Tbe Halibut 365 



of one taken at New Ledge, sixty miles southeast 

 of Portland, Maine, which weighed six hundred 

 pounds. I was told at Boothbay, near which 

 the Gunner Club, to which I was once "grand 

 chummer," was wont to meet, that a dead halibut 

 had been found which weighed nearly six hun- 

 dred and forty pounds, which was the record fish 

 of New England waters. One of the largest 

 halibuts ever brought into Gloucester weighed 

 but three hundred and eighty pounds, and many 

 catches have been made of over three hundred 

 and fifty pounds. The fish of this weight are 

 over seven or eight feet in length, and from three 

 and a half to four feet in width, most difficult 

 creatures to lift when the broad back is presented 

 to the fisherman one hundred or more feet above. 

 On the North Pacific coast this fish is com- 

 mon, and is occasionally followed by Americans 

 for sport. A friend who accompanied- some 

 Alaska fishermen offshore informed me that it 

 was an exciting but very " damp pastime." The 

 hook which these Indians use for halibut, one of 

 which I have in my possession, is a most extraor- 

 dinary object; few who have seen it understood 

 its nature, as it resembles a wooden god, half 

 being the totem of the tribe, and the barbless 



