COMMON COD Oil KEELING. 105 



It is the means of employing many thousands of 

 the inhabitants in the catching, curing, &c., and 

 as an article of food is of the utmost value. These 

 fish inhabit deep water of from twenty to fifty 

 fathoms in depth, and, as they are very voracious, 

 the fishermen can luckily catch them with almost 

 any bait. They usually feed near the ground on 

 small fish, Crustacea, and testacea, and are gene- 

 rally captured with hook and line, two kinds of 

 which arc used for different modes of fishing. 

 One way is by using a line with two hooks on it, 

 which is lowered over from the boat and held 

 in the hand till a bite is felt, when it is pulled in, 

 the fish taken off, and the bait being readjusted, 

 is again lowered overboard ; the other plan is by 

 means of a bulter or bultoc, the same as is usu- 

 ally employed in catching the conger, ray, ling, 

 &c. ; the bait generally used is the sand launcc, 

 limpet, whelk, or pieces of fish, their natural food 

 is small fish, worms, and various species of crus- 

 tacea and mollusca. 



On the coast of Newfoundland, where the fish 

 are very plentiful, as many as 400 and 500 are 

 occasionally taken in a single day's fishing by one 

 man. The cod is in its highest perfection during 



