Repairing to Cook’s Voyage, we find the accustomed instruction; and here I shall quote with all possible brevity. At Nootka Sound he finds fish “more plentiful than birds,” of which the principal sorts, in great numbers, are “the common herring, but scarcely exceeding seven inches in length, and a smaller sort, the same with the anchovy or sardine,” and now and then “a small brownish cod spotted with white.”[182] Then again he reports at the same place “herrings and sardines, and small cod,”—the former “not only eaten fresh, but likewise dried and smoked.”[183] In Prince William Sound “the only fish got were some torsk and halibut, chiefly brought by the natives to sell.”[184] Near Kadiak he records, that, “having three hours’ calm, our people caught upward of a hundred halibuts, some of which weighed a hundred pounds, and none less than twenty pounds,”—and he adds, naturally enough, “a very seasonable refreshment to us.”[185] In Bristol Bay, on the northern side of the promontory of Alaska, he reports “tolerable success in fishing, catching cod, and now and then a few flat-fish.”[186] In Norton Sound, still further north, he tells us, that, in exchange for four knives made from an old iron hoop, he obtained of the natives “near four hundred pounds weight of fish, which they had caught on this or the preceding day,—some trout, and the rest in size and taste somewhat between a mullet and a herring.”[187] On returning southward, stopping at Oonalaska, he finds “plenty of fish, at first mostly salmon, both fresh and dried,—some of the fresh salmon in high perfection”; also “salmon trout, and once a halibut that weighed two hundred and fifty-four pounds”; and in describing the habits of the islanders, he reports that “they dry large quantities of fish in summer, which they lay up in small huts for winter use.”[188] Such is the testimony of Captain Cook.
No experience on the coast is more instructive than that of Portlock, and from his report I compile a succinct diary. July 20, 1786, at Graham’s Harbor, Cook’s Inlet, “The Russian chief brought me as a present a quantity of fine salmon, sufficient to serve both ships for one day.” July 21, “In several hauls caught about thirty salmon and a few flat-fish”; also, further, “The Russian settlement had on one side a small lake of fresh water, in which they catch plenty of fine salmon.” July 22, “The boat returned deeply loaded with fine salmon.” July 28, latitude 60° 9´, “Two small canoes came off from the shore; they had nothing to barter except a few dried salmon.” July 30, “Plenty of excellent fresh salmon, which we obtained for beads and buttons.” August 5, “Plenty of fine salmon.” August 9, “The greatest abundance of fine salmon.” August 13, off the entrance of Cook’s Inlet, “Hereabouts would be a most desirable situation for carrying on a whale fishery, the whales being on the coast and close in shore in vast numbers, and there being convenient and excellent harbors quite handy for the business.”[189] Soon after these entries the English navigator left the coast for the Sandwich Islands.
Returning during the next year, Portlock continued to record his observations, which I abstract in brief. May 21, 1787, Port Etches, latitude 60° 21´, “The harbor affords very fine crabs and muscles.” June 4, “A few Indians came alongside, bringing some halibut and cod.” June 20, “Plenty of flounders; crabs now very fine; some of the people, in fishing alongside for flounders, caught several cod and halibut.” June 22, “Sent the canoe out some distance into the bay, and it soon returned with a load of fine halibut and cod; this success induced me to send her out frequently with a fishing party, and they caught considerably more than what was sufficient for daily consumption.” June 30, “In hauling the seine, we caught a large quantity of herrings and some salmon; the herrings, though small, were very good, and two hogsheads of them were salted for sea-store.” July 7, “We daily caught large quantities of salmon, but, the unsettled state of the weather not permitting us to cure them on board, I sent the boatswain with a party on shore to build a kind of house to smoke them in.” July 11, “The seine was frequently hauled, and not less than two thousand salmon were caught at each haul; the weather, however, preventing us from curing them so well as could have been wished, we kept only a sufficient quantity for present use, and let the rest escape. The salmon were now in such numbers along the shores that any quantity whatever might be caught with the greatest ease.”[190] All this testimony of the English navigator is singularly explicit, while it is in complete harmony with that of the Russian visitors, and of Cook, who preceded Portlock.
The report of Meares is similar, although less minute. Speaking of the natives generally, he says, “They live entirely upon fish, but of all others they prefer the whale.”[191] Then again, going into more detail, he says, “Vast quantities of fish are to be found, both on the coast and in the sounds or harbors. Among these are the halibut, herring, sardine, silver-bream, salmon, trout, cod, … all of which we have seen in the possession of the natives, or have been caught by ourselves.” The sardines he describes as taken in such numbers “that a whole village has not been able to cleanse them.” At Nootka the salmon was “of a very delicate flavor,” and “the cod taken by the natives were of the best quality.”[192]
Spanish and French testimony is not wanting, although less precise. Maurelle, who was on the coast in 1779, remarks that “the fish most abundant was the salmon and a species of sole or turbot.”[193] La Pérouse, who was there in 1786, mentions a large fish weighing sometimes more than a hundred pounds, and several other fish; but he preferred “the salmon and trout, which the Indians sold in larger numbers than could be consumed.”[194] A similar report was made in 1791 by Marchand, who finds the sea and rivers abounding in “excellent fish,” particularly salmon and trout.[195]
Meanwhile came the Russian navigator Billings, in 1790; and here we have a similar report, only different in form. Describing the natives of Oonalaska, the book in which this visit is recorded says, “They dry salmon, cod, and halibut, for a winter’s supply.”[196] At Kadiak it says, “Whales are in amazing numbers about the straits of the islands and in the vicinity of Kadiak.” Then the reporter, who was the naturalist Sauer, says, “I observed the same species of salmon here as at Okhotsk, and saw crabs.” Again, “The halibuts in these seas are extremely large, some weighing seventeen poods, or six hundred and twelve pounds avoirdupois.… The liver of this fish, as also of cod, the natives esteem unhealthy and never eat, but extract the oil from them.”[197] Then, returning to Oonalaska the next year, the naturalist says, “The other fish are halibut, cod, two or three species of salmon, and sometimes a species of salmon very common in Kamtchatka, between four and five feet long.”[198]
From Lisiansky, the Russian navigator, who was on the coast in 1804, and again in 1805, I take two passages. The first relates to the fish of Sitka. “For some time,” he says, “we had been able to catch no fish but the halibut. Those of this species, however, which we caught were fine, some of them weighing eighteen stone, and were of an excellent flavor. This fish abounds here from March to November, when it retires from the coast till the winter is at an end.”[199] The other passage relates to the subsistence of the inhabitants during the winter. “They live,” he says, “on dried salmon, train oil, and the spawn of fish, especially that of herrings, of which they always lay in a good stock.”[200]
Langsdorff, who was there in 1805-6, is more full and explicit. Of Oonalaska he says: “The principal food consists of fish, sea-dogs, and the flesh of whales. Among the fish, the most common and most abundant are several sorts of salmon, cod, herrings, and holybutt. The holybutts, which are the sort held in the highest esteem, are sometimes of an enormous size, weighing even several hundred pounds.”[201] Of Kadiak he says: “The most common fish, those which, fresh and dry, constitute a principal article of food, are herrings, cod, holybutt, and several sorts of salmon; the latter come up into the bays and rivers at stated seasons and months, and are then taken in prodigious numbers by means of nets or dams.”[202] Of Sitka he says: “We have several sorts of salmon, holybutt, whitings, cod, and herrings.”[203] A goodly variety. The testimony of Langsdorff is confirmed in general terms by his contemporary, D’Wolf, who reports: “The waters of the neighborhood abounded with numerous and choice varieties of the finny tribe, which could be taken at all seasons of the year.”[204]
Lütke, also a Russian, tells us that he found fish the standing dish at Sitka, from the humblest servant to the governor; and he mentions salmon, herring, cod, and turbot. Of salmon there were no less than four kinds, which were eaten fresh when possible, but after June they were sent to the fortress salted. The herring appeared in February and March. The cod and turbot were caught in the straits during winter.[205] Lütke also reports “fresh cod” at Kadiak.[206]