The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-09-04
FISHES OF ALASKAN WATERS.
One Species Used for Candles-Hunting
White Whales.

1hSIC are dlI SOrlS OF interesting
fishes in Alaska said a government
iehthylogist to Star reporter. Take
for example the candle fish, which is
about as remarkable creature for
varied usefulness as swims. 1t is sort
o. smelt and swims in vast schools along
the coast. There is no better pan fish,
for it is of delightful flavor and as fat
IS possible. In fact, these finny deli
eacles are so fat that the natives use
them dried for candles, fixing them in
forked sticks. lighting one end and
PRINTING them to burn until con-
sImed. Their fat the Eskimo also fry
out for butter, and as a substitute it is
not so bad as you might suppose Pre-
pared in the shape of oil, it serves
e1cellently as a substitute for that
obtained from cod livers, and great
quantities of it are sold by apothecaries
I row as a substitute for the latter
article.
"Of course the great fish wealth of
alaska lies in the abundance of salmon.
The biggest variety, called the king
almon, is gigantic, growing to from
sixty to ninety pounds in weight. 1t
eaves the ocean about June 1 each
year for the purpose of spawning, going
1900 miles up the rivers. The natives
Fy these salmon Tor winter use, cutting
them into three slices after removing
the heads and leaving the backbone in
the middle slice, so that all three slices
are connected by the tail. Thus pre-
pared, the fish are called 'chowichee
ukali, and two or three of them dried
weigh at least fifty pounds. One is
considered a sufficient food supply for
one day for six men and the dogs that
haul their sledges. Bought from the
natives on the great Yukon River, a
single ukali is valued at one leaf of
tobacco or five or six musllet balls
The chowichee of the Yukon is held in
such high esteem that the Russians
used to salt down several hogsheads of
it annually for the Cars table when
that monarch owned Alaska.
I'm Alaska every native is a fisher
man, because almost the entire popula-
ton depends upon the resources of
the water for food supply. The men
spear and net and trap the salmon,
while the women do what they can to
help, dragging great strings of the capt
ured animals along the waters edge,
and watching the gill nets in readiness
to seize and club to death the scaly vic
tins that get entangled. Dressing and
curing the fish fall naturally to the lot
of the females. The usual annual sup
ply of salmon put up by a family of
four persons is 1000 fish, averaging five
pounds each before they are cured and
half Il pound each when dried The
stores accumulated in the warm season
are not touched until the inclemency of
the weather about November | renders
fishing no longer practica bic. As a rule.
by the time May arrives and fishing
becomes again practicable, the reserve
supplies have been exhausted, and
starvation all but threatens. Each
family, in addition to its dried stock,
puts up for the winter half barrel or
so of dried salmon roe.
The Alaskan waters fairly swarm
with food fishes. of which there are not
less than scvcnty-tive species-seven-
eights of them useful for the table
while the rest have value as bait. Or
the coast are Goldfish banks equal in pro-
to those of the New England
shore. Several kinds of rock cod swim
in vast numbers in the ocean near land.
Among these is the palatable green fish,
so called because its flesh is of a green
color, but the unusual hue disappears
in cooking. In the rivers very far north
different varieties of white fishes take
the place of the salmon abundantly,
growing to thirty pounds in weight and
of delicious flavor Crawling are album
dant also in the rapid streams. Dolly
Warden trout simultaneously populate
the rivers and tidal waters, growing to
fifteen pounds. But these are only a
few of the valuable finny species in this
great territory that seems designed as
paradise for the fisherman. Pike,
'redfish,' and 'dogfish are mostly
utilized as food for the dogs.
I'm such enormous schools do the
common herring of the Pacific navigate
the northwest coastal waters-most
delicious and fat they are said to be
that vessels sail for hours through
shoals of them, and lazy Indian with
a stick full of nails can impale enough
for boat load within a short time.
Often it happens that acres of grass on
shore are found covered with herring
eggs, which an unusual high tide has
left stranded. The natives collect the
eggs thus deposited and dry them.
1.-The hook for catching halibut used
by the Alaskan Indians is much more
effective than the weapon used by
white men of New England for the
same purpose. 1t is forled stick shod
with sharp iron at one extremity and
Daited with whole herring. When
swallowed it holds the mouth of the fish
open, so that it quickly browns. Lines
provided with these hooks are common
ly set over night, with buoys to hold
them made out of the inflated stomachs
OF seals.
1.-The hunting of white whales is an
important industry among the coast
Indians of Alaska. The animals are
very timid, and, coming in with the tide,
they are easily driven into shoal water
by shouting and splashing with oars,
whereupon they are despatched with
fiint-shod spears. No other weapons
can be used for this purpose, because
Il no. A.,,1