618 THE OCEAN WORLD. 
says, “belong principally to the ports of Granville and St. Brieuc; and 
the crews of their ships consist of two very distinct elements; the 
smaller portion being specially raised among the fishermen properly 
so called, they form the aristocracy on board; to these are added a, 
larger number of mere labourers, who are landed on the arrival of the 
vessel at her port. Their functions are limited to receiving the fish 
from the boats, opening it, washing off the glutinous matter in the 
chauffant, putting the liver apart, and laying out the split fish between 
the layers of salt ; finally, subjecting it to the different phases of the 
drying process on the strand. 
““ The chauffant is a shed raised upon piles, standing one half in 
the water and one half on shore; it is constructed of planks and 
posts, through which the air is saffered to circulate freely, but covered 
in with some of the ship’s sails. Here the process of separating the 
intestines from the body of the fish and the salting process are 
carried on, in the midst of an atmosphere charged with all manner ot 
disgusting ‘smells, for the labourer is by no means delicate, and never 
thinks of removing the disgusting impurities which he is creating. 
There he stands, knife in hand, tearing and cutting out intestines and 
separating vertebre, his only care being to avoid cutting himself— 
which is the chief danger he runs—in the midst of odours sufficient to 
produce suffocation. 
“Connected with the platform on which this rough operation is 
performed is a cauldron, sunk in the earth, to. receive the oil pressed 
out of the liver. This cauldron is surmounted by a roof some nine 
feet in height, in the form of an inverted cone. Here the oil which 
flows from the open way above is suffered to remain, after which it is 
drawn off into casks. 
“The drying sheds, formerly of wood, are now constructed of 
stone, and in places well exposed to the sun, and especially to the 
wind. The sun, it is said, does not dry, but scorches ; the wind, on 
the other hand, marvellously fulfils the purpose, and in order to 
avoid the one and court the other, an apparatus has been invented, 
consisting of long movable branches, which can be inclined so as to 
bring the wind directly upon the row of cod, in connection with the 
sun’s rays, which are, indeed, not very formidable in this foggy 
region.” 
The cod-fish thus dried at Newfoundland are forwarded for con- 
sumption to all parts of the world; but only a small part of the 
products of the fishery are thus prepared. More than half the pro- 
duce of the French fleet are sent to France merely salted, by ships 
which carry salt, bringing back fish in return to Rochelle, Bordeaux, 
