FISHERIES AND SEAL-HUNTING. 79 



Leuciscus, and Cyprinns,) which are caughtin the Volga immediately after 

 the ice breaks up. Iu order to keep these small fish alive, the fishing-boat, 

 which has sails, and is called "kouzovaya lodka," coutaius a large per- 

 forated box, which, by means of pumps, is constantly kept supplied with 

 fresh water. When the fishermen have exhausted their stock of bait, 

 they return to Astrachan. While the fishing is going on, the livers and 

 the caviar of the " belouga" are being prepared ou board the boat. 



Spinning-lines and other implements with hooks. — The " belouga " 

 (Acipenser huso) is caught under the ice in the sea by means of large 

 perforated hooks of forged iron, baited with seal-fat. The hook is 

 attached to a thick cord 30 " sagenes" (210 feet) long, only half of which 

 is placed in the water, while the other half is rolled up at the edge of 

 a hole which has been made in the ice. The other end of the line is at- 

 tached to a strong piece of wood placed across the hole, and the middle 

 of this line is tied to it with a thin thread, which tears as soon as a 

 sturgeon has bitten, so that the remaining portion of the line unrolls 

 and glides under the ice. 



For catching the Silurus giants in June aud July, hooks are likewise 

 used, baited with living frogs. The following is the method : The fish- 

 ing boat is manned by two men. One rows and the other throws the 

 line, which is attached to a rectangular wooden lever ; at the same time 

 he beats the water with a sort of shovel formed by a small piece of 

 plank, which is slightly concave, aud which is attached to a handle. 

 This plank produces a peculiar noise, which attracts the Silurus, and, 

 seeing the frog, it seizes it, and finds itself caught. 



The Coregonus leucichthys is caught by means of the " blesna," which 

 consists of perforated hooks with a long shaft bearing a little tin fish, 

 or a fiat piece of tin shaped like a fish. Scales of the Cyprinus carpio, 

 whose sparkling attracts the fish, are pasted on the flat part of the 

 hook. 



The Ural Cossacks use large steel hooks, sharply pointed aud barbed, 

 for catching the sturgeon under the ice. The line is attached to the thin 

 end of a rod, whose length is in proportion to the depth of the river. 

 Frequently, several poles are tied together; in order that the hook may 

 descend vertically into the water, and may not be carried away by the 

 current, leads are attached to the rod a little below the hook. Small 

 poles are held in the hand, but generally they are evenly balanced on 

 a tripod of wooden blocks or poles, at a convenient distance from the 

 hole in the ice. Near this hole, an arch of osiers is stuck in the ice, to 

 which the automatic apparatus is attached, by which, through a wooden 

 pin, the line is kept in the position which is required for this kind of 

 fishing — the thin end of the pole near the arch on the ice — and the hook 

 at the desired depth. Whenever a fish seizes the hook, the pin is pulled 

 out, the rod again becomes straight through the weight of its heavy part, 

 and so pulls the fish out. Camps, " sidebki," of from 100 to 1,000 of these 

 automatic arrangements may be seen every year on the ice of the Volga, 



