380 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
No. of | Pounds of salt- | Value of the fish 
tear | vessels. ed fish. in gold. 
As cle EO he ee oe 
TBO Reps Sao ayemtnals att etete Seta eaten er i 288, 000 $31, 680 
MBO ae ects «Matin. Lon cise Lats CORA Ra CA By Bis | 1, 255, 200 125, 520 
UBGG Ys eee eee, SRE oS 5 pans ee Bese 18 2, 873, 600 332, 624 
Pe hte siege ceils Comoe he em 23 5, 121, 600 348, 110 
TESIETCL. CSS RARER pie ae al we gl eo a i 19 3, 417, 600 273, 408 
(elo) aaa Ses SA Secs Es pee lies 2 27 7, 390, 400 591, 232 
UC LUSen 2M cok, Cle Sees a ds oa a 33 10, 612, 000 754, 840 
PEM tte RN et Be BC ka ellen ible 30, 958, 400 2, 457, 414 
Tom-cop. Gadus gracilis, Tilesius; Russian, Warkhni; Innuit of Norton 
sound, Jkothlik. 
This fish much resembles the common tom-cod of the Eastern States, 
(Gadus polymorphus, Mitch.,) but, while the latter is of most insignifi- 
cant importance from its scarcity and poor quality, the former species 
occupies a very important place in the domestic economy of both na- 
tives and Russians, on both shores of Bering Sea. Itis apparently a 
permanent inhabitant of these coasts, but is most abundant in the fall of 
the year, when the ice begins to form in the rivers and along the shores. 
The Waukhni fishery commences about the middle of October. At first 
it is caught from boats anchored close in-shore, but later the natives cut 
holes in the new ice, set up two or three stakes, with a mat hung upon 
them to keep off the wind, and sit there all day, hauling them in as fast 
as the line is dropped into the water. The hook is made of white 
walrus ivory, furnished with a sharp pin set in obliquely, but without a 
barb. The whiteness of the ivory, which is kept constantly in motion, 
attracts the fish, but no bait whatever is used. In November, when 
the ice becomes very thick, and the cold increases, the fish retire to 
deeper water, and the fishing is over until the following spring. In the 
summer the natives are oceupied with the salmon fishery and pay no 
attention to these small fish. They are preserved by removing the in- 
testines, and drying in large bunches strung on seal-line, or by throw- 
ing them as they are into long cylindrical baskets made of twisted 
grass, and keeping them entire ina frozen state. On the Kamchatka 
coast they are caught in seines, and preserved frozen in great heaps 
upon staging erected for the purpose. They are among the most pala- 
table of the many fish found in these seas, and the number preserved is 
So great as to be almost incalculable. They serve the natives for food, 
either boiled or in the frozen state. They also form an important arti- 
cle of dog-feed in the northern portions of Alaska, near the eoast. They 
are well suited, from their abundance and firm flesh, to be used as bait 
in the cod-fishery. 
HERRING. Clupea mirabilis, Girard; also, Clupea sagax, Jen.; and 
. . ) ? . ? > aed . Y y ) . 
probably other species of Clupea; Russian, Koraski, Selotka ; Innuit 
of the Kuskoquim River, K’pookachat. 
The herring of Bering Sea, and the North Pacific generally, resemble 
those of the North Atlantic, but belong to different species. They 
arrive in Norton Sound about the 15th of June, in countless myriads. 
They visit Sitka earlier in the season, but we have not been able to dis- 
cover the exact date of their appearance. They are equally abundant 
