THE AMERICAN-SCANDINA VI AN REVIEW 
217 
ing quantities. Thus we find that in 1650 about 6,000 tons were 
exported; in 1850, 30,000 tons; and in 1914, 90,000 tons. 
The fact that for many years the product of the fisheries consti¬ 
tuted the bulk of our export and that nearly the whole of it is still sent 
overseas, may have created the idea prevalent not only abroad but at 
home that fishing is the chief pursuit of our nation. The fact, how¬ 
ever, is that only one-fifth of the breadwinners of the country are 
classified as fishermen, and that of these only a very small proportion 
pursue the calling through the whole year. It is interesting to note 
that the word fisker fisherman, as an occupational designation does 
not even occur in our language earlier than forty or fifty years ago. 
In the official reports before that time the people who took part in 
a fishing expedition were not called jiskere, but simply almue, common 
people. 
It may surprise many when I say that agriculture—with dairying 
—is really the chief occupation in all districts of Norway except Fin- 
marken in the far north. The fact is often overlooked, even in Nor¬ 
way, because, although farming provides daily bread for those who 
engage in it, it does not yield enough for export. Fishing, then, be¬ 
comes a side-line in which the small farmer engages in order to earn 
the cash which he can not get from the products of his little plot of 
ground. The farther north we go, the more important this side-line 
becomes, but even in the counties of Nordland and Troms it is to most 
people only a seasonal occupation. Indeed it would almost seem as 
though nature had arranged its seasons so as to dovetail with those of 
farming; for of the two most important fishing seasons in northern 
Norway, the fat-herring fishing comes in the autumn after the hay¬ 
making is completed, and the skrei fishing begins after New Year’s 
and lasts till it is time to begin the spring ploughing, the setting of 
potatoes, and sowing of barley. 
For hundreds of years the methods of fishing continued very much 
as our forefathers had practised them. As late as the year 1900 the 
high-stemmed descendant of the viking ship was still in common use, 
built in varying sizes, but always along the same lines, and always 
open. The type of sail was the same as had been used since the day of 
the above-mentioned Thorolf. The boots retained the ancient names 
too, the “ottring” which carries ten instead of as formerly eight oars, 
and the “femboring” with twelve instead of as formerly ten. The 
length of the former was about 38 and of the latter 45 feet. Their 
light draught made them very easy to row and very swift under sail. 
In these open boats the fishermen would travel for hundreds of miles 
from their homes to the fishing grounds, in the depth of winter, and 
were not even sure of finding shelter when they landed. It was not 
before the middle of the nineteenth century that it became customary 
to put up a light detachable house in the stern, where the crew could 
