CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ALASKA. ill 



The natives have different opinions of their relative values. The Aleuts consider the cartilag- 

 inous nose and forehead of the Tcisutch to be the best of food when fresh. I have seen the entire 

 family seated on the parlor floor with a Msutch before each member, who was industriously strip- 

 ping that portion off the head and devouring it. The heads make a rich soup which is highly 

 praised by some of the white people. The belly of the chavi'cha is usually cut from the body of the 

 large fish and salted as a separate piece. This is the finest of all salted fish. It is very fat and 

 has a taste that once partaken of is rarely forgotten. When freshened and dressed with spices and 

 vinegar it is a tempting dish. The Russians make a kind of pastry of salmon-bellies, rice, eggs 

 and such other things as may be at hand. When prepared in good style it is very nice, but when 

 it has a few shreds of Attu garlic in it it is better to let it alone if you expect to entertain friends 

 during the next several days. 



CLUPEIDiE. 



106. Olupea mirabilis Girard. (See Fig. XIV.) 



The herring arrives at Saint Michael's about the 10th of June and remains ten to twelve days. 

 It is extremely abundant, swimming in large schools near the shore; seeking localities where sea- 

 weeds abound on which to deposit its spawn. 



The natives use seines with meshes of two inches across for these fish and catch them by the ton. 

 They are eviscerated and dried for food. Among the Aleutian Islands this species is wonderfully 

 abundant. At Unalashka they are plentiful in the latter part of July and again in September, 

 though the second appearance of the fish is not always certain in this locality. The Aleuts of 

 Unalashka catch thousands of these fish in seines. I knew one haul of a seine, about 75 feet long, to 

 successfully land 3,000 of these fish at Immugne cove, near Iliuliuk village, on Unalashka Island. 



At Atkha Island they are excessively abundant in Old Harbor, on the northeast side of the 

 island. The Atkhan people preserve large numbers of these fish by drying them. I do not know 

 that they occur at Attu Island ; for during the two seasons that I was there, none put in an appear- 

 ance, and as the natives did not speak of them I am led to conclude they do not visit that island. 

 All along the south side of Aliaska and the Kadiak district these Qsh are plentiful. Their range 

 is comprised between the southern coast of California and Bering's Strait. 



The herring of the Aleutian Islands are larger than those of the Saint Michael's district and 

 possess a decidedly superior flavor. 



The Russian name of this fish is Selld; the Eskimo name is 1 Jcdth loo ti'k pule; the Aleutian 

 name for the herring is U'l ngan. 



RAIIDiE. 



113. Raia parmifeea Bean. 



This Ray is abundant at some localities among the Aleutian Islands. Toward evening, when 

 the tide is high, these queer-looking objects come near the water's edge to seek the offal, which may 

 have been thrown on the beach after the fish caught during the day have been cleaned. The Rays 

 appear to forget that the tide in the ocean has an ebb as well as a flood, for numbers are left on 

 the beach by the receding tide. Early in the morning in January, February, March, and the early 

 part of April great numbers are left on the beach. They seem to make no struggle to get back iu 

 the water, as the sand under them is apparently undisturbed where they lie with their heads to- 

 ward the point from which the wind was blowing at the time. When a hard wind-storm is com- 

 mencing these Rays may be seen sporting at the surface of the water like flashes of light or small 

 white-caps just breaking ; dozens at a time may be seen. There is no use made of the flesh. The 

 Aleuts look with disgust upon these fish. The color of the fish is about that of dressed sole- 

 leather on the back and white underneath, with pinkish patches near the nose and anus. 



I have never seen this species west of Unalashka, though it doubtless occurs throughout at 

 least the eastern islands of the chain. 



At Saint Michael's it is very rare ; only a few individuals were known to the natives. This 

 species attains a great size, often three feet long and two feet wide. This and one of the large 

 Sculpins (Cottus) are the most disgusting inhabitants of that part of the sea. 



