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]