THE URAL COSSACKS AND THEIR FISHERIES. 777 



arduous work begins, every one trying to be the first to make a 

 hole in the ice with a chisel. In a few minutes an entire forest of 

 long hafts grows up over the river, as though some magic power 

 had been at work. The fisherman moves the haft up and down, 

 and listens intently that he may know when the fish touch the 

 hook. Once this has happened, he hooks the fish by an alert 

 movement, then hauls it immediately up to the surface of the ice, 

 calling in the mean time for help from his fellow fishermen. 

 They fish here, usually, in groups of from six to twenty men, for 

 it is not easy work to pull up a huge sturgeon of several hun- 



FIG. 9. FALL FISHING ON THE URAL RIVER. DRESSING FISH BY NATIVES. 



dred pounds weight. In a very short time the surface becomes 

 marked with blood and covered with big fish. 



The most important fish caught in winter are different kinds 

 of sturgeon, viz., the large sturgeon (Acipenser huso), Russian 

 sturgeon (A. Guldenstadtii) , star sturgeon (A. stellatus) and A. 

 Shypa. Each decidedly differs from the other and from species 

 caught in America. For the flesh and particularly the roe 

 (caviare) very high prices are obtained in the winter season ; one 

 single big female of the " large sturgeon " is sold for 100 to 200 

 rubles ($64.50 to $129). 



Of course, not every one succeeds in catching such, a valuable 

 fish ; on the contrary, many, in spite of great efforts, do not catch 

 any, not even the smallest sturgeon. Nevertheless, this fishing 

 being an alluring lottery with winnings, everybody hopes to be 

 a lucky one, and this is the reason why so many of the Ural 



