The food which the epicures esteem most, and which appeared to me to be singularly disgusting, is a species of salmon, called _tchaouitcha_. As soon as it is caught, they bury it in a hole; and in this kind of larder they leave it till it has had time to sour, or, properly speaking, become perfectly putrified. It is only in this state of corruption that it attains the flavour most pleasing to the delicate palates of these people. In my opinion the infectious odour that exhales from this fish, would suffice to repulse the most hungry being; and yet a Kamtschadale feeds voluptuously upon this rotten flesh. How fortunate does he consider himself when the head falls to his lot! this is deemed the most delicious morsel, and is commonly distributed into many parts. I frequently wished to overcome my aversion, and taste this so highly valued food; but my resolution was unequal to it; and I was not only unable to taste it, but even to bring it near my mouth; every time I attempted, the fetid exhalation which it emitted gave me a nausea, and disgusted me insuperably. The most common fish in Kamtschatka are trouts, and salmon of different species; sea wolves are also eaten; the fat of this fish is very wholesome, and serves them beside for lamp oil. Among the vegetables which are made use of by the Kamtschadales, the principal are _sarana_ root, wild garlic, _slatkaïa-trava_, or sweet herb, and other plants and fruits nearly similar to what are found in Russia. The _sarana_ is known to botanists[37]. Its shape, its size, and its colour have been described at large in the third voyage of captain Cook. Its farinaceous root serves instead of bread[38]. It is dried before it is used; but it is wholesome and nourishing in whatever mode it may be prepared. From the wild garlic[39] they make a harsh and fermented beverage, which has a very unpleasant taste; it is also used in various sauces; the Kamtschadales are very fond of it. The slatkaïa-trava, or sweet herb, is pleasant enough when it is fresh. This plant[40] has also been minutely described by the English. It is highly esteemed by the natives, particularly the spirit distilled from it. Soon after it is gathered, they slit it in two, and scrape out the pith with a muscle-shell: they then dry it for winter, and when they use it in their ragouts, it is previously boiled. Brandy is also distilled from this sweet herb, which, as I observed before, is sold on account of government: for this purpose the plant is purchased of the Kamtschadales[41]. There are three sorts of inhabitants, the natives or Kamtschadales, the Russians and Cossacs, and the descendants from intermarriages. The indigenes, that is, those whose blood is unmixed, are few in number; the small pox has carried off three fourths of them, and the few that are left are dispersed through the different ostrogs of the peninsula; in Bolcheretsk it would be difficult to find more than one or two.