The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-09-05
FISHES OF ALASKAN WATERS.


IOT lIt Cunulc uSHs NlllCh IL |
about as remarkable creature for
varied usefulness as swims. 1t is sort
of smelt and swims in vast schools along
the coast There is no better pan fish,
for il is of delightful flavor and as fat
as possible. In fact, these finny deli
caces are SO fat that the natives use
them dried for candles, fixing them in
forlied sticks, lighting one end and
permitting them TO burn until con-
sumed. Their fat the Eskimo also fry |
out fol- butter, and as a substitute it is |
not so bad as you might suppose Pre-
pared in the shape of oil, it serves
excellently as substitute for that |
obtained from cod livers, and great |
quantities of it are sold by apothecaries |
now as 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
salmon, is gigantic, growing to from
sixty to ninety pounds in weight. 1t
leaves the ocean about June 1 each
year for the purpose of spawning, going
1,200 miles up the rivers. The natives
dry these salmon for 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 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,
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.
''In 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 family OF
four persons is 1,5OO fish, averaging five
pounds each before they are cured and
half pound each when dried The
stores accumulated in the warm season
are not touched until the inclemency OF
the weather about November 1 renders
fishing no longer practicable. 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 o,
so of dried salmon roe.
1.-The Alaskan waters fairly swarm
with food fishes, of which there are moi
less than seventy-fve species-seven
eights of them useful for the table
. while the rest have value as bait. Of
the coast are Goldfish banks equal in pro
/ ductiveness 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
f so called because its flesh is of greer
l color, but the unusual hue disappear
e in cooking. In the rivers very far mort
e different varieties of white fishes talk
= the place of the salmon abundantly
e growing to thirty pounds in weight an
|, of delicious flavor. Grayling are abur
Il dant also in the rapid streams. Doll
8 Warden trout multitudinously populat
e the rivers and tidal waters, growing t
g fifteen pounds. But these are only
II few of the valuable fnny species in thi
i great territory that seems designed q
Il paradise for the fisherman. Pix,
'redfsh' and 'dogfsh are mostl
utilized as food for the dogs.
I'm such enormous schools do til
10 common herring of the Pacific navigat
the northwest coastal waters-mo'
% delicious and fat they are said to be-
Al that vessels sail for hours throug
l. shoals of them, and a lazy Indian wit
m a stick full of nails can impale enoug
N for q boat load within q short tim
g Often it happens that acres of grass o
y. shore are found covered with herrin
T. eggs, which an unusual high tide hu
10 left stranded. The natives collect til
Il eggs thus deposited and dry them.
" "The hook for catching halibut use
A. by the Alaskan Indians is much NOR
~ effective than the weapon used b
a. white men of New England for th
D. same purpose. 1t is a forlled stick sho
~ with sharp iron at one extremity an
~ baited with whole herring. Whe
=. swallowed it holds the mouth of the tis
f. open, so that it quickly browns, Line
| provided with these hooks are common
la ly set over night, with buoys to hol
,r them made out of the inflated stomach
If of seals
n ''rhe hunting of white whales is a
n important industry among the Goa,
s Indians of Alaska. The animals al
# very timid, and, coming in with the It'd
Ie they are easily driven into shoal watC
;s by shouting and splashing with oar
u whereupon they are despatched wit
~ fint-shod spears. No other weapon
!. can be used for this purpose, becau'
n to do so would be sure to entail mi
v fortune-according to the native supe
is stition. When a whale is taken Il
y flesh and blubber are common propert
e but the whalebone belongs to tt
v captors. The jawbones are employC
d for shoeiug sled runners, and the ri
n and jaws are used in constructing Il
n framework of winter dwellings. FIRES
g. or tainted-in,lifferent meat
n esteemed delcacy for eating,
"Strips of whalebone are folded in
II the shape of the letter n, enveloped
IVplrs of fat and frOypD that frl