THE COD AND COD-—FISHERY 287 
alive, for seals are quite indifferent on that point. The 
cod must rarely die of old age. 
The actual company enjoyed by these gregarious crea- 
tures may be observed any season on the Labrador, when 
the great schools of cod are feeding on the living caplin, 
as the latter, themselves in countless hosts, run inshore to 
feed. The water is then often literally black with cod, and 
so eager are they after their food that the air over the school 
is alive with fish jumping after their prey. Additional ex- 
citement in the water is furnished by the dogfish, sharks, 
seals, or herring-hogs, which follow the cod from interested 
motives. Cartwright, in 1776, gives the following descrip- 
tion of such a school : “Observing many codfish to come 
close inshore, where the water was deep, I laid myself flat 
on the rock, took a caplin by the tail, and held it in the 
water in expectation that a cod would take it out of my 
fingers. Nor was I disappointed, for almost immediately 
a fish struck at it and seized it. And no sooner had one 
snatched away the caplin than another sprang out of the 
water, and actually caught a slight hold of my finger and 
thumb. Had I dipped my hand in the water, I am con- 
vinced they would soon have made me repent of my folly, 
for they are a very greedy, bold fish.” A similar sight was 
presented at one point on the coast last year (1908), good 
sizable fish jumping out of the water after bait and landing 
on the rocks, so that they were actually taken without 
any trouble beyond that of picking them up. 
Fortunately for themselves and for the world, they are 
gifted with the most extraordinary digestive powers; they 
certainly do their honest best to convert everything that 
comes into their way into that which will ultimately benefit 
