THE FOOD FISHES OF ALASKA. 381 
in June on the coasts of Kamchatka, and, indeed, throughout Bering 
Sea, as far north as Bering Strait. On Norton Sound the fishery lasts 
but a fortnight. The fish are secured in seines, and kept until they are 
half putrid, when they are reckoned a great delicacy. The same custom 
obtains in Kamchatka. Near Sitka, and through the adjacent archi- 
pelago, they come in vast schools, and the Indians of the Thlinket | 
nation go out in their cedar canoes, furnished with a lath, through 
which three nails are driven, and the projecting points well sharpened. 
Beating the water with this implement they throw the fish by a dexter- 
ous motion into the canoe, which can be filled easily in half an hour. 
So greatis the abundance of the fish that it is “‘ rare not to see a herring 
on every nail.” 
In September, when drawing the seine for salmon at Diuliuk Harbor, 
Unalashka, the Coast Survey expedition obtained herring of large 
size, fatter and of much finer flavor than the herring caught on 
the California coast. Portlock mentions that when hauling the seine, 
June 11,in Port Etches, hogsheads of small but very good herring were 
obtained, and salted for the use of the crew. Lisiansky says that her- 
ring swarm in Sitka Sound every spring; and Seemann states that her- 
ring and whiting are caught in great quantities in Hotham Inlet, 
Kotzebue Sound, in latitude 67° north. These fish, besides their intrinsic 
value, have an important bearing on the question of the cod fisheries, 
in supplying bait, which is now brought from San Francisco for that 
purpose at high prices. Up to the present date no attempt appears to 
have been made by Americans to utilize this herring fishery. 
Uxicon. Thaleichthys Pacificus,Givard; Ulikon of the natives and 
English. 
The ulikon has long been an icthyological curiosity, and has been 
noticed by almost every traveler who has visited the coasts of British 
Columbia and Southern Alaska. It is a small, silvery fish, averaging 
about fourteen inches long, and, in general appearance, much resembling 
a smelt, (Osmerus.) They are the fattest of all known fish, and afford 
a very superior oil when tried out. Dried, they serve as torches; when 
a light is needed, the tail is touched to the fire and they will burn with 
a bright light for some time. No description can give an adequate idea 
of their numbers when ascending the rivers from the sea. The water is 
literally alive with them and appears to be boiling. Wild animals draw 
from the stream with their paws sufficient for all their needs. 
These fisheries, as far as we are aware, have not been utilized except 
by the natives. The most important of the native fisheries is on the 
Nasse River, near the southern boundary of Alaska. Thespot is named 
Kit-lak-a-laks, and a Catholic mission was and still may be situated 
there. Many tribes come to these fisheries, which begin about the 20th 
or the 25th of March. The first fish is addressed as a chief; apologies 
are made to him by the Indians for the necessity of destroying his 
kindred for the supply of their own wants; a feast is given with appro- 
priate songs, speeches, and dances in his honor; and after that the 
fishing goes on. The fish are caught in wicker baskets, and are dried 
or smoked as much as their oily nature will allow. The fishing lasts a 
fortnight or three weeks, and supplies many hundred aborigines with 
food for a considerable period. 
HAuisut. Hippoglossus vulgaris? Cuv.; Kdmbala and Pdltoose of the 
Russians. 
These fish are frequently smaller than those of the Atlantic fisheries, 
