answered.

"What other kind of bait do they use for the cod?"

"Caplin--a small fish like a sardine--and herring. Sand eels and
white-fish sometimes. Bits of sea-gulls, and even rubber fish with
hooks. Mussels don't hold well on the hooks."

Harry looked thoughtful. "I suppose it makes a lot o' difference,
having just the right kind o' bait."

"All the difference in the world," the Doctor agreed. "If a man can't
please the fish, he might as well burn his nets and boats and leave
the sea.--But I was telling you about the cod-traps.

"While the fish are following their leader, like so many sheep, in at
the door of the trap, along comes the man they call the trap-master.
He has a tube with plain glass in the bottom, and he puts it down
over the side of the boat and looks through it to see if the trap is
full.

"When he thinks it's full enough, the door is pulled up so the fish
can't get out, and the floor of the trap is hauled to the surface.

"As it is lifted, a big dipper is put in, and the fish are ladled into
the boat.

"When the boat is full, the rest of the fish are put into big net
bags. These are tied to buoys, so the fishermen may come back later
and get them."

"I suppose the fishermen like to pick out the best places," said
Harry.

"Yes--there's a mad race on the day the season opens. You've got to
get your cod-trap anchored in four days, with the net that leads from
the shore put in place: and it's a big job to do it in that time.

"Then there's what they call the cod-seine. That's worked by seven
men. The seine-master, fish-glass in hand, stands in the bow: and the
minute he sights the school of fish he gives orders for the nets to be
dropped.

"The men row in a circle and return to a buoy, paying out the net as
they go.

"The bottom rope is weighted, and they gather it round a central
anchor into a bag as they row. It's not so easy as it sounds, but
'practice makes perfect.' When they've got the fish bagged in this way
they may scoop them up whenever they like.

"Other kinds of nets, as well as lines, are used.

"While those who use the lines generally take great pains to put on
them the bait they think Mr. and Mrs. Cod will like, some fishermen
make the others very angry by 'jigging' with unbaited hooks.

"This means that two hooks, joined back to back with a bit of lead
that sinks them, are dropped where the fish are most thickly crowded.

"Then the line is jerked up and down. Half a