CONCERNING LAPLAND. 
2 37 
whitings, fkate, hollibut, and a variety of other fiffi in abundance. 
Thefe are caught and prepared for foreign markets, a traffic 
which might be carried on to a more confiderable extent than 
what it actually is, fo as to fupply almoffc the whole of Europe. 
It is not our intention to enter into a detail of that fubjedl, but 
merely to give a concife account of the fiffi in thefe feas, and the 
methods adopted by the Laplanders for taking them, together 
with fome particular circumftances refpeffing thefe matters, which 
have not been noticed by other travellers. 
About Candlemas-day the whales appear in aftoniffiing numbers 
upon this coaft, not only in the open feas, but alfo in the bays 
and harbours, being allured by the purfuit of the cod, herrings, 
and other fifties. Thefe latter endeavour to efcape by approach¬ 
ing clofe to the ffiores, where they are taken by the fiffiermen in 
the greateft quantities. There are feveral fpecies of the whale ; but 
this animal has been fo fully and fo often defcribed, that it will 
be unneceffary to fay any thing of it, further than to obferve, that 
they are frequently call: on fhore upon thefe coafts, when, as is 
fuppofed, they have left the deep water on being wounded by the 
harpoons of fifhers, or by their great enemy the fword-fifh, here¬ 
after to be mentioned, and by unwarily coming too nigh, they 
are ffcranded and taken by the Laplanders. 
Many kinds of fifli belonging to the cetaceous tribe, are found 
in thefe feas. Among them the moft remarkable is the fword- 
fiffi, an inveterate and declared enemy of the whale. This fiffi, 
called fometimes the fea-hound, does not differ much in ffiape and 
fize 
