The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1886-02-12

have gone overheard.
81 saw the same bridge-making many
times in the interior, and it was often
done to enable the monkeys to cross
from one tall tree to another, where to
descend to the ground would have
opened them to attack from various
enemies.
This bridge-making habit is found in
number of families of ants, especially
those of Africa, and certain kinds that
go off on long predatory journeys.
''Camels have been used for similar
purpose. and often the great hippopota-
muses. have been observed lying in such
numbers in the water that their bulky
forms fairly filed the stream, so that
land birds and cranes walked over on
the living bridge. In these cases. the
bridge-making was wholly intentional,
and every move was conducted with
great skill, showing that something
akin to what we call thought had been
utilized.
'.But there are other instances, per-
haps more amusing, where animals
have been used as bridges by human
beings. Perhaps the most remarkable
instance of this kind occurred some
years ago in Russia. In certain regions,
especially about the Volga River, the
sturgeon fisheries are extremely valua-
BILE; SO much so that there are over one
hundred thousand persons engaged in
catching this one fish. We have stur-
geons in our waters, particularly in the
Hudson, where they are called Albany
beef, that are huge fellows, enclosed in
thick bony armor, but harmless with
al. having small mouths under the
snOut and no teeth, as their food con-
sists of the very smallest animals and
perhaps vegetable matter.
..In this country the surgeons rarely
attain length of over six feet, but in
the Volga the one known to naturalists
as Acctpe,aser hus0 grows to length of
twenty-five feet, and is perfect mon
ster. Part of the year it lives in the salt
water, but as spring comes ON. it swims
up the great rivers to deposit its eggs,
or roe. as they are called, and to collect
this is one reason why the sturgeon is
followed so persistently. The roe is
made into cayiare, and sent all over the
world, the eggs of one season being of
ten valued at one hundred and sixty
thousand dollars. Besides this, the
membrane OF the air-bladder is, when
prepared, made into isinglass, and thirty
thousand pounds have been secured in
one season, valued at eighty thousand
dollars The meat is eaten and the
skins are used as window-glass, so that
it will be seen that the sturgeon is a
valuable fish. To obtain so much prof.
table material it is evident that they
must be caught in vast numbers. and
such Is the case. The great fish. weigh
ing rom one hundred to
four hundred and sixty pounds
and averaging from five to twenty-five
feet in length. rush into the Volga at
certain seasons in such quantities that q
million and . hall have been killed in
= single season. During these migrations
the scene IS often curious one. The
people tar and wide are excited at the
prospect. and rush to the stream with
various weapons of offense, but so vast
are the numbers Of the fish that nothing
deters them At Rubibinsk the river Is
quite narrow, being about three hundred
and fifty feet in width, and twenty-eight
in depth, and here, some years ago, dur
ing an unprecedented run of fish,a most
remarkable scene was enacted. The en-
tire country roundabout was aroused,
and 80 alarmed were the fish in the
riyer below that they moved up towards
kubibinsk in solid mass, like great
wave; IS the space grew narrower they
became more compressed, and finally,
at the town just mentioned, the river
was fairly blocked with them, and up