Popular Technology Volume I Part 14

3. This is the earliest notice on record, of the actual use of that cla.s.s of animals for food; although it is probable, that they had been applied to this purpose, in Egypt, six or seven hundred years before that period, or soon after the settlement of this country by the descendants of Ham.

4. For a long time before the advent of Our Saviour, fishing had been a regular business, even in Judea; and from the cla.s.s of men who followed this occupation, he chose several of his apostles. At the time just mentioned, fish had become a common article of diet, in all parts of the world subject to the Roman power, and probably in almost all other countries.

5. The methods of catching fish, pursued in ancient times, were similar to those of the present day; for then, as now, they were caught with a hook, with a spear, and with a seine or net, according to the character of the animal, and the nature of the fishing station.

But the great improvements in navigation, made since the twelfth century, have given modern fishermen the command of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and, consequently, a knowledge of many species of fish which were formerly unknown.

6. According to Linnaeus, the great naturalist, about four hundred species of fish have come to our knowledge; and he presumes, that those which remain unknown are still more numerous. Notwithstanding this great variety, the chief attention of fishermen is confined to a few kinds, which are the most easily caught, and which are the most valuable when taken.

7. Every place which contains many inhabitants, and which is located in the vicinity of waters well stored with fish, is supplied with these animals by men who make fishing a business; still, these fisheries may be considered local in their benefits, and perhaps do not require particular notice in this article. We will only remark, therefore, that, in large cities, fresh fish are sold either in a fish-market, or are _hawked_ about the streets. The wives of the fishermen are very often employed in selling the fish caught by their husbands. The fisheries which are of the greatest consequence, in general commerce, are those which relate to herring, mackerel, salmon, seal, and whale.

8. _Herring Fishery._--There are several species of herring; but, of these, four kinds only are of much importance, viz., the common herring, the shad, the hard head, and the alewife; of which, the first is the most valuable, being by far the most numerous, and being, also, better adapted than the others for preservation.

9. The winter residence of the common herring is within the arctic circle, whence it emigrates, in the spring, to more southern portions of the globe, for the purpose of depositing its sp.a.w.n. The first body of these migratory animals, appears on the coasts of both Europe and America, in April, or about the first of May; but these are only the precursors of the grand shoals which arrive in a few weeks afterwards.

10. Their first approach is indicated by the great number of birds of prey, which follow them in their course; but, when the main body appears, the number is so great, that they alter the appearance of the ocean itself. In this last and princ.i.p.al migration, the shoals are five or six miles in length, and three or four in breadth; and, before each of these columns, the water is driven in a kind of ripple.

Sometimes, the fish sink together ten or fifteen minutes, and then rise again to the surface, when they reflect, in clear weather, the rays of the sun, in a variety of splendid colors.

11. These fish proceed as far south as France, on the coasts of Europe, and as far as Georgia, in America, supplying every bay, creek, and river, which opens into the Atlantic. Having deposited their sp.a.w.n, generally in the inland waters, they return to their head-quarters in the Arctic Ocean, and recruit their emaciated bodies for another migration in the following spring.

12. In a few weeks, the young ones are hatched by the genial heat of the sun; and, as they are not found in southern waters in the winter, it is evident that they proceed northward in the fall, to their paternal haunts under the ice, and thus repair the vast destruction of their race, which had been caused by men, fowl, and fish, in the previous season.

13. These fish are caught in nearly every river, from Maine to Georgia, which has a free communication with the Atlantic; but the most extensive fisheries are on the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, and on those which flow into the Chesapeake Bay.

14. The instrument employed in catching these fish is called a _seine_, which is a species of net, sometimes in length several hundred fathoms, and of a width suiting the depth of the water in which it is to be used. The two edges of the net-work are fastened each to a rope; and, to cause the seine to spread laterally in the water, pieces of lead are fastened to one side, and pieces of cork to the other.

15. In spreading the seine in the water, one end is retained on land by a number of persons, while the rest of it is strung along from a boat, which is rowed in the direction from the sh.o.r.e. The seine having been thus extended, the further end is brought round, in a sweeping manner, to the sh.o.r.e; and the fish that may be included are taken into the boats with a scoop-net, or are hauled out upon the sh.o.r.e. In this way, two or three hundred thousands are sometimes taken at a single _haul_. This fish dies immediately after having been taken from the water; hence the common expression, "As dead as a herring."

16. The herrings are sold, as soon as caught, to people who come to the fishing stations to procure them; or, in case an immediate sale cannot be effected, they are cured with salt, and afterwards smoked, or continued in brine. In the Southern states, the herring is generally thought to be superior to any other fish for the purpose of salting down; although the shad and some others are preferred while fresh.

17. The importance of this fishery is superior to that of any other; since the benefits resulting from it are more generally diffused. The ancients, however, do not appear to have had any knowledge of this valuable fish. It was first brought into notice by the Dutch, who are said to have commenced the herring fishery on the coasts of Scotland, in the year 1164, and to have retained almost exclusive possession of it, until the beginning of the present century.

18. The shad is a species of herring, which inhabits the sea near the mouths of rivers, and which ascends them in the spring, to deposit its sp.a.w.n. It is caught in all the rivers terminating on our Atlantic coasts, as well as in some of the rivers of the North of Europe. This fish is captured in the same manner and often at the same time with the common herring. It is highly esteemed in a fresh state; although it is not so good when salted, as the herring and some other kinds of fish.

19. _Mackerel Fishery._--The common mackerel is a migratory fish, like the herring, and ranks next to that tribe of fishes in regard to numbers, and perhaps in general utility. Its place of retirement in the winter, is not positively known; but it is supposed by some, to be far north of the arctic circle; and by others, to be in some part of the Atlantic farther south. Shoals of this fish appear on the coasts of both Europe and America, in the summer season. Of this fish there are twenty-two species.

20. The mode of catching the mackerel, is either with a net or with hooks and lines. The latter method succeeds best, when the boat or vessel is driven forward by a gentle breeze; and, in this case, a bit of red cloth, or a painted feather, is usually employed as a bait.

Several hooks are fastened to a single line, and the fish bite so readily, that the fishermen occasionally take one on each hook at a haul. The mackerel is _cured_ in the usual manner, and packed in barrels, to be sold to dealers.

21. This fish was well known to the ancients, as one of its places of resort, in the summer, was the Mediterranean Sea. It was highly esteemed by the Romans, for the reason, that it was the best fish for making their _sarum_, a kind of pickle or sauce much esteemed by this luxurious people.

22. _Salmon Fishery._--The salmon is a celebrated fish, belonging to the trout genus. It inhabits the seas on the European coasts, from Spitzbergen to Western France; and, on the western sh.o.r.e of the Atlantic, it is found from Greenland to the Hudson River. It also abounds on both coasts of the North Pacific Ocean. The length of full-grown salmon is from three to four feet; and their weight, from ten to fifteen pounds.

23. As soon as the ice has left the rivers, the salmon begin to ascend them, for the purpose of depositing their sp.a.w.n. It has been ascertained that these fish retain a remarkable attachment to the river which gave them birth; and, having once deposited their sp.a.w.n, they ever afterwards choose the same spot for their annual deposits.

This latter fact has been established by a curious Frenchman, who, fastening a ring to the posterior fin of several salmon, and then setting them at liberty, found that some of them made their appearance at the same place three successive seasons, bearing with them this distinguishing mark.

24. In ascending the rivers, these fish usually proceed together in great numbers, mostly swimming in the middle of the stream; and, being very timid, a sudden noise, or even a floating piece of timber, will sometimes turn them from their course, and send them back to the sea; but having advanced a while, they a.s.sume a determined resolution, overcoming rapids and leaping over falls twelve or fifteen feet in perpendicular height.

25. Salmon are caught chiefly with seines, and sometimes seven or eight hundred are captured at a single haul; but from fifty to one hundred is the most usual number, even in a favorable season. They are also taken in _weirs_, which are inclosures so constructed that they admit the ingress, but not the regress of the fish.

26. The salmon fisheries are numerous in Great Britain and Ireland, as well as in most of the northern countries of Europe. In the United States, the most valuable fisheries of this kind are on the rivers in Maine, whence the towns and cities farther south are princ.i.p.ally supplied with these fish, in a fresh condition. They are preserved in ice, while on their way to market. In the cured state, salmon is highly esteemed; although it is not easily digested.

27. _Cod Fishery._--There are several species of cod-fish, or gadus; but the most important and interesting of the cla.s.s, is the common cod. These fish are found in great abundance on the south and west coasts of Iceland, on the coasts of Norway, off the Orkney and Western Isles, and in the Baltic Sea. Farther south, they gradually diminish in numbers, and entirely disappear, some distance from the Straits of Gibraltar.

28. But the great rendezvous of cod-fish is on the coasts of Labrador, the banks of Newfoundland, Cape Breton, and Nova Scotia. They are invited to these situations by the abundance of small fish, worms, and other marine animals of the crustaceous and testaceous kinds, on which they feed. The fishermen resort, in the greatest numbers, to the banks, which, stretch along the eastern coasts of Newfoundland about four hundred and fifty miles. The water on these banks varies from twenty to fifty fathoms in depth.

29. By negociations with Great Britain, the French, Dutch, Spanish, and Americans, have acquired the right to catch and cure fish, both on the _Grand Banks_, and several other places on the coasts of the English possessions in North America. The number of vessels employed on the several fishing stations, during each successive season, amounts to six or seven thousand, each measuring from forty to one hundred and twenty tons, and carrying eight or ten men.

30. The fishing on the Grand Banks commences in April, and continues until about the first of August. Here, the fish are caught exclusively with hooks, which are usually baited with a small fish called the capelin, as well as with herring, clams, and the gills of the cod itself. But this fish is not very particular in its choice of bait, it biting greedily at almost any kind which may be presented. An expert fisherman will frequently catch from one hundred to three hundred cod in a single day.

31. As soon as the fish have been caught, their heads are cut off, and their entrails taken out. They are then salted away in bulk in the hold; and, after having lain three or four days to drain, they are taken to another part of the vessel, and again salted in the same manner. The fishermen from New-England, however, give them but one salting while on the fishing station; but, as soon as a cargo has been obtained, it is carried home, where conveniences have been prepared for curing the fish to greater advantage. By pursuing this plan, two or three trips are made during the season. Some of the fish are injured before they are taken from the vessel; and these form an inferior quality, called _Jamaica fish_, because such are generally sold in that island, for the use of the negroes.

32. The fish which are caught on the coasts of Labrador, at the entrance of Hudson's Bay, in the Straits of Belleisle, and on fishing stations of similar advantages, are cured on the sh.o.r.e. They are first slightly salted, and then dried in the sun, either on the rocks, or on scaffolds erected for the purpose. In these coast fisheries, the operations commence in June, and continue until some time in August.

The cod are caught in large seines, as well as with hook and line.

33. _Seal Fishery._--There are several species of the seal; but the kind which is most numerous, and most important in a commercial view, is the common seal. It is found on the sea-coasts throughout the world, but in the greatest numbers in very cold climates, where it furnishes the rude inhabitants with nearly all their necessaries and luxuries.

34. The animal is valuable to the civilized world, on account of its skin and oil. The oil is pure, and is adapted to all the purposes to which that from the whale is applied. In the spring of the year, the seals are very fat; and, at that time, even small ones will yield four or five gallons of oil. The leather manufactured from the skins, is employed in trunk-making, in saddlery, and in making boots and shoes.

35. Since the whale fishery has declined in productiveness in the northern seas, _sealing_ has arisen in importance; and accordingly, vessels are now frequently fitted out for this purpose, in both Europe and America; whereas, a few years since, it was regarded only as a part of the objects of a whaling voyage.

36. Our countrymen of New-England have particularly distinguished themselves in this branch of business; and the part of the globe which they have found to be the most favorable to their objects, has been the islands in the Antarctic Ocean. A sealing voyage to that quarter often occupies three years, during which time the hunters are exposed to great hardships, being often left in small detachments on desolate islands, for the purpose of pursuing the animals to greater advantage.

37. The best time for sealing in the Arctic Ocean, is in March and April, when the seals are often met with in droves of several thousands on the ice, which is either fixed, or floating in large pieces. When the sealers meet with one of these droves, they attack the animals with clubs, and stun them by a single blow on the nose.

After all that can be reached, have been disabled in this way, the skin and blubber are taken off together.

38. This operation is called _flenching_, and is sometimes a horrible business; since some of the seals, being merely stunned, occasionally recover, and, in their denuded state, often make battle, and even leap into the water, and swim off. The skins, with the blubber attached to them, are packed away in the hold; and, in case the vessel is to return home soon, they are suffered to remain there, until she arrives in port; but, when this is not expected, the skins, as soon as convenient, are separated from the blubber, and the latter is put into casks. There are other methods of capturing the seal; but it is, perhaps, not necessary to enter into further details.

39. _Whale Fishery._--There are five species of the whale, of which the _Balaena Physalis_, or razor-back, is the largest. When full grown, it is supposed to be about one hundred feet in length, and thirty or thirty-five feet in circ.u.mference. It is so powerful an animal, that it is extremely difficult to capture it; and, when captured, it yields but little oil and whalebone. The species to which whalers direct their attention is denominated the _Mystecetus_, or the _right whale_.

40. The mystecetus is found, in the greatest numbers, in the Greenland seas, about the island of Spitzbergen, in Davis' Straits, in Hudson's and Baffin's Bays, and in the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean. It is also found in the Antarctic Ocean, and along the coasts of Africa and South America, and occasionally on the coasts of the United States.

41. Each vessel engaged in this fishery, is generally fitted out by several individuals, who receive, of the return cargo of oil and whalebone, a portion corresponding to the amount which they have contributed to the common stock, after the men have received their proportion of it. Should the voyage prove altogether unsuccessful, which seldom happens, the owners lose the amount of the outfit, and the captain and hands, their time.

42. The whalers commence operations in the northern lat.i.tudes, in the month of May; but the whales are most plentiful in June, when they are met with between the lat.i.tudes 75 and 80, in almost every variety of situation, sometimes in the open seas, at others in the loose ice, or at the edges of the _fields_ and _floes_, which are near the main, impervious body of ice.

43. On the fishing station, the boats are kept always ready for instant service, being suspended from davits, or cranes, by the sides of the ship, and being furnished with a lance and a harpoon, to the latter of which is attached about one hundred and twenty fathoms of strong but flexible rope. When the weather and situation are favorable, the _crow's nest_, which is a station at the mast-head, is occupied by some person with a telescope.

44. The moment a whale is discovered, notice is given to the watch below, who instantly man one or two boats, and row with swiftness to the place. Sometimes, a boat is kept manned and afloat near the ship, that no time may be lost in making ready; or, two or three are sent out on _the look-out_, having every thing ready for an attack.

45. The whale being very timid and cautious, the men endeavor to approach him unperceived, and strike him with the harpoon, before he is aware of their presence. Sometimes, however, he perceives their approach, and dives into the water, to avoid them; but, being compelled to come again to the surface to breathe, or, as it is termed, _to blow_, they make another effort to harpoon him. In this way, the whalers often pursue him for a considerable time, and frequently without final success. The animal, when unmolested, remains about two minutes on the surface, during which time he blows eight or nine times, and then descends for five or ten minutes, and often, while feeding, for fifteen or twenty.

46. When the whale has been struck, he generally dives towards the bottom of the sea either perpendicularly or obliquely, where he remains about thirty minutes, and sometimes nearly an hour. The harpoon has, near its point, two barbs, or withers, which cause it to remain fast in the integuments under the skin; and the rope attached to it, is coiled in the bow of the boat in such a way, that it runs out without interruption. When more line is wanted, it is made known to the other boats by the elevation of an oar. Should the rope prove too short for the great descent of the whale, it becomes necessary to sever it from the boat, lest the latter be drawn under water; for this emergency, the harpooner stands ready with a knife.

47. When the whale reappears, the a.s.sisting boats make for the place with their greatest speed; and, if possible, each harpooner plunges his weapon into the back of the creature. On convenient occasions, he is also plied with lances, which are thrust into his vitals. At length, overcome with wounds, and exhausted by the loss of blood, his approaching dissolution is indicated by a discharge of blood from his blow-holes, and sometimes by a convulsive struggle, in which his tail, raised, whirled, and jerked in the air, resounds to the distance of several miles. The whale having been thus conquered, and deprived of life, the captors express their joy with loud huzzas, and communicate the information to the ship by striking their flag.

48. A position near a large field of solid ice is very advantageous; because a whale diving under it is obliged to return again to blow; and this circ.u.mstance gives opportunity to make upon him several attacks. Close fields of drift ice present great difficulties; since the boats cannot always pa.s.s through them with sufficient celerity. In that case, the men sometimes travel over the ice, leaping from one piece to another, and carrying with them lances and harpoons, with which they pierce the animal as often as possible. If they succeed in thus killing him, they drag him back under the ice with the fast line.

49. The whale, having been towed to the ship, and secured alongside, is raised a little by means of powerful blocks, or tackle. The harpooners, with spurs fastened to the bottom of their feet to prevent them from slipping, descend upon the huge body, and, with spades and knives adapted to this particular purpose, cut the blubber into oblong pieces, which are peeled off, and hoisted upon deck with the _speck-tackle_. These long strips are then cut into chunks, which are immediately packed away in the hold. After the animal has been thus successively flenched, and the whale-bone taken out, the carcase is dismissed to the sharks, bears, and birds of prey.