THE HERRING AND OTHER FISH 349 



veloped a sucker on his belly, with which, being a lazy fish, 

 he fastens himself upside down on any moving thing, and 

 will then drift about without the trouble of swimming. 



The common sculpin, or scavenger, exists all along the 

 coast. There are two varieties, Coitus scorpioides and C. 

 Grcenlandicus. He really consists of a large mouth, an 

 indefinitely distensible belly, a voracious and omnivorous 

 appetite, and an outside coat of sharp spikes. One can 

 scarcely credit him with feelings, for when fishing with the 

 sharp jigger for cod, the same sculpin will run for the hook 

 again and again, though the barb may in the earlier capture 

 have been in almost any part of the anatomy. Sometimes 

 a fisherman has had to oblige him by leaving him on deck 

 in order to avoid the worry of repeatedly hauling in the line 

 with the useless fish adhering. Our dogs, however, make 

 nothing of his horny and thorny exterior, and eat him with 

 great gusto, always commencing by biting off his tail. 

 At a pinch, the sculpin would be very useful in sustaining 

 human life. 



Another fish that stands by us all the winter is the rock 

 cod. He is much like a small cod in appearance, but darker, 

 with partly iridescent sides. He remains about the har- 

 bours. As a matter of fact, he is "not at all bad eat- 

 ing/' but is considered by the fishermen very inferior to the 

 true cod, and is always rejected from those they export. 

 He is, however, dried up with the smaller cod, which are 

 not split, but simply salt-sprinkled. They are kept for 

 winter use under the name of "rounders." He is also 

 taken through the ice in winter, and has frequently shared 

 with the lowly clam and mussel the honour of preserving 

 the life of those in one of these scattered communities. 



