DEPARTURE FOR THE FISHING BANKS.--GREAT NUMBER OF BOATS.--MORE THAN FIVE
THOUSAND OARS FALL INTO THE WATER AT THE SAME TIME.--QUANTITIES OF
BUOYS AND GLASS BALLS.--A NOTABLE CATCH OF COD.
At four o'clock the next morning we were up. It was the dawn of the day.
It was wonderful how quickly the nights shortened. Coffee, flat bread,
butter, and cheese made our breakfast.
When we came out almost all the boats with their full crews were ready
waiting for the hoisting of the flag at five o'clock, which is the
signal for the start, the time changing according to the length of the
day. We all had to leave together, and to return the same day. Every
one, including myself, was dressed in oilskin garments, sou'wester, and
high sea-boots. There were more than nine hundred fishing boats. As soon
as the flag was hoisted over five thousand oars struck the water at the
same time, and filled the air with a deep booming sound. I had never
seen so many sea boats and oars together. It was a grand sight!
As soon as we were out of the harbor the boats hoisted their sails, and
soon we were scattered in every direction, each boat going towards its
buoys. I looked at the thousands of white sails with wonder.
Our fishing boat was a fine craft, forty-two feet long and about seven
feet and a half beam. The poop was decked under for a cabin, with bunks
for the men to sleep in. The rudder-like oar, several feet long, is held
by the captain, who sculls and steers at the same time.
Captain Ole was a regular "old salt." Our crew was composed of Sven,
Hakon, Fridthjof, Ivor, Evert, Harald and Erik. Evert and Harald were
lads about seventeen years old; they were learning to be hardy sailors
like their father.
After a sail of three hours' beating against the wind, we came to the
fishing banks and towards our buoys. The water for as far as I could see
was filled with buoys and glass balls (floaters to hold the nets)
enclosed in netted ropes. These glass balls were attached by a short
cord to the nets to keep them floating, while stones at the bottom held
the nets stretched. It was no easy matter to sail among them.
Looking at the multitudes of buoys I asked Captain Ole, "How can you
ever find and recognize your own buoys?"
He answered smiling, "We can find our nets by the bearings, and every
buoy has its special mark of ownership. It is hard work to haul in the
nets, especially when the sea is rough. Each net is one hundred and
twenty fathoms long, and about three fathoms deep;--we sailors do not
count by yards but by fathoms. Each fathom is six feet long. In our boat
we have to raise twenty-four nets tied together in fours."
[Illustration: "It is hard work to haul in the nets."]
"I will help you all I can," I replied; "I am willing to work. I have
come to sea and I am in your boat as one of the crew, and I will try to
do my part. I hope we are going to have good luck, and that the catch of
cod will be big."
To Evert and Hakon was assigned the duty of pulling in the nets. Two
other men stowed the nets carefully. Near the net-reels were two men who
hooked the fish as they appeared and threw them inside of the boat, and
another man and I arranged the nets. How eager we were as the nets were
hauled up to peep and see how plentiful the fish were; for these
represented money--and the poor fishermen work so hard to get a
livelihood.
The sea was rough and it took us about ten minutes to haul each net.
After they were all in, we estimated that we had caught about eight
hundred codfish. This was considered a very fine catch. Then a
consultation was held to decide where to re-set the nets. It was very
important to know the direction in which the fish had gone on the banks,
for these big shoals were constantly moving as they spawned.
After they had decided where to go our sail was hoisted, and we started
for another part of the fishing banks; in the mean time the nets were
inspected and put into good order. When we reached the spot, we sounded
twice and found the sea too deep. When we found a depth of one hundred
fathoms we set our nets, after which we returned home.
On our return we went on board of one of the ships, and our fish was
bought by the captain at a little over eight dollars a "big
hundred,"--that is, 112 cod.
On the deck of this ship were already several boat-loads of cod; the
fish were cleaned, flattened, washed and salted, and laid in the hold on
the top of one another.
The captain said to me: "When I am loaded I shall sail for my farm, and
then lay the fish on the rocks to dry. I have a nice little home by the
sea. I hope my boys will one of these days be sailors as I am." Then we
shook hands with the captain and returned to our cabin.
Before we went to bed we learned that the catch of all the boats of the
settlement that day had been over six hundred thousand cod.
The following morning found me ready to start at the appointed time for
fishing with hook and line. The departure of the boats took place in the
same manner as the day before. Our boat was not so large as the netting
boat; it was not decked over.
Captain Johansen steered. The men of our crew were Mats, Pehr, Anders,
Ole, Knut, and Roar.
Captain Johansen had fished in the Arctic regions for forty-two
consecutive years. His face had been permanently reddened by the wind.
Whenever he had a chance he had his pipe in his mouth, and he told me
that his pipe was one of his best friends.
We had a fair wind at the start and in about one hour the men came to
their buoys. Then we lowered the sail. The sea was covered with boats;
there were nearly fifteen hundred in sight, for they had come to that
part of the banks from several other fishing settlements. These boats
were manned by about eleven thousand sailors; men enough to man a big
fleet of men-of-war.
Captain Johansen said: "We are going to have hard work raising our
lines, but if we catch many fish the work will seem to be much lighter
to us."
"That is so," I said, "Captain, for when I go hunting and see no game I
get tired; but if I see plenty of game, then I can tramp all day without
fatigue."
A large reel was placed on one side of the boat to haul in the line.
Before we began to haul the lines the captain remarked: "We attach four
lines together; each line is one hundred fathoms long. The hooks are
generally from four to six feet apart and there are about one hundred
and twenty on each line. We have to pull in over twenty-four hundred
fathoms or over twenty-six thousand feet of line, to which are attached
about five thousand hooks."
"Indeed," I said to the captain, "it will be hard work and will take
quite a while, especially if many fish are caught."
"I hope, nevertheless, we shall catch many," he replied with a smile,
"for most of us have a home to keep and a wife and children to clothe
and feed."
We began to haul in the lines on the reel. How we watched! How deep our
eyes tried to see into the water! It was quite exciting. We were
fortunate: a big shoal of fish had been passing on that part of the
banks, and on many a hook a cod was hanging. After we got through, we
pulled towards another of our buoys, passing several that belonged to
other fishermen on the way.
Having pulled in about three hundred fathoms of our next line, we found
that the rest of the line had drifted into a net and some of the hooks
were caught and entangled in it, and we had a hard job to free the line.
Then we rowed to a third buoy belonging to us and began hauling. Almost
every other hook had caught a fish. The faces of the fishermen were full
of happiness. They felt that on that day they would have a great catch,
when suddenly one of the men shouted, "Our line is entangled; I wonder
whether it has fouled a net or another line." But as we pulled in the
line we raised another line with it not belonging to us. We had a hard
time to separate them, but after nearly half an hour's work succeeded in
doing so. We had caught over two hundred cod on this line.
Our fourth line proved to be entangled in nets as well as also in
several lines belonging to different owners. The untwisting was
something awful, and it was no joke to separate them. Fortunately we
could tell to whom the lines belonged, for each one is marked from
distance to distance with the number of the boat and the letter of the
district from which the craft comes. The rest of the lines were so badly
tangled that we concluded to cut them. Then we pulled the cut pieces
with the fish on them into our boat, intending to give them to their
owners--not a difficult task, as the marks of ownership were on the
tackles--and if they belonged to another settlement the fish would be
sold and the money given them.
Captain Johansen and the crew thought the cod would remain two days
more. Their advance guard had passed, but a great deal of the shoal was
going northward; and there were miles of cod still to pass over the bank
upon which we fished.
The wind had been gradually rising. We had had two days of good weather,
and now the sea was covered with white caps. The daughters of AEgir and
Ran were all white-hooded. But as we sailed for home the wind suddenly
increased; squall after squall followed each other. We had to reef the
sail; the sea at times washed over us, and the poor fishermen began to
think seriously of throwing our cargo of fish overboard, for we were
pretty deeply loaded, but it would have been like throwing away money,
and they had worked so hard to get it.
A big black cloud overspread our heads and hail fell thickly upon us,
and it hurt us badly for the hailstones were hard and very big. I tried
to protect my face, for my sou'wester only protected well the back of my
head. The hail was succeeded by sleet, the rigging and mast were covered
with ice; our garments and sou'westers were stiff, and we looked like
big icy things. The captain, looking at me with a smile,--for he saw I
did not like this sort of weather, said: "This weather is the
forerunner of spring in these high latitudes; the sun is getting higher
at its meridian every day."
It was dark long before we reached port, but the men knew every rock on
the coast, and yonder was the lighthouse guiding us on our way. Boat
after boat entered the harbor, and not one of them was lost.
The next day the gale was such that no boat was permitted to put out to
sea. In the evening there was very little talking, and for a while no
one said a word; then Captain Johansen broke the silence and said:
"Paul, this Arctic Ocean is the home of gales; these often bring sadness
to many homes; some of us here have lost friends and relatives at sea.
Some years ago a fishing fleet of eight hundred boats was caught in one
of these sudden gales. After the boats had come safely into port the
roll-call showed that twenty boats with their crews were missing."
"How sad!" I exclaimed; and as Captain Johansen was speaking I wondered
how many people thought, when they ate fish, of the hard life of the
poor and brave fishermen and of the gales they encounter.
The fishermen wanted to entertain me before we retired for the night,
and Captain Larsen said, "I will tell you, Paul, about one of the great
sea battles of the Vikings."