126 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



remarkable both for its violent currents and whirlpools, among which the Mael- 

 strom has attained a world-wide celebrity, and also from its being the most 

 northerly limit where the oyster has been found. But it is chiefly as the re- 

 sort of the cod that the Vestfjord is of the highest importance, not only to 

 Kordland, but to the whole of Norway. No less than 6000 boats from all 

 parts of the coast, manned probably by more than half of the whole adult male 

 population of Nordland, annually assemble at Vaage, on the island of Ost Vaa- 

 goe, and besides these, more than 300 yoegts, or larger fishing-sloops, from 

 Bergen, Christiansand, and Molde, appear upon the scene. The banks of New- 

 foundland hardly occupy more hands than the fishing-grounds of the Vestf- 

 jord, which, after the lapse of a thousand years, continue as prolific as ever;* 

 nor is there an instance known of its having ever disappointed the fisherman's 

 hopes. In Harold Haarfagr's times, Yaage Avas already renowned for its fish- 

 eries, and several yarls had settled in this northern district, to reap the rich 

 harvest of the seas. At a later period, under the reign of Saint Olave (1020), 

 the annual Parliament of Nordland was held at Vaage, and, in ] 120, the benev- 

 olent King Eystein, brother of Sigurd the Crusader, caused a church to be 

 erected here in honor of his saintly predecessor, along with a number of huts, 

 to serve as a shelter to the poor fishermen, a deed which he himself prized 

 more highly than all his chivalrous brother's warlike exploits in the East, for 

 these men," said he, " will still remember in distant times that a King Ey- 

 stein once lived in Norway." 



The reason why the fish never cease visiting this part of the coast is that 

 the Lofoten Isles inclose, as it were, an inland or mediterranean sea, which only 

 communicates with the ocean by several narrow channels between the islands, 

 and where the fish find the necessary protection against stormy weather. They 

 assemble on three or four banks well known to the fishermen, seldom arriving 

 before the middle of January, and rarely later than towards the end of Febru- 

 ary. They remain in the sheltered fjord no longer than is necessary for spawn- 

 ing, and in April have all retired to the deeper waters, so that the whole of 

 the fishing season does not last longer than a couple of months. The fish are 

 either caught by hooks and lines, or more frequently in large nets about twen- 

 ty fathoms long and seven or eight feet broad, buoyed with pieces of light 

 wood, and lested with stones, so as to maintain a vertical position when let 

 down in the water. The fish, swimming with impetuous speed, darts into the 

 meshes, w^hich effectually bar his retreat. The nets are always spread in the 

 evening, and hauled up in the morning ; for as long as it is daylight, the fish 

 sees and avoids them, even at a depth of sixty or eighty fathoms. A single 

 haul of the net frequently fills half the boat, and the heavy fish would undoubt- 

 edly tear the meshes if they were not immediately struck with iron hooks, and 

 flung into the boat as soon as they are dragged to the surface. 



Claus Niels Sliningen, a merchant of Borgund, first introduced the use of 

 these nets in the year 1685, an innovation which more than doubled the total 



* In 1866 the total catch of cod was 21,000,000, about 12,000,000 of which were salted (clip fish), and 

 the remainder dried (stock-fish) ; each fish making on an average 2 lbs. of clip-fish, and one-fourth less 

 of stock-fish. 



