THE CHIRUS. 135 
spines behind the orbit. The fourth and fifth 
dorsal spines are the largest, longer than those 
of the anal, and nearly half the length of the 
head. Colour, uniform brownish. 
Tue Cuirus.—On the fish-stalls in Victoria 
and San Francisco markets the visitor may 
generally see, lying by the side of the dingy, 
spiny rock cod, a handsome, shapely fish, about 
eighteen inches in length. Its sides, though 
somewhat rough, rival in beauty many a tropi- 
cal flower: clad in scales, adorned with colours 
not only conspicuous for their brillancy, but 
grouped and blended in a manner one sees only 
represented in the plumage of a bird, the wing 
of a butterfly, or the petals of an orchid, this 
‘ocean swell’ is known to the ichthyologist as 
the Chirus—the Terpugh (a file) of the Rus- 
slans—the Jdyajuk of the Aleutian Islanders— 
the Tath-le-gest of the Vancouver Islanders. 
Quite as delicious to the palate as pleasant 
to the eye, the chirus is altogether a most 
estimable fish. Its habit is to frequent rocky 
places, particularly where long ledges of rocks 
are left bare at low-water, and sheltered at the 
same time from the surge of the sea in rough 
weather. Here the chirus loves to disport his 
gaily-dressed person, amidst the gardens of sea_ 
