v.] ENORMOUS ABUNDANCE OF SALMON' 99 



could have pulled these latter out of the water with the gaff until 

 we were tired. 



Wliile we were engaged in procuring our supper by this sunple 

 method, a native came down and watched our proceedings. Taking 

 a spear he went a little way up stream, and soon returned with 

 half a dozen fish which were a great improvement upon our own 

 selection, — for I can apply no better term to it. They were of three 

 species: — one a long charr-like fish, of a brilliant salmon-colour 

 beneath, but with the back dark green, and with a most peculiar 

 lower jaw. This closes into a sort of groove or socket in front of 

 the upper jaw, producing a very extraordinary under-hung appear- 

 ance. Its native name is Gultsi.^ The other fish w^ere a grayling 

 (Thi/mallus) somewhat like our own, but not so deep ; and a species 

 of trout with obsolete spots. 



The vast quantities of salmon which fill the rivers of Kamschatka 

 in the manner I have described cease in course of time to astonish 

 the traveller, who goes down to hook his supper out of the stream 

 as naturally as he gathers the firewood to boil his kettle. But to 

 a new-comer the sight is an astounding one. The millions of fish 

 that are caught, and form the food throughout the year of almost 

 every living creature in the country, are, however, as nothing 

 compared with the countless myriads that perish naturally. I had 

 at first supposed that the rotting fish that lined the banks, and here 

 and there lay piled in little heaps together, were the victims of 

 some unexpected and fatal epidemic. But I soon learnt that there 

 was nothing unusual in it, and that it was an annual phenomenon 

 of as constant occurrence as the breaking up of the ice. 



We entered one of the huts in order to eat our lunch and rest 

 the horses before proceeding on our journey. It was combined 

 with the stable, through which one had to pass before entering the 

 only habitable room. This was tolerably clean, and boasted of a 

 couple of chairs and a table ; but we had already got beyond the 

 region of glass, and the windows were made of strips of bear-gut 



1 Salmo callaris, Pall. 



