SINGULAR FOOD OF MEN AND DOGS. 19 
At the commencement of June, the abovementioned fish 
disappear, and give place to other sorts, as the keta and the 
nark a, in size and appearance somewhat resembling the salmon, 
only that the narka has a much redder and firmer flesh; their 
taste is very pleasant, and in July they are in full season. In 
August and September, they come in such quantities as to 
change the quality of the water. The inhabitants at these times 
lay in a store for the year, both for their own use and that of 
their dogs, of which each person has one or two team, con¬ 
sisting of 1 2 or 24. These dogs differ in very few respects 
from those in Russia, except by barking less and howling more, 
which they frequently do, particularly towards the dawn of 
day ; one takes the lead and is followed by all the rest in the 
town, which forms a concert of no very agreeable kind. 
The fish are cured in various ways. The narka are stretched 
out and smoked in a chamber, peculiarly adapted for the pur¬ 
pose, then laid in a box and strewed with dried and powdered 
keta, which is said to be a good preservative. They are thus 
sent sometimes to Irkutsk and Jakutsk, but not in great quan¬ 
tities, on account of the difficulty or expence of the carriage. 
The keta are dried in the sun, the fat in the back-bone having 
first been taken out, in which state they are called jukol. The 
inferior of both kinds are given to the dogs. They are also 
salted in great tubs, either whole, or the spawn alone. Salt is 
here extracted during the summer from the sea-water, in an of¬ 
fice belonging to the crown, situated about twelve versts from 
the town. At the close of autumn and commencement of Sep¬ 
tember, when the fish are at their full size, they are caught 
without difficulty, being taken with the hand out of the sea, and 
thrown into pits fitted for the purpose, where they turn sour, 
corrupt, and dissolve. These are intended for the dogs in ge¬ 
neral, but are sometimes eaten by human beings. The Kams- 
tchadales, for example, esteem it the best and most delicious 
of all victuals, although the smell is so strong as to extend many 
versts distance from a pit ndwly opened. At the close of 
September, ox the commencement of the frost, the keta, and 
another fish which comes at that time, called lomki, are left 
to freeze, and thus preserved in heaps for the winter. 
The nets used for fishing are either smaller or larger accord¬ 
ing to the size of the fish to be caught. The larger nets are 
thrown out from the shore on lopg poles. In the fishing season 
they fill so rapidly that it is scarcely possible to draw them in 
quick enough to prevent their being overloaded. The Kosak§ 
in particular, with their wives, attend to the nets at this time, 
indulging their appetites continually w ith the cartilage of the 
febes’ heads, which they regard as a great luxury. The dogs. 
c % 
