THE WESTERN DEXES. ] 29 



•fleshed salmon (Salmo Quinnat) or suck eye and tlie large white 

 fleshed salmon (Sahno proteiis . . . ) called Kes by the natives. 

 The first species is to them the fish par excellence, and so they call it 

 thallo, the water-fish. To catch it, the river is staked across in its 

 whole width, as is practised l)y the Kamtschadals, and the fish are 

 driven into hurdle corrals terminating in long bottle-shaped baskets 

 from which escai)e is impossible. To preserve them they also follow 

 the Kamtschadals' method. After having cut the fish open and ex- 

 tracted the spine and vertebra? with the flesh adherent thereto, they 

 dry it beneath a rough pine covered shed, by the action of the sun 

 and air largely aided by the tire and smoke underneath. 



In some places where the stream contracts to an insignificant 

 width and in escaping from its rocky embankment produces a fall 

 deep enough to temporarily impede the salmon's course upwards, the 

 Carriers simply bridge the fall over and with bark ropes, suspend 

 therefrom a sort of lattice, seven or eight feet wide, the lower ex- 

 tremity of which is curved up like a pot-hanger. When the fish 

 attempts to jump over the fall, he strikes the lattice barrier and drops 

 back into the basket-like bottom. 



To get the Kes or white fleshed salmon which is not so <»refarious 

 the Carriers use a bone harpoon of a somewhat unique i^attern of 

 which figure I will give a correct idea. Standing on rocks or light 

 scafiblding projecting in the river— they spy the fish as it winds its 

 way up stream and spear it with said harpoon fastened for the pur- 

 pose to a shaft 12 or 15 feet long. In shallow streams, they cautious- 

 ly wade in the water and dexterously launch their weapon at the 

 fish, thereby securing for it increased velocity and additional length 

 of reach. Instead of the harpoon the Chilh^otins employ a double 

 dart made of mountain sheep's horn (figure 3.) which, when it fastens 

 in the flesh of the salmon, detaches itself from the forked shaft to 

 which it is securely tied by a plaited raw-hide line. 



They also obtain small fish, such as trout, white fish, carp, kescel 

 (a small species of salmonidaj), etc., by means of nets which, when 

 ■thoroughly of aboriginal manufact ire, are made of the spun fibre of 

 nettle, red willow bark or of a semilignous plant they call hwonfeth'a, 

 the Epilohium angusti florium of Botanists. 

 9 



