THE COD-FISHEKY. 55 



The modern cod-smack is built for speed, with large 

 deep wells for carrying her cargo alive; she costs 1500 

 or more, and is usually manned by a crew of eleven men 

 and boys. Her average expense per week is 20 during 

 the long-line season, but rises considerably if she is unfor- 

 tunate in losing lines. The number of these taken to 

 sea depends on the numerical strength of the crew. Each 

 man has a line of 50 fathoms (or 300 feet) in length ; 

 attached to it are about a hundred " snoods," with hooks 

 already baited with mussels, and pieces of herring or 

 whiting. Each line is laid clear in a shallow " scull," 

 or basket, so that it can run out freely as the boat forges 

 ahead. 



When they reach the fishing-ground the men heave 

 overboard a cork buoy, with a flag-staff fixed to it about 

 six feet in height. This buoy is kept stationary by a 

 rope, called the " pow-end," which is dropped by means 

 of an anchor or heavy stone to the bottom. To the pow- 

 end is also fastened the fishing-line, which is then paid 

 out as fast as the boat sails ; or, if the wind be unfavour- 

 able, is propelled by the rowers. When the line is 

 exhausted the end is allowed to drop, and the boat is 

 carried back to the buoy. Here the pow-end is hauled 

 up, and the fishermen carefully haul in their line with 

 whatever fish it may have hooked. It is not often that 

 it comes up unproductive. The booty, however, varies. 

 Sometimes as many as seven or eight hundred fish are 

 caught in a single haul ; seldom fewer than two hun- 

 dred ; but occasionally the cod are eaten off the line by 

 dog-fish and other enemies, and all that comes up to the 

 fisherman is a " beggarly array" of empty hooks, or a few 

 fragments of flesh and u skeleton or two. 



