128 KAMSCHATKA. [cHAr. 



and its weight seldom above fifteen pounds. As a rule it is 

 considerably less. 



The Garbusa swims up the rivers in company with the Haiko, 

 and is the most abundant of all the Salmonidaj in Kamschatka. 

 According to Pallas, the hump begins to appear even before the fish 

 has spawned, and is generally supposed by the natives to result 

 from the efforts made in ascending the stream ! Its enormous 

 development in the kelts can best be realised by reference to the 

 annexed illustration. Both jaws become hooked at the same time, 

 more so, perhaps, than in any other species, and in consequence, in 

 an old kipper the mouth does not nearly close. Until the death 

 of the fish the gibbosity increases, and the colour of the body- 

 surface becomes more and more livid and brown, the sides and 

 under part being irregularly blotched with blood-red. The vast 

 majority of this species die in the month of August, and though 

 some few live till the middle of September, the natives told us that 

 none return to the sea. The flavour of the flesh is said to be very 

 good when the fish first come up the river, but the Garbusa is 

 looked upon almost as the dogs' private property, and is not much 

 eaten by the natives. In the balagans and drying sheds it in- 

 variably occupies the lowest tier of all. The female fish is described 

 by Pallas as much smaller than the male, and very much less 

 numerous ; the hump does not become so largely developed and the 

 mandibular hooks are absent or slight. We did not, however, meet 

 with many individuals agreeing with this description. 



5. Oncorhynchus sanguinolentus (Pall.) is the Kisutchi of the 

 Kamschatkans. The clean fish is silvery, and devoid of red 

 colouration, despite its specific name. The dark greenish-brown 

 back is marked with rather large black spots, and the snout is 

 blunt, becoming afterwards developed in a most peculiar manner. 

 Pallas says that the largest measure three feet and weigh from ten 

 to twelve pounds,^ but it is e\ddent that a fish of this length would 

 weigh considerably more. Most of those that we saw towards the 



^ "Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica, " vol. iii. p. 379. 



