350 
A VOYAGE TO 
1 719 ' the Kamtfchadales made a point of eating the firft fifh. 
i , — v —^ they took, with great rejoicings, and a variety of fuperfti- 
tious ceremonies ; and that after the Ruffians became their 
mailers, it was for a long time a con ft ant fubjedt of quar¬ 
rel between them, to whom the firft fhould belong. The 
feafon for fifhing, for this fpecies, lafts from the middle of 
May till the end of June. 
The other fort is of a fmaller kind, weighing only from 
-eight to fixteen pounds; they are known by the general 
name of the red fifh, and begin to collect in the bays, and 
at the mouths of the rivers, the beginning of June ; from 
which time, till the end of September, they are caught in 
great quantities both upon the Eaftern and Weftern coaft, 
where any frefh water falls into the fea, and like wife all 
along the courfe of the rivers, to their very fource. The 
manner in which they draw their nets within the bay of 
Awatfka, is as follows: They tie one end of the net to a 
large ftone at the water’s edge, they then pufh off in a ca¬ 
noe about twenty yards in a right line, dropping their net 
as they advance, after which they turn and run out the re¬ 
mainder of the net in a line parallel to the fhore; in this 
pofition they wait, concealing themfelves very carefully in 
the boat, and keeping a fharp look-out for the fifh, which 
always diredt their courfe clofe in with the fhore, and whofe 
approach is announced by a rippling in the water, till they 
find that the fhoal has advanced beyond the boat, when 
they flioot the canoe to fhore in a direct line, and never 
fail of inclofing their prey. Seldom more than two men 
are employed to a net, who haul with facility, in this 
manner, feines larger than ours, to which we appoint a 
dozen. We at firft met with very poor fuccefs in our own 
method of hauling; but after the Kamtfchadales had very 
i kindly 
