Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1882-09-23

small teeth, ana the te6lefS cOnVtrging
70 a cruel hawk-hke beak-then we shall
have a weak likeness Of the squid. The
creatures mode of progression Is orig
! ipal. IT has within its body an elastic
| suction tube holding almost q pint Of
water. Filling the tube by drawing
water through holes in its MANTLE the
squid, by a sudden squirt, drives itself
/ backward as fast as a fish can swim, and
! by inverting its tube can move with
equal velocity in the opposite direction.
Jigging for these squids is q rare spec
tacle. The ''iigger" is a red stick OF
wood circled with sharp but barbless
books. The hook is LET down, the
| squid, which enters these bays here by
myriads for food, is attracted by the red
color, clasps its arms over the hooks,
and is drawn up otis death. But as it
reaches the surface the novice must be
on guard, for the squid shoots straight
at its captOr his charge of water, fol-
lowed by another squirt Of an inky
fluid, which on light garments is almost
indelible. The fishermen know the
creatures trick, and by skillful move
ment induce the squid to deliver his
charge upon one side, then by quick
the boat. A squid fishing fleet of boats,
closely grouped, so as to keep the
schools of Young octopi collected, IS IN
animated sight. Each man tends three
or four lines, and has all he can do
when squid are around. The hustle of
the fishers, the humping Of the squid
in the beats, and the incessant squiris
of water 10 q height of several feet III
all directions through the fleet, make
mp a most picturesque sea spectacle.
The flesh of the squid has some poison
GUS quality that makes even the tough
skins of the fishermen sore by long
handling. On the Goldfish hook its flesh
grows white and tough, making very
alluring bait.
THE CAPLIN.
Closely allied to the squid as cod bait
is the caplln. The caplin is a small
fish, of the salmon species, about the
size of the smelt, and very like it in ap-
pearance. 1t never varies more than
two or three days in the time OF its
coming to the Newfoundland shores,
where, late in June, it suddenly throngs
ali the bays in prodigious numbers. \
single boy with small dip net can
catch several tons a day, and few men
can readily secure a schooner load. The
waves dash the caplin on the shores III
great numbers, and the residents often
cart them away for manure. Although
delicious fish, much like the trout in
flavor, the caplin is rarely eaten. In
deco, for fishing people these islanders
are amazingly backward in the use of
their food fish. Few of them even know
how to cook the cod so as to be eatahle;
they rarely eat the trout with which
their inland waters are filed; and,
though they raise the best potatoes in
the world, they seem profoundly igno-
rant of that delicious product of Yankee
land, the codfsh-ball. After the caplin
go away, in July, the squid come in,
and after them the herring, so that
Providence has provided triple series
of cod bats, without any one of which
n third of the season would be lost.
ON THE FISHING BANKS.
His bait once assured, the fisherman
begins his toIlsome season on the fish
ing grounds, seeking the Grand Bank
heretofore referred to, the inshore fish
cries, or the coast of Labrador. The
fish off Labrador, or on the Grand
Bank, are always largest and most yalu-
able, but the fisherman there must in
cur vexatious delays in securing fresh
bait or in coming shOreward to dry his
product. His is an arduous and peril
ous calling. The cod usually bite best
at sunset or sunrise, and often tug at
the lines all night. So by darkness and
day the fisher is at his post, save when
a storm forces him to heave-to on the
banks, or, nearer shore, drives him to
port. The rasping line, drawn up often
from a depth of 200 feet. cuts his
fingers, the poisonous squid and salt
used in canning the fish wear the skin to
the blood; hunger, exposure, danger,
are all his lot. Here, i'll Newfoundland,
he fishes also for q hard master, the
wholesale dealer, who furnishes the
equipment, taking as security IA chattel
mortgage, thus bringing the poor,
ignorant fisherman in debt at the open
ing of the season. 1t is reckoned fair
seasons catch if the fisherman comes
out with profits of S120, on which he
must weather through the piercing
winter months. During his absence
the wife tills the ground, rears the chill
dren, and even cures the fish which her
lord brings home. On his return from
the remoter banks, often after an alb
sence of five months, the fisherman re-
lapses into sulky idleness for the rest OF
the year. He sits by the fireside with
his pipe, leaving his wife to do the
household work, and becoming by COM
parison with his decidedly better half
most inconsequential and good-for moth
ing creature. He may be captain on
the water, but his wife is captain on
shore, and the subsection to which
these imperious fishwlves reduce their
nominal lords and masters is a funny
side of social phenomena in this queer
little island
The cod is anything but gamesome
fish. A few initial struggles way down
in the depths, and he comes up with a
dead pull like log. Unless very large
and hungry he bites daintily, and ont of
ten that bite probably but one is
hooked.
In trawling" the fisherman sinks n
long rope fitted with short snoods and
hooks. The rope is ingeniously buOyed
to logs, to which is attached a staff and
flag in such way that each wave
throws the flag in air and signals its
spot. Two men in boat, often several
times day, under-run" the tIawl-
the man in front drawing up and taking
off the fish, while his companion bats.