LOFODEN  NORWEGIAN  COD-LIVER  OIL. 
149 
different  years,  but  it  may  be  approximately  given  as  the  first 
week  in  February.  The  total  number  of  men  then  assembled  is 
estimated  at  25,000.  The  quantities  of  cod  are  prodigious, 
their  numbers  incalculable ;  a  good  or  a  bad  season  does  not  de- 
pend on  the  variable  supply  of  fish, — that  is  apparently  always 
the  same,  and  beyond  computation, — but  upon  the  weather,  as 
every  rough  day  prevents  the  open  boats  putting  out  to  sea,  occa- 
sions a  serious  loss  to  the  whole  fishery. 
Three  different  methods  are  employed  in  the  capture  of  the 
cod ;  the  deep  line,  the  long  line  and  nets.  When  caught  in 
nets,  the  fish  are,  with  few  exceptions,  dead  on  being  drawn  out 
of  the  water  ;  this  is  generally  the  case  also  with  the  long  line, 
especially  if  stormy  weather  has  delayed  the  fishermen  in  taking 
it  up  ;  with  the  deep  line  the  fish  are  all  secured  alive.  They 
are  never  killed,  but  left  to  die  of  themselves,  which  they  do 
during  their  transit  to  the  shore  ;  so  that  a  catch  of  fish  is 
always  brought  on  land  dead,  by  whatever  method  it  may  have 
been  taken. 
In  Lofoden,  the  common  and  almost  only  bate  is  the  herring, 
Clupea  harengus  ;  as  herrings  must  be  purchased,  it  sometimes 
happens  that  worms,  mussels,  or  the  cod-roe  are  employed.  The 
fisherman  who  are  obliged  to  use  these  obtain  far  less  fish  than 
those  who  can  afford  herrings,  as  the  cod  being  assembled  for 
the  purpose  of  breeding,  are  not  very  much  inclined  to  feed. 
The  best  bait  of  all,  and  the  favorite  food  of  the  cod,  is  the 
capelin  ;  but  by  a  very  old  Norwegian  law,  made  long  before  the 
principles  of  commercial  liberty  were  understood  and  practiced, 
its  use  is  prohibited  at  Lofoden  because  being  obtained  with 
difficulty,  and  only  by  few  persons,  the  fortunate  fishermen  who 
had  any,  not  only  caught  fish  as  fast  as  they  could  take  them 
from  the  water,  but  gave  the  cod  a  disgust  for  all  other  kinds  of 
bait,  to  the  prejudice  of  their  indignant  neighbors. 
Every  afternoon,  at  a  given  signal  from  the  surveillance,  those 
fishermen  having  nets  or  long  lines,  row  out  one  or  two  sea  miles 
to  their  fishing-grounds,  set  their  tackle,  then  row  back  and  pass 
the  night  on  shore.  Next  morning,  the  signal  being  again  given, 
they  all  row  as  before,  take  their  catch  and  return  with  it  during 
the  forenoon.  The  fishermen  with  deep  lines  remain  all  day  at  sea, 
