HALIBUT. 
415 
at midnight for the fishing-ground in order to reach 
it in the morning. If the weather is favourable, the 
canoes are quite laden with tish after a half-day’s fish- 
ing, and return home. If the sea grows too rough 
during the homeward voyage, the Indians fasten large, 
inflated sealskins to the sides of the canoe in order to 
increase its buoyancy. The hairy side of these skins 
is turned inward, and on the skinny side, which is 
turned outward, rude devices are painted, representing 
the sinking of a canoe, the capture of a huge fish etc. 
To get so large a tish as the Halibut into a canoe out 
at sea, is no easy task. Accidents, however, rarely 
happen, and it is only seldom that the fish gets away 
after being hooked. All goes to show that the vora- 
city of the Halibut makes up for the rudeness of the 
tackle a . 
According to G. v. Yhlen’s notes 6 , during the ! 
year 1879 58,197 lbs. of Halibut were brought to 
Gothenburg Fish-market, and sold at a price varying 
between 2 V 4 d. and 4 3 / 4 d. per lb. Nearly half this 
quantity was brought in in January, and the greater | 
part of the rest in April, May, and March. Prices were | 
highest in February and lowest in June. This appar- 
ently shows that the Halibut is best in winter and 
worst in summer, a conclusion to which we are also 
led by our present knowledge of its spawning in Bo- 
huslan. On the 26th of April, 1856, Malm saw on 
Karingo a. Halibut 131 lbs. in weight, with running 
roe, the total weight of which was 8 1 / 2 lbs. In the 
same season he examined several other Halibuts brought 
to the fishing-village, evidently just after they had 
finished spawning, and several males, 3" . — 6V 2 lbs. in 
weight, that were either just spent, or so ready to ! 
spawn that the milt flowed out on slight pressure of 
the belly. Another female, which he examined on the 
21st of January, 1873, 22 dcm. long and 136 kgm. in 
weight, had ovaries that weighed 1 6 1 / 7 kgm. — Malm 
estimated the number of the eggs at three million and 
a half'' ■ — and, to all appearances, would not have been 
ripe for 4 or 5 Aveeks to come. Thus, according to j 
these observations, the spaAvning-season of the Halibut 
on the coast of Bohuslan lasts from the end of Febru- 
ary to the end of April. In Iceland, according to in- 
formation gained by Faber from the fishermen, the 
Halibut spawns from June to August. This agrees 
Avith most of the reports (Broavn-Goode, 1. c.) of the 
spawning-season on the east coast of North America, 
Avhere it seems, hoAvever, to last at least to September, 
and, according to some, to begin as early as January, 
and thus to occupy the greater part of the year. In 
all probability the Halibut generally approaches com- 
paratively shalloAV places to spawn, perhaps even the 
mouths of rivers; but nothing further is known of its 
spaAvning, nor have Ave any information of the develop- 
ment of the eggs. 
There is extreme difference of opinion as to the 
qualities of the Halibut as an article of food. It is, 
no doubt, true that large Halibuts, especially after the 
spaAvning-season, are dry and lean; but smaller speci- 
mens, between 10 and 30 kgm. in av eight, in Avinter 
at least are of delicious flavour, and have the advantage 
over many other dainties that they keep comparatively 
long. A Halibut hung in the open air during Avinter 
Avill keep fresh long enough to alloAv a small family to 
use it according to their daily requirements. The best 
and fattest portions are the head, especially the tongue 
and the hyoid region, and the bases of the dorsal and 
anal fins Avith the flesh round the interspinal and in- 
terhaemal bones. In SAveden the Halibut is eaten only 
Avhen fresh — boiled or fried — but in Norway it is 
also salted. For many years too, it has been prepared 
in Noiway in a manner that reminds us of the curing 
of stockfish. The flesh is cut into slices 2 inches broad, 
Avhich are scored lengtliAvays and across, and then hung 
up to dry. After some days they are ready for eating 
Avithout any further preparation. The flesh of the 
Halibut Avhen preserved in this manner is knoAvn as 
rav (raft) and raiding d . 
The Swedish name of the Halibut is Avritten, pro- 
nounced, and explained in different ways. The Ice- 
a Cf. also Eschscholtz on llie Halibut-fishery in Norfolk Sound, see Richardson, Fn. Bor. Amer., part. Ill, p. 256. 
b Internationale Fisehereiausstellung zu Berlin 1880, Schwed. Cat., I: Notizen fiber die Schwedischen Fischereien, 2; Tab. 1. 
c Broavn-Goode (1. c.) estimates the number of the eggs in a Halibut about 90 kgm. in vveight at 2,182,773. This specimen, 
in Avhich the eggs were partially ripe, Avas caught in September at a depth of 200 fathoms, in Avater of a temperature of about 36° Fahr. 
d “The broad strips that are cut along the sides next to the back, are called Skaare-Rav or Slcaare-Qveite, because they are scored 
or slit across several times in order (hat they 7 may dry more quickly. The long and narroAV strips cut along the sides by the fins, where 
the Halibut is fattest, and afterwards dried, are known by the name of Raiding. It is strictly the dorsal and anal fins, Avhich are iioav 
left, but are also dried, that are called Rav.” StrSm, 1. c. 
