3 C 20 cook's voyage to oct, 



The first shoals of salmon begin to enter the* 

 mouth of the Awatska about the middle of May ; 

 and this kind, which is called by the Kamtschadales 

 Tchavitsi, is the largest and most valued. Their 

 length is generally about three feet and a half: they 

 are very deep in proportion, and their average weight 

 is from thirty to forty pounds. The tail is not forked, 

 but straight. The back is of a dark blue, spotted 

 with black ; in other respects they are much like our 

 common salmon. They ascend the river with ex- 

 traordinary velocity, insomuch that the water is 

 sensibly agitated by their motion; and the Kamtscha- 

 dales, who are always on the watch for them about 

 the time they are expected, judge of their approach 

 by this circumstance, and immediately let drop their 

 nets before them. We were presented with one of 

 the first that was caught, and given to understand 

 that it was the greatest compliment that could be 

 paid us. Krascheninicoff relates, that formerly the 

 Kamtschadales made a point of eating the first fish 

 they took, with great rejoicings, and a variety of 

 superstitious ceremonies ; and that after the Russians 

 became their masters, it was for a long time a con- 

 stant subject of quarrel between them, to whom the 

 first should belong. The season for fishing, for this 

 species, lasts from the middle of May till the end of 

 June. 



The other sort is of a smaller kind, weighing only 

 from eight to sixteen pounds ; they are known by 

 the general name of the red fish, and begin to collect 

 in the bays, and at the mouths of the rivers, the be- 

 ginning of June ; from which time, till the end of 

 September, they are caught in great quantities both 

 upon the eastern and western coast, where any fresh 

 water falls into the sea, and likewise all along the 

 course of the rivers, to their very source. The man- 

 ner in which they draw their nets within the bay of 

 Awatska, is as follows : they tie one end of the net 

 to a large stone at the water's edge, they then push 



