1778. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. $$3 



but as many of them were brought away on board 

 the ships, this can be done at any time, if thought 

 necessary. These people are very expert in strik- 

 ing fish, both in the sea and in rivers. They 

 also make use of hooks and lines, nets and wears. 

 The hooks are composed of bone, and the lines of 

 sinews. 



The fishes, which are common to other northern 

 seas, are found here; such as whales, grampusses, 

 porpoises, sword-fish, halibut, cod, salmon, trout, 

 soals, flat-fish ; several other sorts of small fish ; and 

 there may be many more that we had no opportunity 

 of seeing. Halibut and salmon seem to be in the 

 greatest plenty ; and on them the inhabitants of these 

 isles subsist chiefly ; at least they were the only sort 

 of fish, except a few cod, which we observed to 

 be laid up for their winter store. To the north 

 of 60, the sea is, in a manner, destitute of small 

 fish of every kind ; but then whales are more nu- 

 merous. 



Seals, and that whole tribe of sea-animals, are not 

 so numerous as in many other seas. Nor can this be 

 thought strange, since there is hardly any part of the 

 coast, on either continent, nor any of the islands 

 lying between them, that is not inhabited, and whose 

 inhabitants hunt these animals for their food and 

 clothing. Sea-horses are indeed in prodigious num- 

 bers about the ice ; and the sea-otter is, I believe, no 

 where found but in this sea. We sometimes saw an 

 animal with a head like a seal's, that blew after the 

 manner of whales. It was larger than a seal, and its 

 colour was white, with some dark spots. Probably 

 this was the sea-cow, or manati. 



I think I may venture to assert, that sea and water- 

 fowls are neither in such numbers, nor in such vari- 

 ety, as with us in the northern parts of the Atlantic 

 Ocean. There are some, however, here that I do 

 not remember to have seen any where else ; particu- 



