This was a very hot day, with a few drops of rain in the afternoon.
The weather being now calm, we ventured to go out to sea in a boat, in order to search for the natural productions of that element. We soon caught, with a hook and line, plenty of Sey-fish (_Gadus virens_). These were about ten inches long, very smooth, fat and tender, covered with extremely minute scales. The back was of a darkish green, the belly white. The mouth toothed, like that of a perch. Some of these fish had sticking to them several _Remoræ_, or rather _Pediculi marini_ of Frisch, of which I preserved specimens. (_Lernæa Assellina?_) The fish themselves were so numerous and so voracious, that we had no sooner thrown out the hook, letting it float after the boat, than they swallowed it so quick that we could hardly take them out fast enough. The next day however, the sky being very clear, we had no such success. The hook we used was of steel, without any kind of bait, and yet we caught above sixty fish in all.
Torfiolme, where I now was, is entirely encompassed by lofty mountains covered with snow. Between their summits dark grey clouds were stationed here and there, so that the base of each mountain, as well as the summit itself, was clear. These clouds, or vapours, at length gradually subsided.
Close to the borders of the bay or creek, are many little sequestered villages scattered among the hills. Each has but a small valley adjoining, and consequently not above a cornfield or two within its district, with a very small portion of pasture-ground attached to each house, though possibly there might be more further off, which I could not perceive. The inhabitants therefore would scarcely be able to subsist, were it not for the vast plenty of fish within their reach, which serves them for food and for sale. The sea here not only abounds with a great variety of species, but the individuals of each are also uncommonly numerous. The people were continually talking to me about the whale fishery.
I had here an opportunity of seeing how salmon are caught. Some piles are placed in the mouth of a little creek or cove, adjoining to a small fence or row of pales. Close to this a perpendicular net is placed in the water, in a curved position, one end being fastened to the shore, the other to two cords, while the middle is floated out, by means of a buoy in the mouth of the creek, towards the sea. When the fish swim up the creek to a certain distance, they are entrapped in this net, the cords being pulled by two people stationed in a hut adjoining, built for the purpose of watching the net.