COD-FISHING. 247 



6ach end, the operation is continued, until the boat is so laden 

 that her gunwale is brought within a few inches of the surface, 

 when they return to the vessel in harbour, seldom distant more 

 than eight miles from the banks. During the greater part of 

 the day the fishermen have kept up a constant conversation, of 

 which the topics are the pleasures of finding a good supply of 

 cod, their domestic affairs, the political prospects of the nation, 

 and other matters similarly connected. Now the repartee of 

 one elicits a laugh from the other ; this passes from man to 

 man, and the whole flotilla enjoy the joke. The men of one 

 boat strive to outdo those of the others in hauling up the 

 greatest quantity of fish in a given time, and this forms another 

 source of merriment. The boats are generally filled about the 

 same time, and all return together. Arrived at the vessel, each 

 man employs a pole armed with a bent iron, resembling the 

 prong of a bay-fork, with which he pierces the fish and throws 

 it with a jerk on deck, counting the number thus discharged 

 with a loud voice. Each cargo is thus safely deposited, and the 

 boats instantly return to the fishing ground, when, after anchor- 

 ing, the men eat their dinner and begin anew. There, good 

 reader, with your leave, I will let them pursue their avocations ■ 

 for awhile, as 1 am anxious that you should witness what is doing 

 on board the vessel. The captain, four men, and the cook have, 

 in the course of the morning, erected long tables fore and aft of 

 the main hatchway. They have taken to the shore most of the 

 salt barrels, and have placed in a row their large empty casks to 

 receive the livers. The hold of the vessel is quite clear, except 

 a corner, where is a large heap of salt. And now the men, 

 having dined precisely at twelve, are ready with their large 

 knives. One begins with breaking off the head of the fish, a 

 slight pull of the hand and a gash with the knife effecting this 

 in a moment. He slits up the belly, with one hand pushes it 

 aside to his neighbour, then throws overboard the head and 

 begins to doctor another ; the next man tears out the entrails, 

 separates the liver, which he throws into a cask, and casts the 

 rest overboard. A third person dexterously passes his knife 

 beneath the vertebrse of the fish, separates them from the fleshy 

 heaves the latter through the hatchway, and the former into the 

 water. Now, if you will peep into the hold, you will see the 



