KAMCHATKA. 



1^55 



No country in the world has a greater abundance of excellent fisheries. In 

 spring the salmon ascend the rivers in such amazing numbers, that on plunging 

 a dart into the stream one is almost sure to strike a fish ; and Steller afiirms 

 that the bears and dogs of Kamchatka catch on the banks more fish with their 

 paws and mouths than man in other countries, with all his cunning devices of 

 net or angle. As the various birds of passage do not all wander at the same 

 time to the north, so also the various kinds of fishes migrate, some sooner, 

 others later, and consequently profusion reigns during the whole of the summer. 

 Ermann was astonished at this incalculable abundance of the Kamchatkan riv- 

 ers, for in one of them, when the water was only six inches deep, he saw multi- 

 tudes of Chaekos {Slagocephalus) as long as his arm partly stranded on the 

 banks, partly still endeavoring to ascend the shallow stream. As the waters 

 contain such an incredible multitude of fishes, we can not wonder that the 

 rocky coasts of the peninsula swarm with sea-fowl, whose breeding and roosting 

 places are as densely peopled as any others in the world. At the entrance of the 

 Avatscha Bay lies a remarkable labyrinth of rocks, separated from each other 

 by narrow channels of water, like the intricate streets of an old-fashioned city. 

 The flood has everywhere scooped out picturesque cavities and passages in 

 these stupendous masses of stone, and the slightest wind causes the waves to 

 beat with terrific violence against their feet. Every ledge, platform, and pro- 

 jection, every niche, hollow, and crevice is peopled with sea-birds of strange 

 and various forms. In the capture of these birds the Kamchatkans display an 

 intrepidity equal to that of the islanders of St. Kilda or Feroe, and trust solely 

 to their astonishing agility in chmbing. Barefooted, without ropes or any 

 other assistance, they venture down the steepest declivities, which are frequent- 

 ly only accessible from the top, as the foaming breakers cut off all access from 

 below. The left arm clasps a basket, which they fill with eggs as they advance, 

 while the right hand grasps a short stick with an iron hook to drag the birds 

 from the crevices of the rock. When a bird is caught, a dexterous grip wrings 

 its neck, and it is then attached to the girdle of the fowler. In this manner an 

 expert climber will kill in one day from seventy to eighty birds, and gather 

 above a hundred eggs. 



Thus the population of Kamchatka is quite out of proportion to the riches 

 of its pastures and waters. Its scanty inhabitants are moreover concentrated 

 on a few spots along the chief rivers and bays, so that almost the whole penin- 

 sula is nothing but an uninhabited wilderness. 



Before the conquest of the country by the Russians it had at least twenty 

 times its present population, but the cruelty of the Cossacks and the ravages of 

 the small-pox caused it to melt away almost as rapidly as that of Cuba or Hayti 

 after the arrival of the Spaniards. At that time the sable and the sea-otter 

 were considered of far greater importance than man ; and unfortunately Rus- 

 sia has too many deserts to people, before she can think of repairing past er- 

 rors and sparing inhabitants for this remotest corner of her vast Asiatic em- 

 pire. 



As the peninsula is too distant from the highways of the world to attract 

 the tide of emigration, it is also seldom visited by travellers. The few stran- 



