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Two mates performed the roles of header and splitter. They
prepared the cod on the deck, standing at a splitting table
behind the fishermen. A boy worked between them, extracting the
sounds. 88
Once the tongue was removed, the cod was passed to the header
(Figure 10, d), who cut
off the head. Standing in a barrel similar to those of the
fishermen, the header wore leather sleeve protectors and a
large comfortable apron made of soft leather to keep his
clothing clean. His hands were protected by cloth mittens that
covered four of his fingers and the top of his hand. The blade
of the header's knife was 19 to 22 cm long and 2 cm wide, and
had two cutting edges. The handle was 11 to 14 cm long. The
carpenter almost always performed the role of
header. 89
The header grabbed two fish at a time and placed them on the
splitting table. One after the other, he banged their heads
on the edge of the table to break the backbone. He dropped
the heads into a pen behind him, to the right, then cleaned
the fish. The heart and spleen were set aside to be used as
bait, and the liver was deposited in a basket or barrel. If
the roe was to be
salted, 90
it was also set aside. When the header finished his job, he
slid the cod over to the splitter
(Figure 10, c).
The splitter had a short leather apron. He wore a mitten on
the hand that held the fish and a leather sleeve protector.
His knife had a wide square blade, like a meat cleaver, about
21 cm long and 8 cm wide. Its handle was longer than that of
the header's knife. The splitter split the cod from the neck
to the anus and removed the backbone. He then threw the fish
into the hold or an area 'tween-decks through an opening at
the centre of the table. The captain or the pilot usually
performed this job.
Apprentices and boys carried shovels of salt to the salter
(Figure 13). The salter did the
initial salting of the cod thrown down by the splitter, then
stored the fish 'tween-decks or in the hold, placing them so
that the tails were towards the bottom. He covered them with
a layer of salt and another layer of cod then let them sit
for 24 to 48 hours, to allow the blood and excess water to
drain. When the cod was ready, the salter salted it once
again and piled it
up. 91
Sometimes the piles were so high that there were fish just
below the upper deck. When the hold was full, the
expedition ended and the ship returned to
France. 92
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