they supported themselves from its fish, and called it
Zaisan,* meaning “ noble ” or “ honourable.”
The following kinds of fish are found in the Zaisan:
The Sturgeon (Accipenser Sturio), Sterlet {Accip enser
Ftithenus), Nelma Salmon {Salmo Nelma), Grayling or
Taimen (Salmo Fluvialis), Trout (Salmo Lena), Pike,
Roach, Perch, Carp, and Burbot. The Sturg eon are
of two species. The flesh of the first is tender, and
of rich flavour ; the second has a dark shiny skin,
firm, coarse flesh, and so hard that even long boiling
will not soften it. The head is large, nose obtuse,
and bent upwards; the body thick, and out of proportion
to the general size. The weight of the Taimen
reaches 144 lbs., with large but watery and tasteless
roe. It is a ravenous fish, that preys on its own
species, and on anything it can secure.
The Sterlets of the Nor-Zaisan may be divided into
three species : “ Zaisanki,” a dark-greyish fish, with
half as much fat as flesh, and that dry and coarse, and
equally uncookable as the black-skinned Sturgeon ; its
* Of oblong shape, its entire length is 56 miles, the mean width
13 miles, and its area 700 square miles, or three times that of Geneva,
though, unlike the Swiss lake, its depth extends only from 22 to 26,
increasing in some places to 40 feet. In former years the lake was of
greater extent, as indicated by the existence o f sand hillocks at a
considerable distance from the present shore, and by the low neighbouring
land being largely overgrown with reeds. Its level rises from
the middle of June to the end of July. The waters of the Zaisan are
transparent, fresh, soft, and good for cooking purposes, but of a
reddish colour in deep pools. The bottom of the lake is in some parts
clay, and in others mixed with small pebbles, with white, yellow, red,
and blue varieties of quartz. The shells of small mollusks are found in
the sands of the shore, and between certain points large quantities of
stone, of the size of a pigeon’ s egg, are washed up from the bottom of
the lake, and overgrown with fine green moss. About a dozen headlands
from the mountains run out into the lake, which has three islands,
bearing names, and many nameless ones besides, all covered with
reeds. The lake receives the drainage of ten rivers.
weight is generally from 36 to 72 lbs. “ Golovashki,”
similar to the preceding, weighing from 6 to 20 lbs.,
and, like it, caught in the Upper Irtish, but rarely
met with in the Lower. The third, which is the
ordinary Sterlet, weighing from 5 to 20 lbs., has a
light-greyish skin, and its flesh is soft, rich,1 and of
agreeable flavour. The Sturgeon and Sterlet remain
in the lake during winter, and descend the river to
spawn in the middle of May. They are then caught
at the mouth of the Irtish until the 13th June; but
from that date to the 27th July, the quantity taken
is inconsiderable. The great catches are in April and
May.*
Except for fishing and hunting there is no navigation
on Lake Zaisan, and there are few habitations on its
banks. In the reeds around are numerous wild boars,
which feed on the roots of the Arundo Calamagrostis,
a coarse grass called Koga by the Kalmuks. Otters
are also numerous, and large herds of Saigas {Antilopa
Saiga), whilst the immediate neighbourhood of the
lake is frequented by Swaas, Geese, Ducks, Cormorants,
Pelicans, Snipe, Plovers, Bustards, and Pheasants.
Concerning the geology and mineral products of the
neighbourhood of the Zaisart and the province generally,
it may be remarked that 13 miles from the
Koldjur river stands a large rock called the tuetash,
* So long ago as 1803 the Siberian Cossacks had a fishing station on
Nor-Zaisan, the fishing season generally commencing in the middle of
May and ending, on the lake, early in September. Salted fish and
roe were despatched for sale, ice-cellars and dépôts being established
for this purpose at Krasnoiarsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Semipolatinsk,
and Omsk. The revenue derived for the benefit of the Cossacks, from
1842 to 1845, amounted to ¿£20,000 ! lit 1865, the profit arising to the
troops from their monopoly was ¿£i,socf; and, later, Réclus quotes
the “ caisse des Cosaques ” as giving the annual catch of fish at 640
tons