The Shark . Fishery for the Oil obtained. 227 



this fishery generally range from 25 to 35 tons, manned 

 with a crew of six men. They lie at anchor on the banks 

 with 1 50 to 200 fathoms water, moored by a grapnel weigh- 

 ing two cwt., with a warp about 300 fathoms in circum- 

 ference. 



A box perforated with holes, or a canvas bag containing 

 the residuum or refuse of blubber, after the oil has been ex- 

 tracted by boiling, is attached to the line not far from the 

 bottom, near the grapnel. Globules of oil are found to ooze 

 out or to percolate through the holes or bag, and to float 

 away in a continuous stream, serving as a decoy, in a 

 similar manner as the cod ova are applied in France, where 

 they are thrown into the sea as ground bait to attract the 

 sardines. Led by this stream, the sharks are guided to the 

 main bait, which is attached to a thin iron chain, of from 

 one to two fathoms in length. This is fastened to a line 

 of about the thickness of the stem of a common tobacco- 

 pipe. At the end of the chain the hook is attached, which 

 is usually of the size of a salmon-gaff, and is baited with 

 some kind of fish, or, what is preferable, about a pound of 

 seal blubber. The seals from which this blubber is taken 

 are generally caught at Spitzbergen, and there salted fresh. 

 No kind of bait appears so efficacious or so attractive as 

 this, and it throws off readily its fatty particles, which 

 being carried to a considerable distance, form a trail to 

 the bait, which the fish greedily take, if of blubber ; but, it 

 has been observed, not so readily if the blubber is at all 

 rancid. Five barrels of blubber is considered necessary for 

 the season, and appears to be the average quantity used by 

 each vessel. 



On hooking the shark, he is hauled to the surface of the 

 water by the aid of a single purchase. Each vessel is 

 furnished with four of these, two on each side. The line, 



