britches sighting: Iceland, 1809

This excerpt comes from William Jackson Hooker's Journal of a Tour in Iceland in the Summer of 1809. You can read the whole book here.

Fresh, or soft fish, such as may be considered good merchandize, should be delivered immediately after being taken out of the sea, and untainted; nor must there be any lean or skin-fish among it. The heads must be cut off, the entrails taken out, the fish properly split, in such a manner that the bone be taken out three joints below the navel, and the scales of the cole-fish must be scraped off. Such fish as can be used for dried fish, must be salted immediately on being caught, with the necessary quantity of French salt, or some other sort equally useful. It should be well cleansed, and afterwards properly cured, according to the Newfoundland mode, in such a manner that it may obtain the proper appearance, and keep well. The neck, and every thing about the neck, must likewise be cut away, before it receives the last day's drying. The dried fish must be well worked and thoroughly dried, and not mouldy, rotten, slimy, or maggotty. The neck must be cut off when it is half dried, or at least before it is received and weighed. The fresh cod-roe must be delivered immediately on its being taken out of the fish, the breeches must be whole, and the roe of a red color, firm, and not spawning. The oil must be clear and clean, and leave no sediment.

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