600 



CASPIAN SEA. 



Caspian 

 Sea. 



Marine. 



Caspian 

 fisheries. 



good deal injured by means of a contraband trade car- 

 ried on in Shamachitf and other inland Persian towns 

 by the Armenian merchants, who, from their know- 

 ledge of the country and language, and from the 

 terms on which, with these aids, they can make their 

 purchases, have it in their power to undersell the Rus- 

 sians, in the parts which they severally frequent. Yet 

 upon the whole, arid owing chiefly to the various useful 

 regulations introduced by the late empress, instead of 

 the declining state into which it had for some time 

 fallen, it hds of late increased so much, that within 

 the space of fifteen years, the average sum of the ex- 

 ports and the imports by the way of this sea, have 

 been nearly tripled. The following is a general view 

 of the state of this trade for several considerably dis- 

 tant years in the latter part of the last century. In 

 1760, the amount of the exports was 36,100, of the 

 imports, 42,100, in all ,78,200; with a balance 

 against Russia of jtGOOO. In 1768, the exports were 

 s87,700, the imports 63,700 ; the amount of the 

 whole, 151,400. Balance in favour of Russia 

 4000. In I77 r >, the sum of the exports was 

 125,400, of the imports 64,120; giving a total 

 amount of 189,520, to which is to be added the far- 

 ther sum of 10,000 for the traffic of Georgia and 

 the nations of tbe Caucasus, making the whole sum 

 199,520 ; the balance, in respect to the part of this 

 sum stated under the distinct heads of exports and 

 imports, being in favour of Russia 61,280. In 

 these statements, it is to be understood, that no ac- 

 count is made of the contraband trade, the amount 

 of which is also considerable. 



The marine of the Caspian Sea at present, consists 

 of two frigates of 12 guns each, two cutters, and a 

 transport. There are besides fifty-six merchant ves- 

 sels, viz. a pink, a transport, five galliots of about 30 

 lasts burthen each, and forty-eight schooners from 

 10 to 30 or 40, and one of 60 lasts. There are more- 

 over 138 roshiven, or flat-bottomed vessels, employed 

 in fishing and taking seals, or in the Mankishlak 

 trade with the Trukhmenes and Boukharians. 



The fishery on the Caspian is the most important 

 branch of this business in Russia. Not only does 

 this sea abound with most valuable kinds of fish ; but 

 it is so commodiously situated in the centre of the 

 empire, it has so much the advantage of easy com- 

 munications by water, and the trade is prosecuted in 

 so good a" method, that nowhere in the empire is so 

 much benefit obtained in this department, in respect 

 either of internal consumption or of commerce. In 

 fact, according to the observation of Pallas, the fish- 

 ery on the Caspian is, in some views, as important to 

 Russia as the herring, the cod, and the whale fishe- 

 ries are to other maritime powers of Europe. That 

 fishery on the northern shores of this sea is partly let 

 out to Astracan merchants, whose great opulence is 

 chiefly founded on it, and partly, in virtue of ancient 

 privileges, belongs to the Uralian Cossacs, who claim 

 this right, not only on the river Ural, but also for a 

 space of 47 miles on each side of it. There are three 

 principal seasons in which the fishing on the Caspian 

 is prosecuted ; the spring, the autumn, and the win- 

 ter. As the sea is usually free from ice towards the 

 latter end of March, the spring fishing usually begins 

 immediately with the beginning of April. The bu- 



siness is usually undertaken oy several contractors, 

 each of whom has his particular station, or vataga, in 

 a separate place, which commonly bears the name of 

 the proprietor. At these vatagas, the kinds of fish 

 that principally engage attention, are the several kinds 

 of sturgeon, that properly so called^ also the beluga 

 and the sevruga. Shads and barbels are in an inferior 

 degree likewise objects of request. The other small- 

 er species of fish, which are found by a different class 

 of adventurers to be well worthy of their care, are by 

 those concerned in the greater fisheries disregarded; 

 Ea,ch vataga prepared for the prosecution of this 

 trade is occupied by from 50 to 80, or even 120 men, 

 most of whom carry on a separate trade : there are 

 also pilots, fishermen, saltefs, preparers of isinglass 

 and caviare, and others. They have severally their 

 small vessels of various dimensions and constructions^ 

 for the conveniency of going out occasionally to sea; 

 with a galliot for fetching provisions and salt from 

 Astracan, and for sending away the fish that have 

 been taken. Adjacent to the buildings for the ac- 

 commodation of the people employed, several sheds 

 are erected, where the roes are prepared, the isinglass 

 dried, and the stock of fish properly kept. For pre- 

 serving the salted fish, deep and well-secured ice-cel- 

 lars of considerable magnitude are dug under ground, 

 which are floored with thick deals, and have large re- 

 servoirs lined with planks, in which the fresh fish are 

 pickled in a strong brine* At the two sides of these 

 brine vats, are parts divided off, in which the fish, on 

 being taken out of the pickle, are placed in layers 

 and sprinkled with salt ; behind the compartments in 

 which the fish are thus laid, the space to the side of 

 the cellar is rammed full of ice, for the better preser- 

 vation of this easily perishable commodity. The dis- 

 tance of one vataga from another is indefinite; as are 

 also, in some degree, the bounds in which neighbour- 

 ing" vatagas may fish. The taxes paid by these vata- 

 gas to the crown are rated by their quantities of pre- 

 pared roes and isinglass 5 for every pood of isinglass 

 five rubles, and for a pood of roes two rubles eighty 

 copecs being paid into the caisse k 



About the beginning of the fishing season in spring, 

 myriads of little fish are observed pressing towards 

 the shore, of which the obla particularly, a sort of 

 scale- fish, is caught and kept alive in wells to serve 

 the purpose of baiting the hooks, during the conti- 

 nuance of the season. This little fry is followed by 

 prodigious swarms of ravenous belugas ; the time for 

 the capture of which is seldom longer than two full 

 weeks ; on which account the fishermen are obliged, 

 during that period, to work day and night. In good 

 years a vessel, while the swarming lasts, may within 

 24 hours bring up 50 or more of these large fish* 

 The manner of taking them is by means of a machine, 

 consisting of a rope 70 ells in length, to which there 

 are attached 125 lines, each 1^ fathom long, with as 

 many large angling hooks. This rope, with the 

 number of hooks mentioned, is technically termed a 

 nest ; and 30 of these nests tied together commonly 

 belong to a machine, which is therefore several hun- 

 dred fathoms in length. Between every two nesti 

 there is tied a stone of some pounds weight : the two 

 ends of a whole machine are furnished with wooden 

 anchors ; and generally the adjustments are in all re- 



Caspian 

 Sea. 



