334 APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Liitke, also a Russian, tells us that lie found fisb the standing dish 

 at Sitka, from tlie liuniblest servant to the Governor, and he mentions 

 saimon, herrhigs, cod, and turbot. Of salmon there are no less than 

 four kinds, which ^yere eaten fresh when possible, but after June they 

 were sent to the fortress salted. The herrings appeared in February 

 and March. The cod and turbot were caught in the straits during 

 winter. Liitke also reports ''fresh cod" at Kodiak. 



I close this abstract of foreign testimony by two English authorities 

 often quoted. Sir Edward Belcher, while on this coast in 1837, records 

 that " fish, halibut, and salmon of two kinds were abundant and 

 moderate, of which the crews purchased aud cured great quantities." 

 Sir George Simpson, who was at Sitka in 1841, says, ^^ halibut, cod, her- 

 rings, flounders, and many other sorts of fish are always to be had for 

 the taking in unlimited quantities. Salmon have been known literally 

 to embarrass the movements of a canoe. About 100,000 of this fish, 

 equivalent to 1,500 barrels, are annually salted for the use of the 

 establishment." Nothing could be stronger as statement, and when 

 we consider the character of its author, nothing could be stronger as 

 authority. 



Cunmlative upon all this accumulation of testimony is that of recent 

 visitors. Nobody visits this coast without testitying. The fish are so 

 demonstrative in their abundance that all remark it. Officers of the 

 United States navy report the same fish substantially which Cook 

 reported as far north as the Frozen Ocean. Scientific explorers, 

 prompted by the Smithsonian Institution, report cod in Behring 

 Straits, on the limits of the Arctic Circle. One of these reports that 

 while anchored near Ounimak in 1SG5 the ship, with a couple of lines, 

 caught "a great many fine cod, most of them between 2 and 3 feet in 

 length." He supi^oses that there is no place on the coast where they 

 are not numerous. A citizen of Massachusetts, who has recently 

 returned from a prolonged residence on this coast, writes me from 

 Boston, under date of the 8th March, 1867, that "the whale and cod 

 fisheries of the North Pacific are destined to form a very important 

 element in the wealth of California and Washington Territory, and 

 that already numbers of fishermen are engaged there, and more are 

 intending to leave." From all this testimony there can be but one con- 

 clusion with regard, at least, to certain kinds of fish. 



Salmon exist in unequalled numbers, so that this fish, so aristocratic 

 elsewhere, becomes common enough. Not merely the prize of epicures, 

 it is the food of all. Not merely tlie pastime of gentle natures, like 

 Isaac Walton or Humphrey Bavy, who employ in its pursuit an elegant 

 leisure, its capture is the daily reward of the humblest. On Vancou- 

 ver's Island it is the constant ration given out by the Hudson Bay Com- 

 pany to the men in their service. At Sitka ships are supplied with it 

 gratuitously by the natives. By the side of the incalculable multi- 

 tudes swarming out of the Arctic waters, haunting this extended coast, 

 and peopling its rivers, so that at a single haul Portlock took not less 

 than 2,000, how small an allowance are the 200,000 which the salmon 

 fisheries of England annually supply. 



Herring seem to be not less multitudinous than the salmon. Their 

 name, derived from the German heer, signifying an army, is amply veri- 

 fied. As on the coast of Norway they move in such hosts at times that 

 a boat makes its way with difticnilty through the compact mass. I do 

 not speak at a venture, for I have received this incident from a scien- 

 tific gentleman who witnessed it on the coast. This fish, less aristo- 

 cratic than the salmon, is a universal food; but here it would seem to 

 be enough for all. 



