New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-10-18
IN CAVIAR LAND.
THE FISHERIES OF THE voLGA.
st. Petersburg, October

-, IN tho town OF Astrachan, Is an enor-
mons space reserved for the sale OF hsn' fo"i
largo trenchers in the middle OF the room hoiu VIC
rcd fish and tables TO the right and leit are piiep
mn with the white. This Is the general division
| Invariably made in Russian markets. u hsh M
clude the four varieties Of sturgeon caugh' Ill '"e
yolpa and Caspian Sea. The great sturgeon' VI
belonea often attains length OF lour ho'ie''
The mouths of these animals are large enough !"
admit good-szed man; but as they ha'e no
teeth the only danger to be feared is from dow
~ their nowerful tails. which is quite sufficient to
sbatter a limb There are three varieues OF feu
| fish: the ordinary sturgeon, which Is esteemed
moro biobIv than the Others the little sturgeon
curious looking fish with long, hat nose, ana bhe
sterlet most popular with Russian gourmes'
| Sterlets are very expensive, line fsh senlhs ior
| .,ror+v five or thirty rubles. But they must De
l,ent alive. for the sterlet, to use the gourmet
phrase "likes TO be put into the fryins-pan wiue
IL is living 1t is the red fish which 1urnish tne
genuine caviar. White fsh-soudacs, enormous
carp. perch, pike crawish, ctc.-are very cheap'
good sized pike selling for five kopecks not quite
three cents. For twenty-five kopecks, one can
buv a. carp large enough to feed q whole family.
Astrachan is the centre of the Volga fish.
| cries. and much of the caviar in the mar
kets of the world is prepared and shipped from
that port The river Is literally lined along It's
banks with fishing barges, called sadki, or in the
singular. sadolS These barges are very large ana
strongly built, pierced with numerous openings
through which the water circulates freely, wltl-
ont allowing passage for the fish. The decks ore
divided into compartments for the dlnerent va
| rieties of fish, and each sadok is crowned with
little wooden house which serves as an oflice Tor
the proprietor The sadl< are reached by means
of narrow gangplank running from the shore 10
the nearest barge. The declivity is very steep ana
the only supports are little sticks of wood nailed
at more or less regular intervals along the gang
plank for ladder steps. Nothing but clear head
and q sure foot saves the passenger from an ICY
| bath in the Volga
| Along the sides Of the barge are crowded men
with boat.hools or harpoons, cords and wooden
malets fish is sSilfully harpooned and thrown
into a tub man sezes it, holds it against the
side of tie tub, while another man, lying nat Oh
his stomach, strikes it several blows with NAL
let The sturgeon, half Dead is dragged out on
deck and finished with clubs in the hands oil
BOYS A more awkward way of dispcslng OF
them could hardly he imagined.
| The sturgeon is next opened and the ovares
| removed, cut up in small pieces and thrown on
sieve placed over glazed iron vessel. The eggs
| are rubbed through the netting and faA Ike
| pearls into the jar. In this way the caviar IS
obtained entirely free from the membrane which
| envelopes it, Some fish furnish as much as
| pound and half of caviar. The best comes from
the ordinary sturgeon; it is lighter in color and
| Of much better quality than that of the great
sturgeon That Of the little surgeon is too small
in grain. There are several grades OF caviar, IN
| shades varying from white to jet black. Inc
| pure white is the finest. 1t is called lmperiai
| caviar and is very rare. In general the color is
| dor ic
caviar. specked with white, which is highly es-
| teemed.
In Russia the only dressing used Is very
IttIc salt and eaten thus it is incomparaby finer
than the prepared article usually found in the mar
kets. But it keeps so short a time that in its
ORIGINAL state it is only to be found in the larger
| cities Of Russia The ported caviar is prepared
with 80 per cent of salt it is bitter, smells Ike
cod-livcr OIL and is pleasing only to the educated
palatc Another way of preserving it is to plunge
IL into strong brine and then to press III stoutly
beween boards 1t has waxy appearance, pre-
pared in this way, and lasts long time
Equally interesting with the sadki are the
nromslo or establishments where the fish are
salted and made ready for export They are mostly
si+uoted an the other side of the river in the town
~ Farpost The ferry by which one crosses bears
as motley crowd as one is likely to trave! with
| anywhere in the world. Tartars with caitanS oil
tanned leather and fur capes; Russians WIN req
tuncs and long boots KalmGcks with fiat noses anu
hirb cbcsk-bones Pcrsians with their tall bonnets;
| soyore-looking Kirghiz, Anenians, lurkomans,
| ficorrians-the Cars various and more or less
aovotod subjects. One reaches FarpOst in about
,rortv minutes. It is large town ofswooden
houses irrccularly and pcturesquely built The
| Iarcest promislo in the province the Mason
| Orocbor is at this place. 1t exports annually
over 5000. 900 los of salted fish, and In less
| than n month has taken more than 23'ooo'ooo
| voblats, very cheap and popular hSh' oricu
or salted. it is eaten in enormous quantities Dy
| tho neasauts during the long Lenten season oil
| the Greek Church. go
| From a distance the promislo looks like large
| farm II is composed of numerous detached Dulld-
mos icebouses sheds lined with sailing vatsstore
houses and lodgings for workmen, ETC. AS one
draws near, the odor of fish in all stages oil decay
manfcsts itself very strongly.
| On the ouays are piled up great mountains oil
fish and boats laden with fresh supplies are con-
staptly arriving. Nearly 200 women, in white
trousers and tunicS with gay handkerchief head
drasscs and long boots reaching half way up their
| leos bestride wooden benches, two-Dy-two, facing
| each other, along the sides of the quay.
| woman grasps\ fish from the pie
closest TO her. scales it with a few strokes OF n
large knife, opens it, removes the eggs which are
thrown into wooden pail between the two
women, and the intestincs, which are thrown
into another pail on the ground. The fish are then
taken away by men and thrown into large ditch
lined with boards. They remain there in silt
for five days, after which they arc taken out
and hung up under a shed, exposed to Tho sun and
air for fifteen days 1t is really beautiful Fight,
these long sheds with millions Of fish, their
| euolic In fba cpr, nv
swing back and forth in the wind. At the end
Of the fortnight they are put in the storehousc.
The eggs of the vobats arc made into very salty
nnh q dnnidndlv inferior caYiare for export TO