80 THE OCEAN. 



such individuals as arp. but slightly injured by the 

 hook in fishing, while small ones, or such as are 

 lacerated, are thrown into the same receptacle, as food 

 for their more fortunate brethren. There are two 

 modes of capturing the Cod with the hook, the one is 

 with what are called in Cornwall bulters, which are 

 long lines, to which are attached, at regular distances, 

 other lines six feet in length, each bearing a hook ; 

 the intervals are twice the length of the small lines, 

 to prevent their intertwining ; these are shot across 

 the course of the tide. The other mode is by hand- 

 lines, of which each fisherman holds two, one in each 

 hand, and each line bears two hooks at its extremity, 

 which are kept apart by a stout wire going from one 

 to the other. A hea^^ leaden weight is attached 

 near the hooks, and thus the fisherman feels when his 

 bait is off the ground. He continually jerks them up 

 and down, and is thus aware of a fish the moment it 

 is secured. Although this seems a somewhat tedious 

 process of fishing compared with the immense 

 drauo-hts of the net, it is found in skilful hands to be 

 productive : eight men on the Doggerbank have 

 taken eighty score of Cod in a day. It is a heavy 

 fish : Pennant records one which weighed 78 lbs., 

 but this was a giant ; it was sold at Scarborough for 

 one shilling ! The fish are brought to the mouth of 

 the Thames in stout cutters, furnished with wells, in 

 which they remain alive ; hence they are sent up in 

 portions to Billingsgate by the night-tide. The cutters 

 lie at Gravesend ; for if they were to advance any 

 higher up the river, the admixture of fresh water 

 would kill the fish in the wells. The liver of the Cod 



