THE WESTERN DENES. ] 29 



fleslied salmon (Sahno Quinnat) or suck eye and the large white 

 fleshed salmon (Sahno j)'>'ote^is . . . ) called Kes by the natives. 

 The first species is to them the fish par excellence, and so they call it 

 thallo, the water-fish. To catch it, the river is staked across in its 

 whole width, as is practised by the Kamtschadals, and the fish are 

 driven into hurdle corrals terminating in long bottle-shaped baskets 

 from which esca])e is imyjossible. To preserve them they also follow 

 the Kamtschadals' method. After having cut the fish open and ex- 

 tracted the spine and vertebrte with the flesh adherent thereto, they 

 dry it beneath a rough pine covered shed, by the action of the sun 

 and air largely aided by the tire and smoke underneath. 



I]i some places where the stream contracts to an insignificant 

 width and in escaping from its rocky embankment produces a fall 

 dee]i enough to temporarily impede the salmon's course upwards, the 

 Carriers simply bridge the fall over and with bark ropes, suspend 

 therefrom a sort of lattice, seven or eight feet wide, the lower ex- 

 tremity of which is curved up like a pot-hanger. When the fish 

 attempts to jump over the fall, he strikes the lattice barrier and drops 

 back into the basket-like bottom. 



To get the Kes or white fleshed salmon which is not so gregarious, 

 ■the Carriers use a bone harpoon of a somewhat unique pattern of 

 which figure I will give a correct idea. Standing on rocks or light 

 scaffolding projecting in the river — they spy the fish as it winds its 

 way up stream and spear it with said harpoon fastened for the pur- 

 pose to a shaft 12 or 15 feet long. In shallow sti'eams, they cautious- 

 ly wade in the water and dexterously launch their weapon at the 

 fish, thereby securing for it increased velocity and additional length 

 -of reach. Instead of the harpoon the Chilh;!^otins employ a double 

 dart made of mountain sheep's horn (figure 3.) which, when it fastens 

 in the flesh of the salmon, detaches itself from the forked shaft to 

 which it is securely tied by a plaited i-aw-hide line. 



They also obtain small fish, such as trout, white fish, carp, kesoel 

 (a small S])ecies of salmonidse), etc., by means of nets which, when 

 thoroughly of aboi-iginal manufact ire, are made of the spun fibre of 

 aiettle, red willow bark or of a semilignous plant they call hwonojth'a, 

 the Epilohium angusti Jlorium of Botanists. 

 9 



