Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1862-08-09

Cooper's. I have eaten freely of them
both roasted and broiled and found
them equal to halibut. The egg of the
SKATE is very curious; the yolK is in
closed in a tough skin that looks like a
piece of Kelp. The shape is sort of
oblong square with four arms, which
serve to fasten it to the rocks, and whe,.
spread out resembles flying squirrel
with expanded wings, but minus head
and tail. I have found some specimens
twelve inches long by FIVE wide, aud
two deep. The Indians tell me that
when the fish elects the egg it is like
jelly with yoIlk inside, floating in u
milk white liquid. The skin gradually
becomes hard and tough, and changes
in color from very pale green to a
blackish brown. The storms frequently
tear them from the rocks at the bottom
of the bay and cast them ashore. I
have picked them up in every stage ex-
cept with the young fish in them, con-
sequently cannot tell whether the yolK
produces one or more, nor have l yet
ascertained how many Of those eggs
the skate produces. They are certainly
curious looking things. The Macbahs
call them "yaduK spatie billachie, I"
or the skate egg. The skate is taken
by the Indians on the coast both north
and south of Cape Flattery as well as
in the straits of Fuca, and is readily
eaten by the Macllahs and Clallams.
DOG FISH acanthias (Suckley.) (Yahchah
Mackuh).
The dog fish has been described by
Drs. Cooper and Suclley, on page 167.
Pacific r. Il. Reports, Vol. XII part
II. They are taken in great numbers
by the Mackah Indians, and the tribes
OH the tribes OH the western shores of
Vancouver Island, who make lucra-
tive business in extracting the oil from
the livers. Although the dog-tish is
plenty on the coast south of Cape Flat
tery, I never have seen the Indians
south of Flattery rocks make business
of fishing for them. Even at guile.
huyte, not qnite 80 miles south, where
I saw great quantities of dog-ish, the
natives did not know even how to cx-
tract the OF! but brought the livcrs on
board the vessel I was in, and We had
to send Mackah who was with US
ashore to show them.
The way the oil is extracted here is
as follows: The livers are taken out
of the fish and put in some kind Of all
utensil, either tub, box, or a barrel,
until sufficient have been colle0ted to
cook. They are then put into an iron
pot and set to simmer near the lire, or
else hot stones are placed among them,
and they are cooked by their heat.
The oil is then carefully skinned off
and put into receptacles made out OF
the paunches and intestines Of fish or
seals. The bodies of dog-tish contain
at certain seasons small portion Of oil
which is extracted by first steaming the
fish overho stones till it is we'll cooled,
then rubbing and squeezing it in bask.
cts made for the purpose, till all the oil
and watery liquid il extracted. This
ia then boiled to expel tho water, and
after being settled is skinned off.
Dog-hsh oil is not eaten by the Mack
ahs, they use only, whale, porpoise or
seal oil. But the tribes Oh tho west
coast Of Vancouver's Island, who do
not get as many whale as the Mack
abs, use dog.fsh oil as food. It has q
nauseous taste totally different from
whale oil. DR.. Sucklsy states that he
has used fresh dog.tish oil with great
success in pulmonary affections, aud
considers it equal to cod liver oil.
SHARK.-SAn Bass. lMacah.)
This large fish is occasionally taken
by these Indians, aud its liver yields an
immense quantity of oil. One was
killed ut Neeah Bay two years since
which measured twenty.six feet. long,
and its liver yielded $50 gallons Of oil.
DR.. Suckley mentions one that was
caught ut Port Discovery in Dec. 1856,
1856, from which four barrels Of oil
were taken. DR.. Suckley, however,
makes u very singular remark in refer
ence to sharks. He says, Large
sharks are very rare in Puget Sound,
50 rare that it is not improbable they
are stragglers which have followed the
warm Pucific Gulf Stream from some
southern regions" They must have
swarmed here since the Doctor made
that report, for at this time there are
regular shark fisheries on different
parts Of the waters OF tho Sound; one
In particular ut the mouth of the Sno-
tomish river, in Possession Sound, and
another on Hoods canal, both of which
produce an amount Of oil sufficient to
induce several companies to prosecute
the business. During the present sum-
mer while cruising in the waters OF the