieves strung with sinews : they dry them on the rocks in the open air, and store 

 them up in leathern sacks, or cast-off clothes, for their winter provision. 



" The most common food of the Greenlanders, next to the Capelin, is the 

 Lasher Bullhead, or UlJce, Scorpius Coitus, Lin. This fish may be found at any 

 season of the year in all the inlets of the coast in deep water, and is caught most 

 plentifully in winter, by poor women and children, with a line of whalebone or 

 feathers thirty or forty fathoms long. A blue stone is fastened to the end of this 

 line to sink it, and a white bone, or a glass bead, or a bit of red cloth serves as 

 a bait for the hook. 



" The common flounder is seen on these coasts, but seldom taken. But at 

 certain seasons the Greenlanders catch great numbers of the Holibut, Pleuro- 

 nectcs Hypoglossus, with large fish-hooks fastened to whale-bone or seal-gut thongs, 

 from a hundred to a hundred and twenty fathoms in length ; the largest are a 

 yard and an half or two yards in length, about half as broad, and a full span 

 thick ; they weigh from a hundred to two hundred pounds and upwards." 

 (Vol. I, page 88, etc.). 



" Of the whale-fishery of the Greenlanders, it is to be observed that the 

 proper whale and Narwhal are only caught in the north ; the Cachalot and smaller 

 species in the south also. Their method of taking the Greenland whale is as 

 follows : all the natives who engage in the pursuit put on their best clothes ; for, 

 according to a saying of their sorcerers, if any one of the company wore a dirty 

 dress, especially one contaminated by a dead body, the whale would fly their 

 approach, and even though killed would sink to the bottom. The women are 

 forced to accompany the expedition, partly in order to row, partly to mend the 

 men's clothes and boats, should they get torn or damaged. They assail the whale 

 courageously in their boats and kajaks, darting numerous harpoons into his 

 body. The large seal-skin bladders tied to these weapons prevent him from 

 sinking deep in the water. As soon as he is tired out they despatch him with 

 short lances. The men then creep into their fishing dress, which is composed of 

 seal-skin, and has shoes, stockings, gloves and cap, all in one piece. Thus 

 equipped they jump upon the whale, or even stand in the water by his side, 

 buoyed up by their swollen dress. They cut off the blubber with their uncouth 

 knives, and though provided with such poor instruments, are very expert in 

 extracting the whalebone from the jaws. The former operation is a scene of the 

 utmost confusion. Men, women, and children, armed with pointed knives, tum- 

 ble over each other's backs, every one striving to be present at the sport, and to 

 have a share in the spoil. It is a matter of wonder to a spectator how they 

 avoid wounding each other more frequently. However, the scuffle seldom ends 



