616 THE OCEAN WORLD. 
fruitful fields of fish. In 1578 France sent 150 ships to the great 
bank, Spain 125, Portugal 50, and England qo. 
During the first half of the eighteenth century, England and her 
colonies, with the French, cultivated the cod-fishery. 
From 1823 to 1831 France sent 341 ships, with 7,685 men, which 
carried into port over 50,000,000 pounds of fish, an average of about 
6,000,000 pounds annually. Two thousand English ships of various 
sizes, manned by 30,000 seamen, are now employed in this important 
branch of industry. 
On the coast of Norway, from the frontiers of Russia to Cape 
Lindesnes, the cod-fishery is an important branch of trade, in which 
a maritime population of 20,000 fishermen are employed, with 5,000 
boats. 
The cod is. taken either by net or line. The net is chiefly 
employed at Newfoundland. The net used is rectangular, and 
furnished with lead at the lower edge and cork buoys on the upper 
edge. One of the extremities is fixed on the coast; the other is 
carried seaward, following a curve taken by the boats, and the fish are 
attracted by drawing upon both extremities of the net; and by one 
stroke many boat-loads are sometimes taken. . 
The modern cod-smack is clipper-built, with large wells for carry- 
ing the fish alive, its cost being about £1,500. The crew usually 
consists of ten to twelve men and boys, including the captain. The 
line is also used for taking cod and haddocks. “Each man,” says 
Bertram, ‘‘has.a line of fifty fathoms in length, and attached to each 
of these lines are a hundred ‘ snoods,’ with hooks already baited with 
mussels, pieces of herring, or whiting. Each line is laid clear in a 
shallow basket, and so arranged as to run freely as the boat shoots 
ahead. The shifty. fathom line with a hundred hooks is in Scotland 
called a ‘taes.’ If there are eight men in a boat, the length of the 
line will be 400 fathoms, with 800 hooks, the lines being tied to each 
other before setting. On arriving at the fishing-ground, the fishermen 
heave overboard a cork buoy, with a flagstaff about six feet in height 
attached toit. This buoy is kept stationary by a line, called the ‘ pow 
end,’ reaching to the bottom of the water, where it is held by a stone 
or grapnel fastened to the lower end. To the ‘ pow end’ is also 
fastened the fishing-line, which is then paid out as fast as the boat 
sails, which may be from four to five knots an hour. Should the 
wind be unfavourable for the direction in which the crew wish to set 
the line, they use the oars. When the line or ‘taes’ is all out, the 
end is dropped and the boat returns to the buoy. The ‘ pow’ line is 
hauled up with the anchor and fishing-line attached to it. The 
