DIFFEKENT MODES OF FISHING THE HERRING. 107 



of the numerous wliales following the herrings. Having 

 proceeded a little farther on, and while looking at the 

 birds, whose eager appetite and rapid motion attracted 

 the eye, suddenly a rushing sound aroused me, and a large 

 wave elevated the boat to an unusual height. Turning 

 my head towards the point from whence the noise came, 

 I cried out, ' Keep back, there is a rock a-head.' The 

 people in the boat turning round, smiled, and said, ' It is 

 a whale.' Part of its body was raised about eight feet 

 above the water, and as it lay near the bows, it seemed 

 at least thirty or forty feet in length ; the head and tail 

 were not visible ; but it was black, and in some respects 

 like a rock, and on its back the upraised herrings brightly 

 shone and leaped. My boatmen rowed silently backward, 

 and after the lapse of thirty or forty seconds, the monster 

 sunk slowly about two feet, and in a moment sent up a 

 waterspout, of the thickness of about a couple of feet, 

 with great force, to the height of several fathoms, and 

 with a noise that resounded among the neighbouring 

 cliffs. As it did not again appear, we rowed in among 

 the small islands, where the nets were now being taken 

 in, the fishermen having long rollers along the sides of the 

 boat, to facilitate their hauling in the nets, the threads 

 of which were not visible from the quantity of herrings. 

 At a distance the net appeared like a white cascade fall- 

 ing into the boat, and shining brilliantly in the sun. The 

 boats were soon loaded, and they were then rowed either 

 to the shore or to the larger vessels which cure or bring 

 the herrings to remote salting-places. The herrings are 

 all sold by the number, twenty-four score being con- 

 sidered equal to a barrel of fresh herrings of ordinary 

 size. The seller counts them out by fours, calling out 

 the number, while on the deck of the buyer's vessel two 



