DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD. 201 



the Sciek, which discharge their waters in the 

 Caspian sea; and it seems wonderful that so wild a 

 people as the Tartars should show so much genius. 

 The huso enters the rivers to spawn earlier than 

 the sturgeon, generally about midwinter, when 

 the rivers are covered with ice. At this time the 

 natives construct dikes across the rivers in certain 

 parts with piles, leaving no interval that the huso 

 can pass through ; in the centre of the dike is an 

 angle opening to the current, which consequently 

 is an entering angle to the fish ascending the 

 stream ; at the summit of this angle is an open- 

 ing, which leads into a kind of chamber formed 

 with cord or osier hurdles, according to the sea- 

 son of the year. Above the opening is a kind of 

 scaffold, and a little cabin, where the fishermen 

 can retire, and warm themselves, or repose, when 

 not wanted abroad. 



No sooner has the huso entered the chamber, 

 which is known by the motion of the water, than 

 the fishermen on the scaffold let fall a door, 

 which prevents its return to the sea; they then, 

 by means of ropes and pullies, lift the moveable 

 bottom of the chamber, and easily secure the fish. 

 Rev. W. Kirbys History, Habits, and Instincts 

 of Animals, vol. i. p. 108. 



