fize from the grampus, or fmall whale. The weapon, which is
likened to a fword, conftitutes his back f in ; and with this, and
his iharp teeth of about a finger’s length in both jaws-, he attacks
the whale whenever he meets him, and purfues him until he
drives him on ihore or kills him. T h a t fiih does not only engage
the whale fingly, but alfo in company with other fpecies ; fo that
the great tyrant of the deep, to whofe infatiable appetite fuch
numbers of fiih become every moment a facrifice, is not without
his enemies, by whom a t length thofe victims of his voracious
delpotifm are lure to be avenged.
Another cetaceous fiih is here known by the name of fpnnger,
which, in the language of Norway, fignifies a jumper. This name
is given to it becaufe it is oblerved to leap frequently out o f the
lea with great force, after which it falls back with a loud noife.
Th is fiih is near three yards in length, and in winter generally
keeps the main le a ; but in the fummer it often feeks the ihallow
waters of the bays, when, being difcovered by its frequent leaps,
the fiihermen iurround it with nets, to avoid which the fiih throws
itlelf on the beach, and is feized upon without difficulty.
Porpoiles, to which the Norwegians give the appellation of
nifer, are feen in great numbers. The Laplanders fometimes find
them in calm weather lleeping on the furface, and thus lhoot
them, which they rarely lucceed in when they are rolling in the
water. The Laplanders, as w'ell as the inhabitants of Finmark
and Norway, are exceedingly fond of the fielh of the porpoife.
The ihark is found in all feas, but abounds in that of which we
6 are
are fpeaking : it is called, in the Norwegian tongue,Jlaaelioerring,
and by the Laplanders, akkalagges. There are lèverai fpecies of
Ihark, all of which yield a great quantity of oil or blubber. The
Laplanders eat freely of the fielh, which they cut into fteaks and
broil. So voracious is this fiih, that lharks have been taken with
other lharks of a fmaller lize in their ftomachs, and even with the
hooks, lines and weights which were laid for other fiih, having
fwallowed not only the fiih that were thus caught, but the whole
tackle together with them.
Th e hollibut, ikate, turbot, and flounder, are taken in the
Northern Ocean in vail: quantities. The Norwegians call them
by the general name o f qvejta, but the Laplanders have diftin â
terms for each. The lkate and flounder fcoured and dried, the
heads, fins and tails being cut off, are fent into Denmark and
other countries of the North, where they are eaten in th a t Hate,
and confidered as an agreeable relilh.
T h e cod-filh conflits of lèverai fpecies ; thelè are found in the
feas of Finmark in great plenty, and in the highell perfection :
accordingly they form a confiderable article of commerce. There
is a fpecies of cod which remains the whole year on th a t coall,
and which, a t certain feafons, is poor and lean. Another fort
Ihews itfelf about Chrillmas, and is at that time very full o f roe ;
and a third kind is much elteemed, which is called torjke, and
known to the Englilh by the fame name, though it is ibmetimes
written as that is pronounced, viz. tujk. There is moreover a
Ipecies which, from its Norwegian name modde, is called mud-jijk
by