THE ALASKAN FISHING-GEOUNDS. 



99 



aud pieces of cord and drag tbcm along just at the edge of the water aiouud the beach to their 

 village. The fish are piled iu heaps and Iheu begius the process of ciittiug, splitting, aud 

 gashiug, preparatory to hanging them on the drjing-frames. Great heaps of heads and entrails 

 lie all around, very attractive to flies and beetles, but rather repulsive to visitors. At the time of 

 our visit (July 23, 1880), 0. rjorhusclm was the species taken. Mr. Frost told me that the (jorhusclia 

 comes first, and that it appeared iu quantities two weeks prior to our arrival; the ^^hoilwh'" 

 {0. l-cia) was there and the '■'Irasnoi riba^' [O.nerl-a), but neither of these was plentiful; they come 

 later. Cod are caught in the harbor. A few cod were lianging up to dry, but salmon were 

 abundant everywhere. The natives nearly all have comfortable-looking houses, a few of which 

 arc painted blue, with red roofs. 



Mr. Devine says that natives from Korovinsky come over to a cove on Popoff Island, near 

 Pirate Cove, to fish for salmon; they generally get good silver salmon (0. Icisutch'i) there. A 

 silver salmon five feet long was brought to Pirate Cove in 1877 ; from the size, I would suppose 

 this to have been 0. chovicha. Clams are very abundant and excellent about the Shumagius. 



One of the finest known baits for cod is common in deep water about the Shumagins; it is tht 

 "yellow-flsh" or striped fish" {Plcurogramtmts monopferygiuti), a species which is found in great 

 schools and may be taken in the purse-seine like mackerel, which it resembles in size, and, aftei 

 salting, iu taste. Cod are passionately fond of this fish, and also of the "whiting" or "silver 

 hake" of the region {PollacMus clialcogrammus). The Shumagin cod fishery, having already been 

 treated at length, need not be entered upon here. 



UNALASHKA PARISH. 



This division, with a total population of nearly fourteeu hundred, would have a fishing 

 population of about two hundred and eighty. It includes the islands of Attn, Atka, Umnak, 

 Unalashka, Spirkin, Akutau, Akun, and Avatanok. In this district will be observed a difi'erence 

 from the single paddle of the eastern shore of the Gulf of Alaska and the Kodiak group, the 

 bidarkas here being propelled by double paddles aud with quite a change of motion. The effect 

 of the double paddle, which is grasped in the middle, is pretty, but the movement is not so steady 

 as that resulting from the use of the single paddle. The bidarka is the universal form of boat for 

 coasting and even for sea-going in weather that will allow its use. 



Aleut names of parts of a bidarka, obtained tlirouyh 2lr. King. 



A good three-holed bidarka is worth from thirty dollars to fifty dollars. The luvtaks, or skin 

 coverings of the wooden fiame-work, are made of sea-lion here. 



The fishes of this division are nearly the same as those of Kodiak Parish, with the exception 

 of the species at SebastichtJn/s, none of wliich in the National Museum are from Unalashka Parish. 



