THE BANK HAND-LINE COD FISHERY. 131 
all their salt. Fish caught with mackerel bait are larger than those caught with clams, for the 
supposed reason that a larger bait of mackerel can be put on the hook than of clam, and the largest 
fish take the largest bait. Whatever may be the reason the fact is incontrovertible, and the pro- 
portional difference is about thus: Fish caught with clam bait will average about 25 quintals to 
1,000 fish, and those caught with mackerel bait about 40 quintals to the 1,000. 
“This is a general result, but there are occasionally variations from various causes, the prin- 
cipal of which is a different depth at which the fish are taken, the largest fish being taken in the 
deepest water. The flesh of a sea-bird called a ‘hagdon’ is a fine bait for codfish, and is frequently 
used. 
“The equipment of a fisherman is singular and grotesque. Over their common dress they 
wear a pair of ‘ petticoat trousers, made very wide, and descending to the calf of the leg; gener- 
‘ally they are made with an insertion for each leg, but sometimes like a woman’s petticoat, with no 
intersecting seam, and are of coarse canvas or oil-cloth. <A pair of thick cowhide boots of a russet 
color, and with soles an inch or more thick, reach quite to the knees, with tops to turn up and cover 
the thighs. The barvel, or leather apron, extending from the breast to the knees, and a tarpaulin 
hat complete the costume, which secures to the occupant perfect immunity from the assaults of 
the element in which he procures his subsistence. The hands are preserved from the cutting of 
the fishing-lines by a sort of digitless woolen gloves called ‘nippers.’ Each man tends two lines, 
and they generally fish near the bottom of the sea, but sometimes the codfish will ascend to mid- 
water, or even much higher, in pursuit of herrings, capelins, and other fish of that class, which 
swim in immense shoals near the surface; and in such cases the labor of the fishermen is much 
lightened, and the fish are taken with much greater celerity. In the day-time during the first fare 
all hands generally fish, and at night the crew is divided into watches that fish alternately; but 
circumstances create variations in this mode, such as the scarcity or abundance of fish, the inclina- 
tion of the skipper and crew, &c. During the season of the second fare the fish feed principally 
in the night, at which time most of them are taken, and on the succeeding day they are prepared 
and secured below. At any time, however, when the decks are full of fish, they proceed to cure 
them, and this is the process: The operators being placed in juxtaposition before a bench or plat- 
form, about mid-height, the ‘ cut-throat,’ wielding a sharp two-edged knife, which bears the same 
sanguinary and ominous name, seizes the fish, and separating the connecting integuments between 
the head and body he then passes his knife through from the nape to the vent and abstracts the 
viscera. He then passes it to ‘ the header,’ who by an adroit process, separates the articulation of 
the spine at the shoulder and detaches the head from the trunk, which he passes to the ‘ splitter,’ 
who, commencing at the shoulders, proceeds to lay the fish open to the tail and detach the sound 
bone. The fish being thus prepared is thrown into the hold to the ‘ salter,’ who strews on the salt, 
and stows it neatly away, in compact layers, with the skin down. And in this manner they proceed 
daily until all the salt is wet, if they are so fortunate as to get a full fare. They are sometimes 
obliged, however, by the scarcity of fish, by losing their anchor, by sickness or casualty on board, 
or by other causes to return without wetting all their salt. 
“Besides the bodies of the codfish and the bounty, there are other emoluments accruing to the 
adventurers, such as the oil extracted from the livers of the cod, of which about 15 barrels to 800 
quintals of fish is produced, and is sold at about 50 cents per gallon; and halibut, which was 
mostly thrown away formerly, and now constitute a considerable portion of the profits. It is 
salted ‘like the codfish, and sold green from the vessel on arrival, at about $2 per quintal, the 
subsequent process of drying and smoking for the market being performed by the purchasers. 
This article is mostly derived from the second fare, and about 15,000 quintals are annually brought 
