382 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
but near Sitka and along the coast they are often taken from three 
hundred to five hundred pounds in weight. Their range is from the 
Aleutian Islands southward to Cape Flattery. They are not found north 
of the ice-line in Bering Sea, except, perhaps, in summer. They extend 
_ westward into the Ochotsk Sea with the cod, and already form an article 
of commerce among the west-coast fishermen. They are said to surpass 
the eastern halibut in flavor when properly cured. The-weight of the 
annual catch has not been recorded. 
SMELT. Hypomesus olidus, Gunther; Kariskka of the Russians. 
This excellent table fish ranges from San Diego, California, northward 
along the entire coast. It does not occur in sufficient numbers to render 
it an article of commerce, except near large settlements. It is very 
abundant, however, at Sitka, and in other localities. 
Other marine fishes exist on the coast of Alaska, which form articles 
of food to a greater or less extent. The mullet (a species with which we 
are not familiar) is said by Seemann to replace the salmon on the sea- 
coast north of Kotzebue Sound. Among other species noticed, but not 
yet determined, the following are known to occur on the Alaska coast: 
Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus, Pallas; flounder. Platessa stellatus, 
Girard; spiny flounder. Hexagramma stellerit, Tilesius; seulpin. 
Hemilepidotus trachurus, Pallas; sculpin. Mallotus villosus, Miller; 
capelin. Orthagoriscus analis, Ayers; sunfish. Humicrotremus orbis, 
Gunth.; globe-fish. Hippocampus ingens, Girard, and another species 
of Hippocampus, the sacred fish of the Makah tribe of Indians at Cape 
Flattery, who have many superstitions connected with it. 
FRESH-WATER FISHES. 
The fresh-water fishes, in point of numbers and the quantity of food 
which they furnish, are even more important than the exclusively ma- 
rine fishes. These chiefly comprise salmon, white-fish, losh or burbot, 
(sometimes called eelpout,) pike, and suckers. We have thought it 
best to give the names and descriptions of these different fish, and ap- 
pend an account of the method of fishing for them, which is much the 
same for all the species. 
KING SALMON. Onchorhynchus orientalis, (Pallas,) Gunth.; Russian, 
Chowichee ; Tinneh tribes of the Yukon, A’hak ; Innuit of the Kus- 
koquim, Tagyakvdk; Indians of Cook’s Inlet, Teldgi; Thlinkets or 
Koloshians of Sitka, Askat; Innuit of Norton Sound, Takiyukpuk. 
This is the largest and finest of the Alaska salmon, reaching a weight 
of sixty to ninety pounds. Those weighing eighty pounds are not un- 
common, and others weighing a hundred-weight have occasionaliy been 
taken. This fish, or a fish called by the same name, ranges from Sitka 
to Bering Strait, and is found in ali water-courses from the tideways 
of the Alexander Archipelago to the broad current of the Yukon. It 
ascends the latter river for at least twelve hundred miles, and 
perhaps farther. It is a short and broad fish, with a large head, 
but comparatively small mouth and fins. It reaches the mouth of the 
Yukon about the middle of June, and runs for six weeks. It ascends 
‘the river slowly, reaching Fort Derabin (about three hundred and sixty 
miles above the mouth of the river) about the first week in July, and 
Fort Yukon (about one thousand miles above the mouth) about the mid- 
dle of July. It is dried for winter use by the natives. All dry fish is 
called wkali (or yodkalee) by the Russians. The chowichee ukali are 
