78 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



" Palangres," cable-lines, (cablieres,) and bottom-lines. — The cords, 

 thread, and twine required for manufacturing the "palaugres " are made 

 in the villages and in sqnie cities of the districts of Nijui-Novgorod and 

 Saratow, whence they are sent to Astrachan. The hooks are made of 

 wire and are barbed. These hooks are only used for the different species 

 of sturgeon. A thousand of these hooks for fishing in the sea cost, if 

 they weigh 3 " pouds," (108 pounds,) 17 " roubles," ($11.90 gold;") those 

 weighing 2J "pouds" (90 pounds) to the thousand, cost 12 "roubles," 

 ($8.40 gold;) while the third kind, weighing l.J "pouds" (54 pounds) to 

 the thousand, generally cost only 7 "roubles," ($4.90 gold.) In the riv- 

 ers, hooks are used weighing lh " pouds," (54 pounds,) 1 "pond" 10 

 pounds, (46 pounds.) or 1 "poud,"(36 pounds,) to the thousand; costing, 

 respectively, 5 "roubles" 15 "kopecks," ($3.60£ gold;) 4 "roubles" GO 

 " kopecks," ($3.22 gold ;) and 4 " roubles" 40 " kopecks," ($3.08 gold.) 



A " bottom-line" is Jf cord of the thickness of a finger and 20 " sagenes" 

 (140 feet) long, to which pieces of whip-cord are attached about as thick 

 as a quill, 12 inches apart, and furnished with hooks. The floats are of 

 wood, 5 inches long and 2 inches broad. They are attached to the line, 

 the distance between them being equal to that from the end to the fifth 

 or sixth piece of whip-cord, making from twelve to fifteen floats to a 

 line of 10 " sagenes," (70 feet.) From ten to fifteen of these lines are 

 usually tied together and placed at a depth of 3 "sagenes" (21 feet) or 

 more. They are kept in position by means of cords attached to station- 

 ary poles. In very deep places, anchors are substituted for the poles. 

 In the summer, they are only left in the water one week, while in the 

 other seasons they remain there two weeks. They are examined every 

 day, and the sturgeons that have been caught on the hooks are taken 

 off. They are placed in the sea in a straight line, and extend several 

 " versts." The sturgeons approach " these palangres," and, anxious 

 to pass through the free spaces between the pieces of whip-cord, are 

 caught by the hooks, and the more efforts they make to disengage 

 themselves the more do they bring the water in motion, and a larger 

 number of hooks enter their body. 



The "bottom-line" used in the Volga for catching the "sterliad" 

 (Aeipenser ruthenus) has usually 200 hooks, attached to pieces of whip- 

 cord 11 inches long, and 15 inches apart, on the main line, which is GO 

 "sagenes" (420 feet) long. The hooks are made of wire, and a thou- 

 sand of them weigh only 5h pounds. 



The "belouga" (Aeipenser huso) is caught in the sea with " palengres" 

 at a depth of from 70 to 100 " sagenes," (490 to 700 feet,) the line having a 

 diameter of half an inch and a length of 70 " sagenes." The hooks are at- 

 tached to piecesof whip-cord, 1J "sagenes " (10.V feet) long, and are much 

 larger, stronger, and thicker than those used for catching the common 

 sturgeon. A thousand of them weigh 3 " pouds, " (108 pounds.) These 

 hooks are baited with small, living, scaly fish, kuown by the name of " ta- 

 ranes," (a local name for bait fishes of several kinds of Alosa, Abramis, 



