THE BANK HAND-LINE COD FISHEET. 131 



all their salt. Fish caught with mackerel bait are larger than those caught with clams, for the 

 supposed reasou that a larger bait of mackerel can be put on the hook than of clam, and the largest 

 fish take the largest btrit. Whatever may be tie reason the fact is incontrovertible, and the pro- 

 portional difference is about thus: Fish caught with clam bait will average about 25 quintals to 

 1,000 fish, and those caught with mackerel bait about 40 quintals to the 1,000. 



"This is a general result, but there are occasionally variations from various causes, the prin- 

 cipal of which is a different deptii at which the fish are taken, the largest fish being taken in the 

 deepest water. The flesh of a sea-bird called si ' hagdon ' is a fine bait for codfish, and is frequently 

 used. 



" The equipment of a fisherman is singular and grotesque. Over their common dress they 

 wear a pair of 'petticoat trousers,' made very wide, and descending to the calf of the leg; gener- 

 ally they are made with an insertion for each leg, but sometimes like a woman's petticoat, with no 

 intersecting seam, and are of coarse canvas or oil-cloth. A pair of thick cowhide boots of a russet 

 color, and with soles an inch or more thick, reach quite to the knees, with tops to turn up and cover 

 the thighs. The barvel, or leather apron, extending from the breast to the knees, and a tarpaulin 

 hat complete the costume, which secures to the occupant perfect immunity from the assaults of 

 the element in which he procures his subsistence. The hands are preserved from the cutting of 

 the fishing-lines by a sort of digitless woolen gloves called ' nippers.' Each man tends two lines, 

 and they generally fish near the bottom of the sea, but sometimes the codfish will ascend to mid- 

 water, or even much higher, in pursuit of herrings, c.apelins, and other fish of that class, which ' 

 swim in immense shoals near the surface; and in such cases the labor of the fishermen is much 

 lightened, and the fish are taken witli much greater celerity. In the day-time during the first fare 

 all hands generally fisb, and at night the crew is divided into watches that fish alternately; but 

 circumstances create variations in this mode, such as the scarcity or abundance of fish, the inclina- 

 tion of the skipper and crew, &c. During the season of the second fare the fish feed principally 

 in the night, at which time most of them are taken, and on the succeeding day they are prepared 

 and secured below. At any time, however, when the decks are full of fish, they proceed to cure 

 them, and this is the process : The operators being placed in juxtaposition before a bench or plat- 

 form, about mid-height, the ' cut-throat,' wielding a sharp two-edged knife, which bears the same 

 sanguinary and ominous name, seizes the fish, arid separating the connecting integuments between 

 the head and body he then passes his knife through from the nape to the vent and abstracts the 

 viscera. He then passes it to ' the header,' who by an adroit process, separates the articulation of 

 the spine at the shoulder and detaches the head from the trunk, which he passes to the ' splitter,' 

 who, commencing at the shoulders, proceeds to lay the fish open to the tail and detach the sound 

 boue. The fish being thus prepared is thrown into the hold to the ' salter,' who strews on the salt, 

 and stows it neatly away, in compact layers, with the skin down. And in this manner they proceed 

 daily until all the salt is wet, if they are so fortunate as to get a full fare. They are sometimes 

 obliged, however, by the scarcity of fish, by losing their auchor, by sickness or casualty on board, 

 or by other causes to return without wetting all their salt. 



" Besides the bodies of the codfish and the bounty, there are other emoluments accruing to the 

 adventurers, such as the oil extracted from the livers of the cod, of which about 15 barrels to 800 

 quintals of fish is produced, and is sold at about 50 cents per gallon ; and halibut, which was 

 mostly thrown away formerly, and now constitute a considerable portion of the profits. It is 

 salted like the codfish, and sold green from the vessel on arrival, at about $2 per quintal, the 

 subsequent process of drying and smoking for the market being performed by the purchasers. 

 This article is mostly derived from the second fare, and about 15,000 quintals are annually brought 



