378 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
southeastern coast of Kamehatka and the Kurile islands may be the 
locality, and it would be worth while to examine these localities at the 
season when the fish are absent from their usual feeding grounds among 
the islands. 
The cod have been found in more or less abundance along every 
part of the northwest coast within the limits above mentioned, but at 
present the favorite locality appears to be in or about the Shumagin 
group of islands. These islands were discovered by Bering, in his 
second voyage, on the 29th of August, 1741, and were named after one 
of his crew who died and was buried upon one of them. They are 
situated in longitude 160° west and latitude 55° north, and comprise 
four large and about a dozen small islands, with a total area of about a 
thousand square miles. They contain several Aleutian settlements, 
and Unga, the largest, has two fine ports, the north and south harbors, 
where wood, water, bait, and fish abound. The banks already discovered 
exceed in extent those of Newfoundland. The best banks in the Ochotsk 
Sea are on the west coast of Kamchatka, and near the north end of 
Sakalin Island. The round voyage to the Ochotsk Sea averages one 
hundred and seventy days, without facilities for obtaining bait or fresh 
provisions, and with no good harbors. The voyage to the Shumagins 
and back occupies about one hundred and ten days, a saving of two 
months and two thousand miles in time and distance, in addition to 
the facilities for obtaining fresh provisions, wood, and water, and the 
proximity of good harbors of refuge in bad weather. The fishermen 
about the Shumagins usually run into North Harbor on Saturday night, 
and spend Sunday in resting from their labors. 
The fishermen who make the voyage on a “lay” are said to clear about 
$100 per month during their voyage. The supply of bait has some- 
times been taken from San Francisco, at a cost of about $100 for a 
vessel of one hundred-tons. Others have relied on halibut and seulpins 
taken on the ground. There is hardly a locality with a muddy bottom 
where the dredge would not bring up, with but little labor, an abundance 
of shell-fish suitable for bait. Thisis known to be the case in North 
Harbor, Unga Island, and we are informed that it is also true of all 
the places where the dredge has been tried. Herring and other small 
fish in their season might be obtained with a seine in immense numbers 
at slight expense, and the squid, the most taking of all baits for the cod, 
is extremely abundant at Sitka and many other localities. There appear 
to be two kinds of cod on the North Pacific fishing grounds, which may 
or may not be stages of growth of one species, but they are certainly 
different from the Atlantic codfish. The first of the two kinds referred . 
to is small, but of good quality, and is supposed to frequent the banks 
during the entire year. The larger species arrives on the banks about 
May 10, and disappears about the 10th of September. These average 
7.2 pounds when salted, and are a little smaller than the fish obtained 
in the Ochotsk Sea; but they dry heavier, averaging about four pounds. 
Both kinds differ from the Atlantic cod in having larger heads in pro- 
portion to the size of their bodies. 
Cod have been taken in abundance at Nootka, Sitka, Lituya Bay, 
Yakutat Bay, Chugach Gulf, Cook’s Inlet, Bristol Bay, and throughout 
the Kadiak, Aleutian, and Pribyloff Islands. In 1865 and 1866 the 
Western Union Telegraph exploring vessels obtained an abundance of 
fine cod in North Harbor, Unga Island, and off Unimak Island, in forty- 
five fathoms, in the months of August and September. 
The weather on the fishing banks from June to the middle of August 
is rainy and foggy, with light southeast winds. From that time until 
