This Is
The Deepest Part Of The Water; And It Is Soon So Thronged With Fish,
That Men, Stationed In Readiness, Can Seize Them In Their Hands And
Fling Them Ashore.
The salmon possess remarkable swiftness and strength.
The fisherman
is obliged to take them quickly by the head and tail, and to throw
them ashore, when they are immediately caught by other men, who
fling them still farther from the water. If this is not done with
great quickness and care, many of the fishes escape. It is
wonderful how these creatures can struggle themselves free, and leap
into the air. The fishermen are obliged to wear woollen mittens, or
they would be quite unable to hold the smooth salmon. At every
day's fishing, from five hundred to a thousand fish are taken, each
weighing from five to fifteen pounds. On the day when I was present
eight hundred were killed. This salmon-stream is farmed by a
merchant of Reikjavik.
The fishermen receive very liberal pay, - in fact, one-half of the
fish taken. And yet they are dissatisfied, and show so little
gratitude, as seldom to finish their work properly. So, for
instance, they only brought the share of the merchant to the harbour
of Reikjavik, and were far too lazy to carry the salmon from the
boat to the warehouse, a distance certainly not more than sixty or
seventy paces from the shore. They sent a message to their
employer, bidding him "send some fresh hands, for they were much too
tired." Of course, in a case like this, all remonstrance is
unavailing.
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