'>4 CKPIlALoJ'ODS AS FOOD. 



of Newfoundland only in Autnisi.and in Bonna IJav lirst in Sep- 

 tember, lis VMS! sho.-ils present a curious appearance, by their 

 strongly twisted, compact form. When they approach, hundreds 



of vessels are ready for their capture. At t his season of the 

 year, the sen on the coast of St. Pierre is covered with from 400 

 to f>00 sail of Kno-lish and French ships, enirau'ed in the cuttle- 

 lisli fishery. During violent ^ales of wind, hundreds of tons of 

 them are often thrown np '.o^'cl her in beds on the tlai beaches, 

 the decay of which spreads an intolerable ellluvium around. It 

 is made no use of. except for bait ; and as i, maintains itself in 

 deeper water than t he capelan. insl ea<l of nets beinir used to take 

 it, it is jilted a jiii\ivr beini>- a number of hooks radiating IVoni 

 a fixed cenire. made for Hie purpose. The cod is in best condi- 

 tion after having led on it. Another method of taking them is 

 sometimes resorted to. Fires are made all alon^ the shore 

 durin<i' the ni^ht. when the loligO, attracted by the liii'lit. ap- 

 proaches too near for his safety, and is left on the strand by 1 he 

 recess of the tide, when the fishermen ^o to gather them."* 



( 'utt le-lish are extensively used by man as food, throughout 

 the world ; and some of the species are highly esteemed by eji- 

 cni-es. In treating of the nauiral hislorv of the ordinary Kuro- 

 pean species, we shall have occasion to mention some of the 

 methods of fishing them: it 'will snllice to narrate here the 

 manner in which they are secured l>v some of ihe less civilixed 

 races of man. 



In the Polynesian Islands, the natives have a curious contriv- 

 ance for catching cult le-lish. It consists of a straight piece of 

 hard wood a, foot, lonir, round and polished, and not half an inch 

 in diameter. Near one end of it. a number of beautiful pieces 

 of the cowrie, or ti-er shell are fastened one over another, like 

 the scales of a fish, until it- is nearly the sixe of a turkey's eo-<r. 

 and resembles the cowrie. It is suspended in a hori/onfal posi 

 lion bv a strong line, and lowered l>v the fisherman from a small 

 canoe till if nearly reaches the bottom. The fisherman jerks the 

 line to cause the shell to move, as if it were alive, and the jerkinu 

 motion is called "tootoofe." the name of the contrivance. Tin 

 cutfle-lish, attracted by the cowries, darts out one of its :mn<. 



* Edinb. New Phil. Journ., viii, 395. 





