The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1891-12-09
97ltstellanp.
On Board a Goldfish Brig.

On board the Anne May everything
is ready for the preparation of the cod
fish which the doris brings in. The
parks are built up, one forward and
the other asteru. The park is
sort of movable corral on the deck, six
feet wide and twelve feet long, sur
rounded by balustrade some twenty
four or thirty inches high. In each
"park" there is a table where the
decoleurs and the trancbeurs do their
work in the midst OF heaps of fish piled
up within the balustrade. The de-
COlleur, or decapitator, places the head
of the goldfish on the edge of the table
and chops it off; then he draws the
entrais and filings hem overheard, and
that is the only part of the fish which is
lost. The tongues are pulled out and
sailed in barrels; the st0machs are re-
puted TO be the most delicate parts, and
are sold fifty per cent dearer than the
rest; with the heads an excellent soup
is made; the roes are used as bait for
sardine- fishing; and finally the livers
give that oil which is so much en-
ployed in therapeutics. The decolleur,
when he has finished his operation,
passes the Goldfish to the trancheur or
cutter, who splits the fish, and takes
out the bone along two.thirds of the
| length, that is to say, along the part
corresponding with the abdominal
cavity. When the fishing yields abun-
dainty, the preparation occupies the
decapitator and The cutter almost all
! day, and sometimes when the take :"
is exceptionally great the captain and
second captain lend hand, and give
the men au example of good workman
ship. On those days, if the weather is
fine, the crew strike up joyous Norman
and Breton songs, and when the night
comes ON they drink gayly the alton of
brandy which the captain has doubled.
The "bankers " forget their fatieues.
Their ordinary fare, composed of soup,
biscuit and piece of pork, seems to
them priucely. Their beds, made of a
few planks in the bows of the ship.
where the air stinks with putrefying
roes and livers, feels to them like a
downy couch. In the tempest or in
fog. the bankers are no less win
ming and patient. If the doris bring
no fish on board, and if there is no more
to be prepared, they will find other
work to dO-clean up the ship, repair
the damage caused by the last gale, OF
make new lines to replace those which
''tne waves and submarine currents >
have worn out, as they say in their pic.
turesQue language. If the storm grows
fercer, and if their life is in danger
they will still remain calm. The ship
weighted with the cable in the bows
rises with difficulty to the enormou;
waves that sweep the deck. The mer
are tranquil, each one at his post, wait
ing for the captain to give the order tC
close reef or to cut the cable. The cod
lish, decapitated and cut up, is washed
on the de ck The roes are put in bar
rels pierced with holes, so they may b,
kept drained. The livers are throw
into barrels at the stern of the ship OF
deck. The sailing of the cod is dom
in the hold. Each banker" bring
from France its cargo of salt, an ingre
dent which, it is needless TO say, play
, a capital role in the fishing Campaign
The sailing is one Of the mot mportan
and delicate operations. If there i
not enough salt on the fish, it viii no
keep; if there is too much, the fish i
black aud moist. n good sal'er is JUS
as valuable to the owner of banker
as good captain. Four men are usual
: employed to salt the fish in the hold
One, with sort of curved trident
shovels down the salt to the level Of tn
piles of fish already male; the othe
; receives the fish that are thrown dow
= from the deck, and passes them to tn
, piler, who places them with minute car
= in close layers; finally, the salter come
: with his shovel in his band, spread
salt over the layers of fish, and look
after the methodical aud regular eXecu
ton Of all these processes. The wor
has to be done quickly and well. A
q soon as the fish has been washed,
ought not to remain on deck, but b
e slowed away, as quickly as possible
: Furthermore, if the goldfish is nc
a packed regularly, without the edge
r touching, and if the layer of salt is to
q thick or too thin, the sailing is con
Y promised, and the drying of the fist
y which is done especially at Bordeau
T and Cette, will give a cod of poor qua