414 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
thorns of water and quite close in shore.” According 
to Collett most of the Halibuts caught in Norway are 
taken on the banks off the Government of Bergen, and 
off Nordland and Finmark. In autumn and winter these 
fish are said to penetrate far into the Norwegian fjords, 
Halibuts 6 ft. long being taken yearly off Christiania. 
With regard to the migrations of the Halibut in Nor- 
way even Strom" stated that “in winter it keeps to the 
very deep water off the fishing-bank of Storegg, but 
in summer haunts the bank itself or its edges”. Off 
the south and west coasts of Iceland, according to Fa- 
bee, the Halibut appears together with the Cod at the 
beginning of March, is commoner in April, and some- 
times stays there the whole summer, long after the 
Cod has departed. To the north of Iceland it is found 
from May to July, and to the east from July to No- 
vember. On the coast of Greenland it is taken accord- 
ing to Fabricius in autumn and spring, according to 
Rink in summer and autumn, at a depth of 20 or 30 
fathoms. According to Brown-Goode observations have 
been made on the east coast of the United States of 
North America which show that the Halibut comes up 
in May and June into comparatively shallow 'water, 60 
or 70 fathoms deep, but in July begins to return to 
greater depths. In those parts, however, it has been 
experienced how variable a fishery of this kind may 
be. “At the beginning of the present century”, says 
Brown-Goode, “these fish were exceedingly abundant 
in Massachusetts Bay. From 1830 to 1850 and even 
later, they were very common on George's Bank; since 
1850 they have partially disappeared from this region, 
and the fishermen have since been following them to 
other banks, and since 1874 out into deeper and deeper 
water, and the fisheries are now (1884) carried on al- 
most exclusively in the gullies between the off-shore 
banks and on the outer edges of the banks in water 
100 to 300 fathoms in depth.” At this depth, accord- 
ing to Collins, the Halibut is taken all the year round, 
from George’s Bank to the Grand Bank. 
In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off the coasts of New- 
foundland, Anticosti and Labrador, the Halibut has 
often been observed in shallow water and close in shore, 
or even at the surface, in pursuit of the Capelin (Mal- 
lotus). It is then very active and swift in its move- 
ments. Commonly, however, it is described as of slug- 
gish temperament, resting at the bottom in wait for 
its prey. Gottsche found in its stomach Gurnard 
( Trigla c/urnardus), Armed Bullhead ( Agoutis cataphra- 
ctus), Whiting ( Gadus merlangus), Cod ( Gadus callarias), 
and a number of seaweeds. Others have found the 
stomach to contain Rays, Flounders, Turbot, Wolf-fish, 
Mackerel, Herrings, lobsters, crabs and large clams. 
Collett also found among the contents of its stomach 
a Black-billed Auk (Alca tor da), a bird which dives to 
the bottom in fairly deep water in search of food. The 
Halibut is so voracious that it apparently rejects no- 
thing that comes into its gape, which as we have men- 
tioned, is armed with strong teeth. Even the leaden 
plummet of a sounding-line' has shared the same fate 6 . 
The Halibut also takes a hook freely; and the fishery 
for it is carried on chiefly with this kind of tackle, in 
the same manner as the Cod-fishery and usually at the 
same time. Most of the Halibuts that are brought to 
market are taken on long-lines set in deep water or 
ordinary hand-lines. In Norwegian Finmark, according 
to Lilljeborg, a kind of standing hook with a float is 
employed. The Indians of British Columbia carry on 
the Halibut-fishery on the Pacific coast with primitive 
tackle, but none the less successfully c . For some 
reason or other they will not use steel hooks, but make 
their Halibut-hooks themselves of bent wood, tipped 
with bone. Their lines are made of seaweed, but the 
part nearest the hook of sinews or twisted twigs. They 
use clams or small fishes as bait. The fishing-season 
lasts from March to June. The line is trailed slowly 
after a canoe, with the hook in deep water. In this 
manner thousands of Halibuts are taken, some of which 
weigh more than 200 lbs., and bartered for potatoes, 
gammass, rush mats, and other articles' 7 . The best fish- 
ing-grounds lie about twelve miles off the land; but 
the Halibut is also caught near the shore. Hundreds 
of canoes, each with a crew of two or three men, start 
a Sondmsrs Beskrivelse , I, p. 301. 
b “In the stomach of the Halibut,” says Olafsen ( Reise Isl., p. 589), “all sorts of things may be found — pieces of timber from 
boats, rusty iron hooks, and, stranger still, though on good authority, pieces of Greenland ice of the size of one’s fist. Off OddbjSrn Cliff, 
in 1731 at midsummer, on cutting open a large Halibut one of these pieces of ice was found, though at that season there was no ice to 
be found anywhere near land.” 
c See Buckland, Nat. Hist. Brit. Fish., p. 178. 
d In the same way the Norwegians of Finmark barter their fish to the Russians in exchange for flour. 
