UNITED STATES COMMISSION OF FISH AND FISHERIES K E\ B-A-IRD, COMMISSIONER THE FISHERIES FISHERY INDUSTRIES UNITED STATES PREPARED THROUGH THE CO-OPERATION OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES AND THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE TENTH CENSUS BY GEORGE BROWN GOODE ASSISTANT SECRETAET OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AND A STAFF OF ASSOCIATES SECTION V HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES IN TWO VOLUMES, WITH AN ATLAS OF TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE PLATES VOLUME II WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1887 ASSOCIATE AUTHOKS. J'>"L A. ALLEN Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge. TARI.ETON H. BEAN U. S. National Museum, Washington. JAMKS TEMPLE. BROWN U. S. National Museum, Washington. A. HOWARD CLARK U. S. National Museum, Washington. CAPTAIN JOSEPH \V. COLLINS Gloucester, Massachusetts. R. EDWARD EARLL U. S. Fish Com mission, Washington. HKNIIY \V. ELLIOTT Cleveland, Ohio. ERNEST IMJERSOLL - New Haven, Connecticut. DAVID S. JORDAN Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. LUDWIG KTMLIEN Milwaukee, Wisconsin. MARSHALL MCDONALD U. S. Fish Commission, Washington. FREDERICK MATHER N. Y. Fish Commission, Cold Spring, New York. HARNET PHILLIPS Brooklyn, New York. RICHARD RATIUU-N U. S. National Museum, Washington. JOHN A. RYDEK U. S. Fish Commission, Washington. CHARLES W. SMILEY U. S. Fish Commission, Washington. SILAS STEARNS Pensacola, Florida. FREDERICK W. TRUE U. S. National Museum, Washington. WILLIAM A. WILCOX Gloucester, Massachusetts. ill TABLE OF CONTENTS. VOLUME I. Page. List of illustrations (see also Atlas of plates) XI PART I.— THE HALIBUT FISHERIES : 1. The Fresh-Halibut Fishery. By G. BROWN GOODE and J. W. COLLIXS 3-89 2. The Salt-Halibut Fishery. By N. P. SCUDDER 90-119 TART II.— THE COD, HADDOCK, AND HAKE FISHERIES: 1. The Bank Hand-Line Cod Fishery By G. BROWN GOODE and J. W. COLLINS 123-133 2. The Labrador and Gulf of St. Lawrence Cod Fisheries. By G. BROWN GOODE and J. W. COLLINS. 133-147 3. The Bank Trawl-Line Cod Fishery. By G. BROWN GOODE and J. W. COLLINS 148-187 4. The George's Bank Cod Fishery. By G. BROWN GOODE and J. W. COLLINS 187-198 5. The Cod Fishery of Alaska. By TARLETON H. BEAN 198-224 G. The Gill-Net Cod Fishery. By J. W. COLLINS 225-233 7. The Haddock Fishery of New England. By G. BROWN GOODE and J. W. COLLINS 234-241 8. The Hake Fishery. By G. BROWN GOODE and J. W. COLLINS 241-243 PART III.— THE MACKEREL FISHERY. By G. BROWN GOODE and J. W. COLLINS: 1. The Mackerel Purse-Seine Fishery 247-272 2. The Spring Southern Mackerel Fishery 273-275 3. The Mackerel Hook Fishery 275-294 4. The Mackerel Gill- Net Fishery 294-298 5. Early Methods of the Mackerel Fishery 298-300 6. Legislation for the Protection of Mackerel 301-304 7. Statistics of the Mackerel Fishery 304-313 PART IV.— THE S WORDFISH FISHERY. By G. BROWN GOODE 315-326 PAUT V.— THE MENHADEN FISHERY. By G. BROWN GOODE and A. HOWARD CLAEK 327-415 PART VI.— THE HERRING FISHERY AND THE SARDINE INDUSTRY. By R. EDWARD EARLL: 1. The Herring Fishery of the United States 419-439 2. The Frozen- Herring Industry 439-458 3. The Pickled-Herring Trade with Magdaleu Islands, Auticusti, Newfoundland, and Labrador 459-472 4. The Smoked-Herring Industry 473-488 5. The Sardine Industry 489-524 v VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART VII.— THE SHORE FISHERIES OF SOUTHERN DELAWARE. By J. W. COLLINS : Page. 1. The Squetoagne or Trout Fishery 527-S33 2. The Spot Fishery 533-538 3. The Rock and Perch Fishery 538-540 4. The Sturgeon Fishery of Delaware Bay 540-541 PART VIII.— THE SPANISH MACKEREL FISHERY. By E. EDWARD EARLL .... 543-552 PART IX.— THE MULLET FISHERY. By R. EDWARD EARLL 553-582 PART X.— THE RED-SNAPPER AND HAVANA MARKET FISHERIES. By SILAS STEARNS: 1. The Red-Snapper Fishery 585-592 2. The Havana Market Fishery of Key West, Florida 592-594 PART XL— THE POUND-NET FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC STATES. By FREDERICK W. TRUE 595-cio PART XII.— THE RIVER FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC STATES: 1. The Rivers of Eastern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. By MARSHALL MCDONALD 613-625 2. The Rivers and Sounds of North Carolina. By MARSHALL MCDONALD 625-637 3. The Fisheries of Chesapeake Bay and its Tributaries. By MARSHALL MCDONALD 637-654 4. The Fisheries of the Delaware River. By MARSHALL MCDONALD 654-657 5. The Fisheries of the Hudson River. By MARSHALL MCDONALD : 658-659 6. The Connecticut and Honsatouic Rivers and Minor Tributaries of Long Island Sound. By MAR- SHALL MCDONALD 659-667 7. Rivers of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. By FREDERICK W. TRUE and W. A. WILCOX 667-673 8. The River Fisheries of Maine. By C. G. ATKINS 673-728 PART XIII.— THE SALMON FISHING AND CANNING INTERESTS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. By D. S. JORDAN aud C. H. GILBERT 729-753 PART XIV.— THE FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES. By LUDWIG KUMLIEN.. 755-769 Index.. 771-808 VOLUME II. List of illustrations (see also Atlas of plates) six PART XV.— THE WHALE FISHERY: 1. History and Present Condition of the Fishery. By A. HOWARD CLARK 3-218 2. Whalemen, Vessels, Apparatus, and Methods of the Fishery. By JAMES TEMPLEMAN BROWN 218-U9I! PART XVI.— THE BLACKFISH AND PORPOISE FISHERIES. By A. HOWARD CLARK 295-310 PART XVII.— THE PACIFIC WALRUS FISHERY. By A, HOWARD CLARK :m-3ia TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii PART XVIII.— THE SEAL AND SEA-OTTER INDUSTRIES: Page. 1. The Fur-Seal Industry of the Pribylov Islands, Alaska. By HENRY W. ELLIOTT 320-393 2. The Fur-Sea,! Industry of Cape Flattery, Washington Territory. By JAMES G. SWAN 393-400 3. The Antarctic Fur-Seal and Sea-H'ephant Industries. By A. HOWARD CLARK 400-467 4. The Sea-Liou Hunt. By HENRY W. ELLIOTT 407-474 5. The North Atlantic Seal Fishery. By A. HOWARD CLARK 474-483 G. The Sea-Otter Fishery. By HENRY W. ELLIOTT 4H3-491 PART XIX.— THE TURTLE AND TERRAPIN FISHERIES. By FREDERICK W. TRUE 493-504 PART XX.— THE OYSTER, SCALLOP, CLAM, MUSSEL, AND AB ALONE INDUS- TRIES. By ERNEST INGERSOLL : 1. The Oyster Industry '. 507-565 2. The Scallop Fishery 505-581 3. The Clam Fisheries 581-615 4. The Mussel Fishery f>l.rj-tyx! 5. The Abalone Fishery tWi-Gdt; PART XXL— THE CRAB, LOBSTER, CRAYFISH, ROCK-LOBSTER, SHIUMP, AND PRAWN FISHERIES. By RICHARD RATHBUN : 1. The Crab Fisheries 629-658 2. The Lobster Fishery 658-794 3. The Crayfish Fishery 794-797 4. The Rock-Lobster Fishery 798-799 5. The Shrimp and Prawn Fisheries 799-M10 PART XXIL— THE LEECH INDUSTRY AND TREPANG FISHERY. By RICHARD RATHBUN sn-sic PART XXIII.— THE SPONGE FISHERY AND TRADE 817-841 Index. 843-881 LIST OF PLATES TO SECTION V. * [Engraved by the Photo-Engraving Company of Now York City.] (Page references to Volumes I and II of text.) THE FRESH HALIBUT FISHERY. VoL Page. 1. Halibut schooner under jib, foresail, and double-reefed mainsail; nests of dories on deck amid- ships; rigged for fall and winter fishiug I, Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. 2. Halibut schooner in summer rig, two topmasts up and all sails spread .. I, Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. (Engraved by Photo-Electrotype Company.) 3. FIG. 1. Sectional plan of halibut schooner. (See page opposite plate for explanation) I, FIG. 2. Deck plan of halibut schooner. (See page opposite plate for explanation) 9 Drawings by Capt. J. W. Collins. 4. Sectional plan of well-smack employed in the fresh halibut fishery ou George's Bank, 183G to 1845. (See page opposite plate for explanation) Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. 5. FIG. 1. Bait chopper FIG. 2. Bait slivering knife FIG. 3. Halibut killer and gob stick I, FIG. 4. Woolen hand nipper FIG. 5. Halibut gaff I, 1' FIG. 0. Trawl buoy and black ball I> FIG. 7. Canvas skate for section of trawl I> FIG. 8. Dory scoop 10 Drawings by Capt. J. W. Collins. 6. FIG. 1. Hurdy-gurdy to haul trawls in deep water I, 10,11,10 FlG. 2. Dory showing mode of attaching and using the hurdy-gurdy I, 10, 11, 10 FIG. 3. Trawl roller attached to dory gunwale for hauling trawls in shoal water.. I, 10 Drawings by Capt. .1. \V. Collins. 7. Cutting bait and baiting trawls on halibut schooner at anchor ou the fishing grounds. . ... I, 12 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 8. Dories and crew ou the way to haul the trawls; the schooner at anchor under riding sail I, 13-10 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. "W. Collins. 9. Halibut dory and crew hauling the trawl, gaffing and clubbing the halibut I, 10 Drawing by H. VT. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 10. Dory and crew caught to leeward in a storm while hauling the trawl ; trawl-buoy and line drifted astern of the vessel for their rescue I, 10,80 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 11. Halibut schooner at anchor on the Grand Bank in winter, riding out a gale I, Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 12. Halibut schooner "lyiug-to:) in a gale on the Bank, under riding sail and doublti-ivrfrd foresail. I, Drawing by El. W. Elliott and Capt. J. \V. Colliua. 13. Halibut schooner tripped by a hi ;i\ \ si a Drawing by H. TV. Elliott and C:ij>t. J. W. Collins. 14. Halibut schooner in winter, head-reaching under short sail I, Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. X LIST OF PLATES TO SECTION V. Vol. Page. 15. Old-atyle halibut schooner, hand-line fishing from deck, 1840 to 1850 I, 29-43 Drawing by H. \V. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. Hi. Dressing hadibut on deck of schooner for icing in the hold I, 19 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 17. FIG. 1. Halibut cutting knife I, 19 FIG. 2. Scraping knife to remove muscle and flesh from backbone after cutting I, 19 FIG. 3. Squillgee for pushing ice iu pen I, 19 FIG. 4. Oak mallet for breaking ice I, 19 FIG. 5. Oak broom for scrubbing halibut I, 19 Drawings by Capt. J. W. Collins. 18. General view of schooner discharging fare of fresh halibut at Gloucester, Mass I, 21 Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. 19. Hoisting halibut from hold of schooner at Gloucester, Mass I, 21 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 20. Weighing and selling halibut on deck of George's Bank hand-Hue cod schoouer I, 22 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. T. W. Collins. 21. Handling fresh halibut at Gloucester, Mass.; weighing, unheadiug, and packing in ice for ship- ment by rail I, 22 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 22. Packing fresh halibut at Gloucester, Mass.; preparing ice with pick and grinding machine ; nail- ing covers on the boxes; use of devil's claw I, 22 Drawings by H. W. Elliott. THE BANK HAND-LINE AND TRAWL COD FISHERIES. 23. Old style Grand Bank cod schooner ; crew at rails hand-line fishing I, 125,126 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 24. Hand-line dory cod fishing on the Grand Bank I, 126 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 25. Deck plan of schooner Centennial, of Gloucester I, 149 Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. 20. Dory and crew setting cod trawls on the Bank I, 152, 17G Drawing by ff. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 27. Underrunniug cod trawls ; two methods of setting trawl for underrunning I, 177 Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. 28. Newfoundland fishermen catching squid for sale as cod bait to United States vessels I, 152,184 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 29. Dory crew of cod fishermen catching birds for bait I, 152 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. (For illustration of cod schooners discharging cargoes see Section on Preparation of Fishery Prod- ucts.) THE GEORGE'S BANK COD FISHERY. 30. Gloucester schooner at anchor on George's Bank in winter ; hand-Hue fishing for cod ; rigged with- out topmasts for rough weather I, 190-193 From painting by Paul E. Collins, Boston, Mass. 31. Cod hand-line gear I, 192 FIG. 1. Lead sinker with brass horse and swivels. FIG. 2. George's Bank gear with sling-ding, &c. FIG. 3. Hand-Hue gear for shoal water. Drawings by Capt. J. \V. Collins. 32. George's Bank crew hand-line fishing, gaffing fish over the rail, cutting out tongues 1, 194 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 33. Dressing cod on deck of fishing schooner I, 156, 180, Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 195 34. Discharging fare of George's Bank cod at Gloucester wharf. . . I, 195 Drawing by H. W. Elliott, 1882. 35. Splitting and washing George's Bank cod at Wonson's wharf, Gloucester, Mass I, 195 Drawing by H. W. Elliott, 1882. THE COD FISHERY OF ALASKA. 36. Natives in boats fi.shing with hand-lines I, 220 LIST OF PLATES TO SECTION V. XI THE GILL-NET COD FISHERY. VoL Page. 37. Method of hauging cod gill-nets in Norway. (Explanation with plate) I, 227,228 From Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. I. Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. :'.-'. FIG. 1. Method of attaching glass floats to top of nets I, 228 FIG. 2. Method of fastening sinkers to foot of nets. (Explanation on plate) I, 228 From Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. I. Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. :iS). Norwegian method of sotting gill-nets at bottom. (Explanation on plate) I, 228 From Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. I. Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collina. 10. Norwegian methods of setting nets to get position of fish. (Explanation on plate) I, 228 From Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. I. Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. 41. Norwegian method of attaching stone anchors and huoy lines to end of gangs of nets. (Explana- tion on plate) I, 228 From Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. I. Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. 42. Way in which cod gill-nets are set at the bottom on the east coast of Newfoundland. (Explana- tion on plate) I, 230 From Bulletin TJ. S. Fish Commission, Vol. I. Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. 43. The ordinary way in which cod gill-nets are set floating at Newfoundland. (Explanation on plate) I, 230 From Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. I. Drawing by Capt J. W. Collins. 44. Way in which cod gill-nets are set for underrunning in Ipswich Bay, Massachusetts. (Explana- tion on plate) I, 232 From Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. I. Drawing by Capt. J. W. Collins. 45. Uudeminning cod gill-nets in Ipswich Bay, Massachusetts I, 232 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. ~W. Collins. THE INSHORE COD FISHERY. 46. Block Island boat and crew hand-lining for cod Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 47. Pink stern schooner anil boats hand-line tishing off Cape Ann, Massachusetts From photograph by T. W. Smillie. THE HADDOCK FISHERY. 48. Baiting trawls on deck of Gloucester haddock schooner Mystic, Captain McKiuuou I, 237 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 4!'. Baiting trawls at night in hold of haddock schooner I, 237 Drawing by H. W. Elliott, 1882. .">0. Setting haddock trawls from schooner under sail; set at right angles to course of the vessel I, ij:1.-1 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. 3. W. Collins. THE HAKE FISHERY. 51. Fishermen's dories on the rocks at Folly Cove, Cape Ann, Massachusetts I, 241 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 52. Fishermen in dory hauling trawl ; a dogfish caught I, 242 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 53. Overhauling trawls in fish-house at Rockport, Mass I, 242 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. THE MACKEREL PURSE-SEINE FISHERY. 54. Mackerel schooner under full sail, bound out I, 248 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collina. .V>. The cabin of mackerel schooner John D. Long of Gloucester, Mass I, 247 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. ~.u'. Deck plan of mackerel schooner. (Explanation on plate) I, 248 Drawing by (.'apt. J. W. Collins. ~>7. Seine boat ; purse davit and blocks ; oar-rests; purse weight and purse blocks; bow fittings.... I, 250 5.-1. Seine boats in winter quarters at Gloucester, Mass I, 250 From photograph by T. \V. Smillie. ."•'.'. FIG. 1. Diagram showing the different, sections of a purse-seine I, 252 FIG. 2. Diagram showing the form of a purse-seine when spread in the water I, 252 Drawings by Capt. J. W. Cull in-. xii LIST OF PLATES TO SECTION V. Vol. Page. 60. Mackerel schooner cruising in Massachusetts Bay; lookout at foretop on the watch for schools .. I, 255 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 61. Lookouts aloft on schooner on the watch for mackerel I> 255 Drawing hy H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 62. Mackerel seine-boat and crew "paying out the seine" - I. 256 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 03. Mackerel seine-boat and crew pursing the seine I, 256 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. "W. Collins. 04. Mackerel schooner with crew at work bailing mackerel from the purse-seine I, 258 Drawing hy H. W.Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 65. Mackerel schooner with pocket or spiller shipped at sea . . . , I, 265 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt J. W. Collins. 66. Mackerel schooner just arrived from cruise ; crew dressing and salting the fish I, 207 From photograph bv T. W. Smillie. 67. Culling.and packing mackerel at Portlaud, Me I, 267 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. THE MACKEREL HOOK FISHERY. 68. Surf-fishing in boats for mackerel I, 275 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 09. Mackerel jigs and jig molds. (Explanation on plate) I, 278 70. Jigging mackerel over the vessel's rail I, 284 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt J. W. Collins. 71. Gaffing mackerel over the vessel's rail I, 279 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 72. FIG. 1. The old method of choppiug mackerel bait I, 279-283 FIG. 2. The modern mackerel bait-mill I, 279-283 Drawings by H. "W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 73. Throwing bait to toll mackerel alongside the vessel I, 284 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 7-1. Deck scene on mackerel hand-line schooner; jigging mackerel, slatting in the barrel, throwing toll-bait I, 284 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 75. Mackerel-packing on shipboard I, 2S7 FIG. 1. Splitting, cleaning, and washing. FIG. 2. Pitching, salting, and plowing. Drawings by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. THE MACKEREL GILL-NET FISHERY. 76. Mackerel drag-nets set at night off coast of Maine I, 2D4 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J W. Collins. 77. Cape Cod mackerel drag-boat lying to at night I, 294 From sketch by J. S. Ryder. 78. Dory fishermen picking mackerel gill-nets I, 294 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. " THE MACKEREL FISHERY— EARLY METHODS. 79. Old style Chebacco boats drailing for mackerel I, 299 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 80. Angling with poles for mackerel from an old Noank, Conn., sloop — I, 299 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt J. W. Collins. STATISTICS OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 81. Diagram showing the catch of mackerel by citizens of Massachusetts between the years 1804 and 1881, inclusive I, 312 From Report U. S. Fish Commission, Part IX, 18S1. LIST OF PLATES TO SECTION V. Xlll THE SWORDFISH FISHERY. Vol. Page. 82. Sword fishermen in position for action I, 318 From Report U. S. Fish Commission, Part VIII, 1880. 83. Methods of swordfish capture in the Mediterranean Sea I, 318 From Report TJ. S. Fisli Commission, Part VIII, 1880. THE MENHADEN FISHERY. 84. Map illustrating geographical distribution and periodical movements of the menhaden ; also the locations of the fishing grounds and oil and guano factories in the year 1878. (No factories now in Maine; many in Chesapeake Bay) I, 331,343 From Report U. S. Fish Commission, Part VI, 1878. 85. Menhaden steamer Joseph Church approaching oil and guano factory at Tiverton, R. I I, 334 From photograph hy T. W. Smillie. 86. Menhaden steamer William Floyd cruising for fish I, 334 From sketch hy Capt. B. F. Conklin. 87. Lookouts at mast-head of menhaden steamer watching for schools of fish I, 338 From sketch by J. S. Ryder. 88. Fleet of menhaden 'steamers en route to fishing grounds on south side of Long Island, N. Y I, 338 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 89. Fleet of menhaden steamers on the fishing grounds ; seining crews at work I, 338 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conkliij. 90. Crew of menhaden steamer surrounding a school with purse-seine I 337-339 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 1)1. Pursing the seine around a school of menhaden I, 337-331) From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 92. Menhaden crew at work ; pursing of the seine nearly completed I, 33'.) From sketch by H. W. Elliott, 1878. 93. School of menhaden surrounded with purse-seine and fish striking the net I, 339 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 94. Bailing menhaden from purse-seine into steamer's hold I, 337, 340 From sketch by J. S. Ryder. 95. Menhaden steamer bailing in the catch I, 340 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 96. Haul-seine fishing for menhaden at Long Island, 1790 to 1850. Setting the seine I, 341, :UK 371 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 97. Haul-seine fishing for menhaden at Long Island, 1790 to 1850. Hauling thes eiue on the heach by horse-power I, 341,308, 371 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 98. Haul-seine fishing for menhaden at Long Island, 1790 to 1850. Taking out the fish I, 341,368, 371 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 99. Menhaden purse and mate boats and two carry-away hoats starting for the fishing grounds I, 334,368 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 100. Menhaden purse and mate boats I, 334,368 FIG. 1. Going down to the fish. FIG. 2. Working to windward of the fish. From sketches by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 101. Purse and mate boats encircling a school of menhaden ; carry away boats in waiting I, 334,368 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 102. Menhaden boats and crew pursing the seine; the fish striking the net I, 334,368 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 103. Menhaden sloops cruising for fish. One of the sloops is for the crew to live on and to tow the seine-boats; the others to carry fish to the factory I, 331,368, 375, 376 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 104. Menhaden sloops and steamers in Gardiner's Bay, Long Island I, 399 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 105. Menhaden carry-away sloops bailing in the catch - I, 376,37? From sketch by Capt B. F. Conklin. 106. Menhaden fishermen signaling to shore-crews the approach of a school of fish I, 367 LIST OF PLATES TO SECTION V. Vol. I'ago. 107. Crew of menhaden schooner, in old style seine-boat, throwing the purse-seine I, 336,338 108. Carry-away boat with haul of menhnden on the way to oil factory I, 373 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 109. Meudadeu steamer discharging its catch at oil and guano factory, Tiverton, K. I I, 337 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 110. Gang of Portuguese in hold of menhaden steamer filling the hoisting tubs I, 337 From photograph by T. "W. Suiillio. 111. Fish pens on top floor of menhaden factory ; the fish are led through a trough to the cooking tanks I, 337 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 113. Menhaden steamer discharging its catch at oil and guano factory. Incline railway to carry Msh to cooking tanks I, 337 From sketch by Capt. B. F. Conklin. 113. Menhaden floating factory. An old vessel fitted as an oil factory and moved from place to place near the fishing grounds I, 345,378 Drawing by H. L. Todd. 114. Slivering menhaden for bait From Report TJ. S. Fish Commission, Part V, 1877. llii. Menhaden oil and guano factory at Milford, Conn.; steamers unloading fish at the wharf: inclino railway to carry fish to cooking tanks on upper floor of factory; oil tanks and storage sheds in foreground; platform for dry ing scrap in rear of factory, connected with building by elevated railway I, 342 From a photograph. (Interiors of oil factories will be illustrated in Section on Preparation of Fishery Products.) THE HERRING FISHERY AND SARDINE INDUSTRY. 116. Herring schooner bound for Wood Island, Maine ; outfit of salt and barrels on deck I, 426 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 117. Herring pinkey bound for the fishing grounds ; nets hangiug over bowsprit and stern ; net dories on deck I, 4'JO From photograph by T. W. SmiUie. 118. Torching at night for spnrliug or small herring in Ipswich Bay, Massachusetts I, 428 From sketch by J. S. Ryder. 111). Torching herring at night near East port, Me I, 429 From photograph by T. W". Smillie. 120. Fishermen mending lierriug gill-nets at House Island, Casco Bay I, 430 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 121. Irish fishermen of Boston picking their herring nets in Gloucester Harbor. The typical " Irish market boat" I, 430 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 122. Cape Ann herriug fishermen landing their gill-nets after a night's fishing I, 430 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 123. Fishermen in quoddy boat hauling herring gill-nets I, 430 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. "W. Collins. THE SMOKED HERRING INDUSTRY. 124. Boat landing; fish houses; herring smoke-house ; fisherman's dwelling and farm I, 470 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 125. Old style herring smoke-house (without roof ventilators) at Lubec, Me I, 476 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 12(>. Herring " horse" loaded with smoked fish on sticks I, 478 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 127. Herring smoke-house at Eastport, Me. ; sinoke ventilators on roof ; sticks of herring inside I, 4&n From photograph by T. W. Smillie. THE SAKDIXK INDUSTRY. 128. Shore herring weir near Easlpnit, Me. ; the common form of brush weir I, 501 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 129. Bar herring weir near Eastport, Me. ; escape of fish prevented by receding tide I, 500 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. LIST Ol'1 PLATES TO SECTION V. XV Vol. Page. 130. Channel herring weir near Eastport, Me. ; controls channel between islands I, 501 From photograph by T. W. Sinillie. 131. Section of ballasted weir near Eastport, Me. ; for rocky bottom I, 502 From photograph hy T. W. Sinillie. 132. Fishing a herring weir at low tide, near Eastport, Me I, 503 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 133. General view of sardine cannery at Eastport, Me I, 508 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 134. View of sardine cannery at low tide, showing the employe's at work I, 508 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 135. Herring boat landing fish at a sardine cannery, Eastport, Me I, 50!) From photograph hy T. W. Smillie. lob'. Sardine steamer for collecting herring and towing weir boats I, 510 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. KIT. Children al sardine cannery cutting oft" the heads and tails and cleaning small herring for can- ning I, .MO From photograph by T. W. Smillie. ]'•'•*. Washing, draining, and flaking herring at sardine cannery, Eastport, Me I, 5)'.! From photograph by T. \V. Smillie. 13SI. Spreading herring on flakes for drying in the sun or in an oven I, fill From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 140. Herring drying on flakes in the sun ; landing, cleaning, washing, &c., at sardine cannery, East- port. Me '. I, 513 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 141. Fish-drying frames on roof at sardine cannery, Eastport, Me I, 512 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 1 1','. Frying room in sardine cannery, East port, Me. ; herring frying in pans of oil I, ,M4 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 143. Packing room at sardine cannery, Eastport, Me. ; packing herring-sardines in tin boxes I, f>lo From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 144. Soldering room at sardine cannery, Eastport, Me. ; solderers sealing the cans I, 51(i From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 145. Bathing room at sardine cannery, Eastport, Me.; bathing vats at the left ; men at right venting cans I, 51? From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 146. Making sard ine cans at Eastport, Me I, 518 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. THE SPANISH MACKEREL FISHERY. 147. Methods of setting Spanish mackerel gill-nets I, 546 FIG. 1. " Straight set." FIG. 2. Circle set. FIG. 3. Crooked set. FIG. 4. "Hook set." FIG. 5. "Tset." FIG. 6. " Square set." FIG. 7. "Triangle set," FIG. 8. " Harpoon set." From Report U. S. Fish Commission, Tart VIII, 1880. 148. Chesapeake Bay Spanish mackerel pound-net I, 548 From Report U. S. Fish Commission, Part VIII, 1880. THE MULLET FISHERY. 1 I'J Camp of mullet fishermen, North Carolina I, 5C2 From a photograph. THE POUND-NET FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC STATES. 150. Diagram of pound-net at Bald Head, Maine. (By Capt. J. W. Collins) I, 598 151. Diagram of pound-net at, Small Point, Maine. (By Capt. J. W. Collins) I, 598 LIST OF PLATES TO SECTION V. Vol. Page. 152. FIG. 1. Diagram of pound-net at Wood's Holl, Mass I, 601 FIG. 2. Diagram of heart or ponnd net as set in Rhode Island I, 604 FIG. 3. Diagram of slat weir at East Dennis, Mas8 I, 599 From Report U. S. Fish Commission, Part II, 1872-'73. 153. FIG. 1. Diagram of pound-net at Waqnoit, Mass I, 601 FIG. 2. Diagram of heart or pound net at Quissett Harl'-r, Massachusetts I, 601 From Report U. S. Fish Commission, Part II, 1872-73. THE RIVER FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC STATES. 154. Fishing with hack and square traps in the Savannah River I, 620 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 155. Shad gill-nets in the Eclisto River, South Carolina I, 623 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 156. Fish-nets in the Pedee River I, 6'J4 From a photograph. 157. A sturgeon camp on Wiuyah Bay, South Carolina ; catching sturgeon in gill-nets; the pound for keeping fish alive ; unhcading ; saving roe for caviare I, 025 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 158. Drag-net fishing in the Neuse River, North Carolina; " footing up the net " I, 628 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 159. Skim-net fishing for shad in the Nense River, North Carolina I, 629 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 1GO. Haul-seine fishing at Sutton Beach, Albemarle Sound, North Carolina ; boating the seine I, 6o<> From a photograph. 161. Haul-seine fishing at Sutton Beach, Albemarle Sound, North Carolina; a large haul of alewives. I, 636 From a photograph. 162. Shad-fishing in Albemarle Sound ; laying out the seine I, 630 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 163. Shad-fishing at night on the Susquehanna River; laying out the gill-net I, 652 From a photograph. 104. Diagram of salmon weirs in PenoLscot River, Maine I, 680 From Report U. S. Fish Commission, Part II, 1872-73. 165. Plan of salmon-net, Peuobscot Bay, Maine I, 682 From Report CT. S. Fish Commission, Part II, 1872-73. 166. Ideal perspective of salmon-net in 1'enobscot Bay, Maine I, 682 From Report U. S. Fish Commission, Part II, 1872-73. 167. Diagram of shad weir, Kennebec River, Maine. (Explanation on page opposite plate) I, 684 Ki8. Bag-net fishing for smelts uuder the ice, Penobscot River, Maiue. (Full explanation on page opposite plate) I, 691 From sketch by C. G. Atkins. • THE PACIFIC COAST SALMON FISHERY. 169. Salmon cannery at Astoria, Oreg. '. I, 745 From a photograph. THE FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES. 170. Kelley's pound-net near Carpenter's Point, Lake Erie, for capture of whitefisb, herring, &c. (For description of parts see plate) I, 758 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 171. Lifting the pot at Kelley's pound-net, Lake Erie I, 760 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 17'J. Green May pound-net oft' Ingersoll's Fishery I, 758 Drawing by L. Kumlien. 173. " Driving the pound." Stake-boat and crr\v nil' Marblehead, Lake Eric, driving stakes for pound- net. At close of season the other end of the same boat pulls the stakes I, 760 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 174. Deck plan of stake-boat. Stake-puller of Lake Erie. (For description of parts see plate) I, 760 175. Pouud-uet at Detroit River I, 758 From sketch liy L. Knmlirn. 17(>. Bailing out the pot of pound-net at Detroit River I, 758 From sketch by L. Kumlien. LIST OF PLATES TO SECTION V. Vol. Page. 177. Camp at South Manitou Island, Lake Michigan. Fishing-boats; gill-nets on reel ; shanty for cleaning fish .- j( 762 From a photograph. 178. Gill-net drying on reel I, 764 From a photograph. 179. Type of fishermen's summer house. Seine shed, tarring-box annexed I, 765 Drawing by H, W. Elliott, 1882. 180. Hauling in herring-seine at Herbert's Fishery, Detroit River. Inclosure for keepingtinh alive.. I, 7C6 Sketch by L. Kumlien. 181. Pond fishery, Detroit River; inclosure for keeping fish alive I, 766 Photograph by U. S. Fish Commission. 182. Overhauling the seine at Grassy Island Fishery, Detroit River . I, 766 Photograph by U. S. Fish Commission. THE WHALE FISHERY. 183. Map of the world on Mercator's projection, showing the extent and distribution of the present and abandoned whaling grounds. (Prepared by A. Howard Clark in 1680) II, 7-23 184. FIG. 1. The sperm whale (Pltyseter macrocephalus'). FIG. 2. The California gray whale (Ehachianectes glaucug). FIG. 3. The North Pacific humpback whale (Meyaptera versabilia). FIG. 4. The sulphur-bottom whale (SibbaMius sulfureus). FIG. 5. The finback or Oregon tinner (Balamoptera velifera). FIG. 6. The Pacific right whale (Eubalaiiia cullamach). FIG. 7. The bowhead whale (I>al(e»a mysticetus). From Report U. S. Fish Commission, 1876. Natural History in Section I of this report. 185. Whaling vessels fitting out at New Bedford wharves II, 232 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 186. Whaling schooner Amelia, of New Bedford, Mass II, 232 Drawing by C. S. Ealeigh. 187. Steam whaling-bark Mary & Helen, of New Bedford, Mass, (afterwards the Rodgers, of the Jean- nette search expedition) IT, 236 Drawing by C. S. Ealeigh. 188. Deck plan and side and interior plan of whaling-schooner Amelia, of New Bedford, Mass. (Ex- planation on page opposite plate) II, 234 Drawings by C. S. Ealeigh. 189. Deck plan and side and interior plan of whaling-bark Alice Knowles, of New Bedford, Mass. (Explanation on page opposite plate) II, 234 Drawings by C. S. Kaleigb. 190. Starboard quarter of a whale-ship, showing the manner of transporting the captain's boat and tho spare boats. (Explanation on page opposite plate) II, 243,244 191. Deck view of whale-boat equipped with apparatus of capture and boat gear. (Explanation on page opposite plate) II, 241,258 Drawing by C. S. Kiileigh. 192. Side and interior plan of wh;ilo-l>oat equipped with npp.arat.iis of capture, &c. (Explanation on page opposite plate) II, 241,258 Drawing by C. S. Ealeigh. 193. Articles of whale-boat gear '. II, 240,25^ FIG. 1. Lantern keg containing matches, bread, &c. FIG. 2. Boat compass. FIG. 3. Water keg. FIG. 4. Piggin for bailing water. FIG. 5. Waif for signaling. FIG. 6. Tub oar crotch. FIG. 7. Double oar-lock. FIG. 8. Large line in line-tub. FIG. 9. Knife to cut line when fonL FIG. 10. Row-lock. FIG. 11. Hatchet to cut line when fonl. FIG. 12. Grapuel to catch line. FIG. 13. Drag or drug to retard whale. FIG. 14. Canvas nipper to protect hands from running lina SEC. V, VOL. II II LIST OF PLATES TO SECTION V. VoL Page. 194. Whalemen's harpoons II, 250 FIG. 1. Improved harpoon or toggle-iron now in general use. FIGS. 2, 3. First form of toggle-iron made by Lewis Temple. FIG. 4. One-flued harpoon with hinged toggle. FlO. 5. One-flued harpoou. FIG. 6. Two-fined harpoon. FIG. 7. Toggle-iron invented by I'rovincctown whaleman; not in use. 195. English harpoons II, 250 FIG. 1. Old-style hand-harpoon ; now little used. Fio. 2. Hand-harpoon in general use about 1857. FIG. 3. Hand-harpoon now in general use on Scotch whalers. Drawings by Capt. William Adams, Dundee, Scotland. 196. FIG. 1. English harpoon-gun and gun-harpoon now in use on Scotch whalers II, 252 FIG. 2. An early form of English whaliug-guu II, 252 FIGS. 3, 4,5. Mason and Cunningham mounting boat-gun; a recent invention. (Explanation with plate) II, 252 ICY. FiG. 1. Pierce and Cunningham darting-gun ; a combined harpoon and lance used largely by Arctic whalemen. (Explanation with plate) II, 254 FIQ. 2. Cunningham and Cogan gun ; length, 33 inches; weight, 27 pounds; used by Arctic steam whalers with bomb lance II, 253 FIG. 3. Brand muzzle-loading whaling-gun and bomb lance II, 253,254, 255 198. FIGS. 1,2,3,4. Pierce boruh-lance. (Explanation on page opposite plate) II, 254,267 FIG. 5. Pierce and Eggers breech-loading gun. (Explanation on page opposite plate j II, 253,^67 199. Whaling rocket. (Explanation on page opposite plate) II, 254 200. Boat fastened to whale by harpoon and line ; killing the whale with bomb lance II, 262,207 From painting by J. S. Ryder. 201. Natives harpooning the beluga, or white whale, at Cook's Inlet, Alaska II, 61 Drawing by H. W. Elliott, 1883. 202. Aleuts planting glass, ohsidian, and jade darts in a school of humpback whales at Akoon Island, Bering Sea II, 61,62 Drawing by H. W. Elliott, 1883. 203. Makah Indians whaling at entrance to Fuca Straits II, 62 Drawing by H. W. Elliott, 1883. 204. Cutting in the bowhead and sperm whales. (Explanation on page opposite plate) II, 277,286 Drawings by Capt. C. M. Scammon and Capt. W. M. Barnes. 205. FIG. 1. Boat spade to stop running whale II, 204 FIG. 2. Narrow cutting spado or thin boat spade II. 'J-l FiG. 3. Flat or round shank spade II, 281 FiG. 4. Cutting spade for scarfing blubber II, 281 FiG. 5. Cutting spade for leaning up II, 2£1 FIG. 6. Half-round spade II, 281 206. Cutting blocks and tackle. (Explanation on page opposite plate) II, 277-281 207. A ship on the north west coast of America cutting in her last right whale II, 277 Drawing by H. W. Elliott from a French litho-^rapb designed by B. Russell, of .New r.i-dford. 208. "Bailing in the case" of a sperm whale II, 277 Drawing by H. W. Elliott from a French lithograph designed by B. Russell, of New Bedford. 209. FiG. 1. Blubber mincing-knife. FIG. 2. Boarding-knife. FIG. 3. Monkey-belt. FIG. 4. Wooden toggle. FIG. 5. Chain-strap. FIG. 6. Throat-chain. FIG. 7. Fin toggle. FIG. 8. Head-strap. FIG. 9. Blubber-hook. 210. Whale-ships at New Bedford wharf; ship hove down for repairs ; oil-casks II, 289,290 From photograph by U. S. Fish Commission. THE BLACKFISH AND PORPOISE FISHERY. 211. Capture of a school of blackfish in Cape Cod Bay II, 295,307 Drawing by H. W. Elliott from a sketch by J. S. Ryder. LIST OF TLATES TO SECTION "V. VoL Page. 212. Indian porpoise hunters of Passamaqnoddy Bay. Canoe, rifle, and lance for capture of porpoise. II, 308 From jihntu^ruph by T. W. Sinillie. 21H. Psssainaciuoddj Hay Indians lancing and securing a porpoise........... II, 308 From photograph by T. W. Suiillie. THE PACIFIC WALRUS FISHERY. 214. Innuits of Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska, surprising and harpooning a herd of walruses II, 313 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 215. The walrus "coup." Eskimo lancing the exhausted walrus, Saint Lawrence Island, Bering Sea. Mahlemut dresses, bidarka, baidar, &c., of Alaska .- II, 313 Drawing by H. W. Kllioit. 216. Iiiunits of Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska, hoisting a walrus II, 313 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 217. Map of Saint Paul's Island, Pribylov Group II, 322 Surveyed and drawn, April, 1S73, to July, 1874, by Henry \V. Elliott 218. Map of Saint George Island, Pribylov Group II, 322 Surveyed and drawn, April, 1873, to July, 1874, by H. W. Elliott -11). Profiles of the east coast of Saint Paul's Island II, 322, IMG Drawing by H. W. Elliott 220. Ordinary attire of nieir on the killing ground and of women and young children in the village. .-II, » 320 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 221. The north shore of Saint Paul's Island, looking W.SW. from the summit of Hutchiusou's Hill.. II, 336 Drawing by H. W. Elliott 222. The North Rookery, looking west to Starry Ateel, Saint George Island, village of Saint George. II, 348 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 223. Natives selecting a " drive." View overhauling grounds of "holluschickie" or bachelor seals at English Bay, looking west from Tolstoi sand-dunes II, 363 Drawing by II. W. Elliott 224. Natives driving the "holluschickie. " The drove passing over the lagoon flats to the killing grounds, under the village hill, Saint Paul's Island II, 363 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 225. The killing gang at work. Method of slaughtering fur-seals on the grounds near the village, Saint Paul's Island II, 365 Drawing by H. W. Elliott 226. Preparing fur-seal- ski us for shipment II, 369 FIG. 1. Interior of salt-house, Saint Paul's Island ; natives salting and assorting the pelts. FIG. 2. The flensed carcass of a fur-seal and the skin as taken therefrom. FIG. 3. A bundle of skins ready for shipment. THE ANTARCTIC SEA-ELEPHANT FISHERY. 227. Sketch map of Herd's Island. Antarctic Ocean. Lat. 53° 10' S., Long. 73° 30' E II, 419 228. Working sea-elephants at northeast point, Herd's Island II, 419, 435 Drawing by H. "W. Elliott after Capt. H. C. Chester. 229. Stripping sea-elephant blubber and rolling it in barrels to try-works ; southwest beach, Herd's Island II, 419,435 Drawing by H. W. Elliott after Capt. H. C. Chester. THE SEA-LION HUNT ON PRIBYLOV ISLANDS, ALASKA. 230. Natives capturing the sea-lion ; springing the alarm n, 468 Drawing by H. W. Elliott, 1873. 231. Shooting the old males; spearing the surround; the drive II 468,469, 471 Drawing by H. W. Elliott, 1872. 232. Natives corraling sea-lions at the Barrabora, under Cross Hill, northeast point Saint Paul's Island II, 469 Drawing by H. W. Elliott 233. Oil-pouches of sea-lion stomach; seal meat frame; bidarrah covered with sea-lion skins; sealer's houses II, 471,473 Drawing by H. W. Elliott XX LIST OF PLATES TO SECTION V. THE SEA-OTTER FISHERY OF ALASKA. Vol. Page. 234. Aleuts sea-otter hunting south of Saanak Island ; the bidarkies waiting for the otter to rise again II, 490 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. THE TURTLE FISHERY. 235. Diving for loggerhead turtle; Morehead City, N. C II, 495 Drawing by H. W. Elliott, 1883. THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 236. Oyster dredging steamer at work in Long Island Sound II, 523,535 237. Chesapeake Bay oyster dredges II, 523 From specimens iu H. S. National Museum. 238. Oyster tongs and nippers II, 551 •J.!'.i. FIG. 1. lut-Iosed dock for oyster vessels at Perth Ainboy, N. J II, 546 FIG. 2. "The Creek" at Key port, N. J., with oyster boats, skiffs, and scows II, 546 Drawings by Ernest IngersolL 240. A Lake's Bay shipping-house and " platform " for freshening oysters, Smith's Landing, Lake's Bay, New Jersey II, 546 Drawing by Ernest IngersolL 241. Oyster-bar*ges at foot of West Tenth street, North River, New York City II, 555 Drawing by Ernest Ingersoll. 242. Opening or shucking oysters in Baltimore packing-house II, 560 From a photograph. 243. Baltimore oyster-shucking trough. Oyster knives of diverse patterns, used in New England, New York, and the Chesapeake region II, 559 THE CLAM INDUSTRY. 211. Clam-diggers' boats and shncking-honses at Esses, Mass II, 585 From photograph by T. "W. Suiiliie. 245. Opening or shucking clams at Essex, Mass II, 565 From photograph by T. W. Siuillie. THE CRAB FISHERY. 246. Negroes trawling for crabs on the Virginia and North Carolina coasts II, 633 Drawing by H. W. Elliott THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 247. Dory fishermen hauling lobster pots off Cape Ann, Massachusetts II, 686, 677, 773 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. 248. Lobster fishing-boats of Bristol, Me II, 669,677, 759 Drawing by H. W. Elliott and Capt. J. W. Collins. 249. Lobster Cove at Lanesville, Cape Ann, Massachusetts, showing fishermen's boat-houses and gear. II, 666, 773 From photograph by T. W. Smillin. •jr.O. Summer village of lobster fishermen at No Man's Land, Massachusetts II, 781 Drawing by H. W. Elliott, 1882. 251. Lobster fishermen's gear at No Man's Land, Massachusetts. (Explanation on plate) II, 665,672, 781 Drawing by H. W. Elliott. 252. Lobster-boiling apparatus at Portland, Me II, 684 From photograph by T. W. Smillie. THE FLORIDA SPONGE INDUSTRY. 253. Sponges as lauded by the fishermen at Key West, Fla., and ready for sale II, 826 From a photograph. 254. Sponge-loft at Key West, Fla II, 828 From a photograph. 255. Sorting, trimming, and baling sponges at Key West, Fla II, 828 PART XV. THE WHALE-FISHERY. 1.— HISTORY AND PRESENT CONDITION OP THE FISHERY. By A. HOWARD CLARK. 1 . General review, a. Whaling-grounds. 3. Early history of boat-whaling in New England. 4. Boat-whaling during the presmt century. 5. Development of the sperm-whale li.ihery. (i. Development of the North Pacific and Arctic whale- fisherv. 7. History of the American whale-fishery from 1750 to 1815. 8. The whale-fishery of Provincetown. 9. .Statistical review of the American whale-fishery. 10. List of whaling voyages from 1870 to I860. 11. Review of whale-fishery by foreign nations. 2.— THE WHALEMEN, VESSELS, APPARATUS, AND METHODS OF THE FISHERY. By JAMES TEMPLEMAN BROWN. 1. The whalemen. 2. Whaling vessels. 3. The whale-boat. 4. Apparatus of capture. 5. Methods of capture. 6. The products and their preparation. 7. Homeward passage and arrival. 8. The whalemen's share or lay. SEO. v, VOL. n- THE WHALE-FISHERY 1.— HISTORY AND PRESENT CONDITION OF THE FISHERY By A. HOWARD CLARK. 1. GENERAL EEVIEW. THE WHALING FLEET. — The American whale-fishery in 1880 employed one hundred and seventy -one vessels, aggregating 38,63:;. MS tons, and valued with outfits at $2,891,650. Additional capital, aggregating $1,733,000, was invested in wharves, store-houses, and oil refineries. The- number of men employed on the vessels was 4,198 and in shore whaling about 250. The largest vessel was the steam bark Belvidere. 440.12 tons, and the smallest one employed in ocean whaling was the schooner Union, 66.22 tons. Most of the schooners and the smaller vessels of other classes were employed in Atlantic Ocean whaling, while the liirgest and best equipped craft were in the Pacific and Arctic fleets. The distribution was as follows : Five vessels in Hudson Bay, one hun- dred and eleven in the North and South Atlantic, twenty-five in Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, twenty-two in the Pacific Ocean, and eight hauled up at home ports. The greater number of vessels belonged in Massachusetts, one hundred and twenty three hailing from New Bedford, twenty from Provincetown, seven from Edgartown, six from Boston, two from Westport, two from Million, and one from Dartmouth. New London, Conn., owned five vessels and five hailed from San Francisco. Cal. The interest of San Francisco in the whale- fishery cannot be measured by the number of vessels owned there, for almost the entire North Pa. ific and Arctic fleets are accustomed t<> make that place a fitting port and the headquarters for reshipment of nil and bone to the Atlantic sea-board. The Provincetoun fleet was composed almost entirely of schooners employed in Atlantic Ocean whaling. The whaling grounds of Hudson Kay and Davis Strait are favorite resorts for New London whalemen, while New Bedford vessels are scattered over all the seas. Besides the vessel fishery then- is a boat or shore whaling industry, which at times is quite profitable. The principal stations are on the California coast and are manned mostly by Portu- guese. On the coasts of Washington Territory and Alaska whales are taken by the Indians and Kskimos. The only points on the Atlantic coast where boat-whaling is carried on are at Prov- ineetown and one or two places in North C.'aiolina; at Provincetown the business in some years is of considerable importance, as in 188(1, when 4S \\hales were taken, yielding 29,925 gallons of oil, and 8,750 pounds of bone. The principal species taken at the Atlantic stations is the fin bacfc 4 HISTOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. whale, and on the California coast the gray whale. Neither 6f these species yields bone of great value and both furnish but a limited quantity of oil. Humpback, sulphur-bottom, and right whales are occasionally captured at the California and Alaskan stations, but seldom on the Atlantic coast. THE PRODUCTS.— The products of the fishery in 1880 were valued at $2,323,943, and included 37,614 barrels of sperm oil and 34,626 barrels of whale oil ; 458,400 pounds of whalebone, worth $907,049, and $5,465 worth of ambergris and walrus ivory. The Pacific-Arctic grounds were the most productive, yielding oil and bone worth $1,249,990. From Atlantic Ocean grounds oil and bone were taken worth $908,771. The principal products of the whale-fishery are oil and bone, the former obtained from the blubber and the latter from the jaws of the animal. The minor products are ambergris from sperm whales and guano and glue made from bones and other refuse matter. Oil as it conies from the animal is classed as sperm oil and whale oil, the former being derived exclusively from sperm whales, and the latter from the right whale and other varieties, as also from blackfish and porpoise. Walrus oil, taken by the northern fleet, is also generally classed as whale oil. Sperm oil is worth about double the value of other whale oil. Northern whale oil is slightly higher than southern oil and blackfish higher than either. From sperm oil is made refined oils for lubricating, and spermaceti used chiefly for candles. The jaws of blackfish and porpoise yield a very superior oil, employed for lubricating watches and clocks. Crude or unrefined sperm oil is little used, though about half the entire production of ordinary whale oil is used in a crude state in the manufacture of cordage. The oil is prepared at the refineries and sent to market under various trade names, as Spring- mal-e natural. Spring-make bteached, Natural winter, Bleached winter, and Double-bleached winter. These names indicate the grades of oil and the processes of refining. The results of refining sperm oil are three or more grades of oil and two qualities of spermaceti. From whale oil are pro- duced several grades of oil, whale-foots, which is a tallow-like substance, and oil soap used by scourers. The refining of whale oils is carried on almost exclusively at New Bedford, which port is practically the headquarters 'of the American whaling industry. When the business was extensive there were several large refineries in active operation, but for some years past three establishments have been enough to care for the entire production.* The process of refining varies according to the kind of oil, yet in some essentials the methods are alike for all. When landed from the vessels the oil is in wooden casks, varying in size from a few gallons to a hogshead or more in capacity. If not sold at once to the refiners it is stored on the wharves or in sheds, being covered with seaweed and boards to protect the barrels from leakage by exposure to the sun. It sometimes remains in this condition for many months or even years. At the refinery the oil is drained into vats and the casks rinsed out with hot oil, recoopered, and made ready for another cruise, or sold to be sent to Africa for shipping palm oil. In the refining process the oil is first heated, when pieces of blubber and foreign matter settle, and the clear oil is again put in casks to be packed in ice pits and subjected to the freezing process, which partially congeals or granulates it. The next step in the refining is to strain the oil through woolen cloths to separate the foots, and it is then put in cotton bags, and submitted to heavy pressure, which further separates the oil from the solid matter, leaving in the bags, if sperm oil, spermaceti, which is further heated and refined, or in the case of whale oil leaving whale-foots, extens' ;vly used by tanners for softening leather. The various grades of oil are obtained by further heating and pressing, and by the admixture of chemicals to clarify or bleach it. * Refineries have recently (1885) been established at San Francisco, Cal. THE WHALE FISHERY. 5 Sperm oil is used chiefly as a lubricator, for which purpose it is unsurpassed. Whale oil is employed in niaiiy industries, but chiefly by tanners iu the preparation of leathers. Blackflsh oil is specially good in preparing morocco. Whale oil, mixed with black lead and paraffine oil, is used for lubricating car axles and wheels. Spermaceti is used in medicine, in laundries, and for other minor purposes, but is used chiefly for the manufacture of caudles ; a patent candle of superior quality is made from paraffine and spermaceti mixed. Whalebone requires comparatively little preparation to fit it for use by whip-makers, dress- makers, and numerous other tradesmen. It is received from the vessels in bundles of slabs vary- ing from a foot to 15 feet iu length. These slabs are scraped, steamed, cut, and split into suitable sizes for use. The whalebone workers of the United States recognize five varieties of bone ; (1) Arctic, from the Bowhead or Polar whale; this is the largest bone, and is used principally in the manufacture of whips and dress bone ; (2) Northwest, which is the heaviest bone, and is used for whips and canes; (3) South Sea, which is lint' and short, used for whips and dress bone; (4) Humpback, short and black, specially suitable for corsets ; (5) Finback, short and coarse, used for corsets. Some slabs of bone have longitudinal streaks of white or light yellow. The white portion is of greater value than the black, and is thought by the workers to be caused by disease. Ambergris, when pure, is worth more than its weight in gold. It is used in the preparation of fine perfumery, having the property of thoroughly and permanently uniting the ingredients. It is found in the intestines of the sperm whale, and is a very uncertain article. Many whalers have cruised the seas for years and never found an ounce, while fortunate ones hare secured a hundred pounds or more of the precious substance iu a single year. It is supposed to be a product of a disease in the animal similar to indigestion. This theory of its origin is supported by the fact that particles of cuttle-fish, the chief food of the sperm whale, are often found in the ambergris, and the location of the substance in the intestines also supports this theory. In 1858 a New Bedford vessel secured GOO pounds of ambergris, worth $10,500; in 1878 the Adeline Gibbs, of New Bedford, brought home 136 pounds that sold for $23,000. The total quantity received from the American whaling fleet from 1836 to 1880 was 1,667| pounds. A full discussion of ambergris and the manner of obtaining it, is given in the section of this report treating of the Preparation of Fishery Products. DECLINE OF THE FISHERY.— Starbuck, in 1877, thus discussed the causes of the decline of the whale-fishery : "On the 1st of January, 1877, the entire fleet was reduced to 112 ships and barks, and 51 brigs and schooners, having a total capacity of 37,828 tons.* " It will be well to see to what causes this decline is attributable. Many circumstances have operated to bring this about. The alternate stimulus and rebuff which the fishery received as a short supply and good prices led to additions to the fleet and an overstock and decline in values, were natural, and in themselves probably formed no positive impediment. The increase in popu- lation would have caused an increase in comsumption beyond the power of the fishery to supply, for even at the necessarily high prices people would have had light. But other things occurred. The expense of procuring oil was yearly increasing, when the oil-wells of Pennsylvania were opened, and a source of illumination opened at once plentiful, cheap, and good. Its dangerous qualities at first greatly checked its general use, but these removed, it entered into active, relentless com- petition with whale oil, and it proved the more powerful of the antagonistic forces. * The lowest ebb was reached on the 1st of January, 1875, when the fleet consisted of 119 ships and barks, and 44 brigs and schooners, with a capacity of 37,733 tons. 6 lll«TOi;V AM) METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. "The length of voyages increased from two years for a cargo of sperm and from nine to fifteen mouths for a cargo of whale oil to four years to till the latter, while the former was practically abandoned as a separate business* after it became necessary to make voyages of four, five, and even six years, and then seldom return \\ith a full cargo. As a matter of necessity the fitting of ships became far more expensive, a rivalry in the furnishing adding perhaps considerably to the outlay. Vessels were obliged to refit each season at the various islands in the Pacific, usually at the port of Honolulu when passing in its vicinity, and the bills drawn upon the owners on these occasions were so enormous as to call forth loud and frequent complaints; and in later years the only available western fishery was in the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans, where, disasters were the rule and immunity from them the exception, thereby incurring, when the vessels were not lost, heavy bill for repairs, besides the ordinary ones of refitting. ••Again, during the later days of whaling, more particularly immediately after the discovery of the gold mines in California, desertions from the ships were numerous and often causeless, generally in such numbers as to seriously cripple the efficiency of the ship. In this way large numbers of voyages were broken up and hundreds of thousands of dollars were sunk by the owners. During a portion of the time many ships were fired by their refractory and mutinous crews, some of them completely destroyed, others damaged in amounts varying from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Crews would apparently ship simply as a cheap manner of reaching the gold mines, and a ship's company often embraced among its number desperadoes from various nations, fit for any rascality which might best serve them to attain their end. They took no interest in the voyage, nor cared aught for the profit or loss that might accrue to the owners. In order to recruit, it became necessary, particularly during the ten years next succeeding the opening of the gold mines, to offer heavy advance-wages, and too often these were paid to a set of bounty -jumpers, as such men were termed in the Army during the late war, who only waited the time when the ship made another port to clandestinely dissolve connection with her and hold themselves in readiness for the next ship. Unquestionably there were times when men were forced to desert to save their lives from the impositions and severity of brutal captains, but such cases were undoubtedly very rare. Formerly the crews were composed almost wholly of Americans, but latterly they were largely made up of Portuguese shipped at the Azores, a mongrel set shipped anywhere along the western coast of South America, and Kanakas shipped at the Pacific islands. There were times, when the California fever was at its highest, that the desertions did not stop with the men, but officers and even captains seemed to vie with the crew in defrauding the men from whose hands they had received the property to hold in charge and increase in value. "Another source of loss was, strangely enough, to be found in the course of the consular agents sent out by our Government to protect the interests of our whalemen. Many and bitter were the complaints at the extortionate charges and percentages demanded by many of these men.t "As another important source of the decline in this business must be regarded the scarcity and shyness of whales. Prior to the year 1830 a ship with a capacity for 2,000 barrels would cruise in the Pacific Ocean and return in two years with a cargo of sperm -oil. The same ship might go to Delago or Woolwich Bay and fill with whale-oil in about fifteen mouths, or to the coast of * Always excepting, of course, Atlantic whalers. Sperm-whaling in th'e Atlantic has always been pursued by the bulk of the Provincetowu vessels and by quite a ileet of schooners ami brigs from other ports. There isan occasional revival of this pursuit in larger vessels at intervals of a few years, at present some of the most successful voyages being made by ships and barks cruising for sperm whales in this oc< tin many cases justice (f) semis to U:i\ v been meted more in accordance -with the requirements of the income of our representatives than witb ihose of ab^traet. right, and it lias happened that the case of an arbitrary, cruel cap- tain against, Mime unfortunately weak and impecunious sailor has l>rm decided on the time-honored (among barba- rians) maxims that "might makes right," and "the king can do no wrong." THE WHALE FISHERY. 7 Brazil and return hi iiine mouths full of the oil peculiar to the whales of those seas; but, as has been previously remarked, this has all changed, and the length of the voyage has become entirely disproportioned to the quantity of oil returned. "Briefly, then, this is the case. Whaling as a business has declined: 1st, from the scarcity and shyness of whales, requiring longer and more expensive voyages; 2d, extravagance in fitting out and refitting; 3d, the character of the men engaged ; 4th, the introduction of coal oils. "Of late years sperm-whaling in the Atlantic Ocean has been revived with some success, but the persistency with which any Held is followed up makes its yield at least but temporary. It may perhaps be a question worthy of serious consideration whether it is policy for the United States Government to introduce the use of coal oils into its light-house and similar departments, to replace the sperm oil now furnished from our whaling ports, and thus still further hasten the ultimate abandonment of a pursuit upon the resources of which it draws so heavily in the day of its trouble,* or whether this market — the only aid asked from the Government — may still continue at the expense of a few dollars more per year."t 2. WHALING-GROUNDS.:): DISTRIBUTION OF WHALES. — A whale-ship leaving her home port mans her mast-head as soon as she leaves soundings, and from that time is in constant hope of seeing whales. There are certain portions of the ocean where whales abound, and many large tracts where vessels rarely make a stop; still it is not unusual even in the more barren spaces to hear from aloft the welcome cry "there she blows." Many of the grounds where vessels were formerly very successful are now entirely abandoned and others are but seldom visited. There are now no sperm whalers from the United States on the Indian Ocean or North Pacific grounds, and very few cruising in the West Pacific Ocean, but nearly all of the vessels at present engaged in this branch of the fishery resort to the grounds in the North and South Atlantic and the eastern part of the South Pacific Oceans. At an early period in the development of the whale fishery there was little difficulty in securing a cargo in a short time. Whales were abundant near shore and in very many parts of the ocean. They were taken in great numbers by the Dutch and by the English at Spitzbergen and off the east coast of Greenland, upon grounds that have not been frequented for many years.§ Later they were abundant in Davis Strait, where they were pursued by a considerable fleet of vessels. They are still taken there in limited numbers by a fleet of about a dozen Scotch steamers. Toward the close of the last century began the discovery of prolific grounds for right whales in the South Atlantic, and of the famous South Pacific sperui and right whale grounds. In the present century important fields have been discovered in the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans, * The London Mercantile Gazette, of October 22, 1852, said: "The number of American ships engaged in the Southern whale-fishery alone would of themselves be nearly sufficient to man any ordinary fleet of ships-of-war which that country might require to send to sea." Instances are not wanting, indeed, where whalemen have under- taken yeoman's service for their country. Thus, in November, 1846, Captain Simmons, of the Magnolia, and Capt. John S. Barker, of the Edward, both of New Bedford, hearing that the garrison at San Jos6, Lower California, was in imminent danger, landed their crews and marched to its relief. Nor were their good services toward foreign gov- ernments in peace less houorable to the country than in war, for when the Government buildings at Honolulu were burning some years ago, and entire and disastrous destruction threatened, American whalemen rushed to the rescue and quenched the flames, already beyond the control of the natives. During the rebellion, of 5,956 naval officers, Massachusetts furnished 1,226, Maine 449, Connecticut 264, New Hampshire 175, Rhode Island 102, and Vermont 81. t Report U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries for 1875-'76. {Special acknowledgments are duo Capt. H. W. Seabury, of New Bedford, Mass., and Capt. William M. Barnes, of Nashua, N. H., for information on this subject. $ The east coast of Greenland has recently again become a cruising ground for the whalers of Norway and Scotland. 8 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. among which are the Japan, Northwest, arid Okhotsk grounds, now well nigh abandoned. The Arctic grounds north of Bering Strait were first visited in 1848 by the Superior, under Captain Eoys, and these grounds have since been by far the most important for the production of whale, bone and a superior quality of whale oil. RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF VARIOUS GROUNDS. — The relative importance of the various oceans to the whale-fishery during recent years is shown by the following facts: Of the sperin oil taken by the American whaling fleet from 1870 to 1880, 55 per cent, was from the North and South Atlantic grounds; 33 per cent, from the Pacific; and 12 per cent, from the Indian Ocean. Of the whale oil taken during the same period, 58 per cent, was by the North Pacific fleet from the region north of the fiftieth parallel, including the Arctic, Okhotsk, and Bering Seas; 24 per cent, by vessels cruising in the North and South Atlantic; 10 per cent, from the Pacific grounds; 5 per cent, from the Indian Ocean ; and .'1 per cent, from Hudson Bay, Cumberland Inlet, and Davis Strait. Of the whalebone .secured in ihe .same time 88 per cent, was by the North Pacific fleet; 5 percent, by the Hudson Bay and Cumberland Inlet fleet; 4 per cent, from the North and South Atlantic grounds ; and 3 per cent, about equally divided between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The num- ber o! !'vo\;i ^es commenced by United Star.es vessels from 1870 to 1880 was 810, which includes the A\. ;ie whalers annually relit! ing- at San Francisco and other ports. Of these voyages, 382 were ,-, ;he North and South Atlantic, 254 to the Arctic, Okhotsk, and adjacent grounds, 98 to the Pacific, 45 to the Indian Ocean, and 31 to Hudson Bay and Cumberland Inlet. («) SPEEM-WHALE GROUNDS. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SPERM WHALES. — The sperm whale is very widely distrib- uted in the oceans of the temperate and the tropical zones. They have been taken as far south as 56° south latitude iu the Atlantic and in the Pacific, and as far north as 56° 12' in the North. Pacific. Early authors mention them as numerous on the coast of Greenland, but Beale* says that, they are seldom or never seen there by recent navigators. They are generally taken off soundings, though they are sometimes abundant in comparatively shallow water, especially along the edge of the ocean banks. Within the limits included between 30° north and 30° south latitude they are generally of smaller size than in higher latitudes. There are certain cruising-grouuds especially frequented by vessels in search of sperm whales, and these will be described in order beginning with those in the Atlantic Ocean, proceeding then to the Pacific and Indian Ocean grounds. The Atlantic grounds, from which more than half the entire production of sperm oil is taken, are visited by both large and small vessels, the latter cruising chiefly north of the equator and remaining out about nine months, while the former make voyages lasting one, two, or even three years, cruising over various parts of the North and South Atlantic and sending oil home from the Azores, St. Helena, and other convenient ports. Vessels visiting the Pacific and Indian Oceans are usually barks and ships, and fit out for long voyages. NORTH ATLANTIC GROUNDS.— Profitable sperm whaling has been found in the Caribbean Sea, off Chagres, Blauquilla, and in other parts of the sea ; in the Gulf of Mexico, particularly in latitude 28° to 29° north, longitude 89° to 90° west ; in various parts of the West India seas, especially iu the Mona Passage and off the coasts of Cuba, Porto Rico, and St. Domingo, north of the Bahama Islands, in latitude 28° to 29° north, longitude 79° west; on the " Charleston Ground," iu latitude 29° to 32° north, longitude 74° to 77° west, and on the " Hatteras Grounds," extend - * BKALE, THOMAS: Natural History of the Syerrn Whale, London, 1836, p. 88. He says that sperm whales are found from 60° uorth to 60° south latitude. THE WHALE FISHERY. 9 ing along the edge of the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras.* Vessels cruise on the more southern of the above grounds during the winter mouths and early spring, and work north and east as the season advances. Their next resorts, after leaving the Charleston Ground, are in latitude 36° north, longitude 74° west ; latitude 32° north, longitude 68° west ; latitude 28° to 33° north, longitude 48° to 57° west, and from latitude 33° to 45° north, longitude 50° to the east of the Azores.t Among the favorite resorts in the North Atlantic are the "Two Forties" aud "Two Thirty- sixes," the former being in latitude 40° north, longitude 40° west, and the latter in latitude 36° north, longitude 36° west. Vessels cruise here throughout the summer and fall months and often into December. The whales taken are of all sizes. Ships of late years have cruised from lati- tude 43° to 46° north, longitude 25° to 32° west, also from latitude 48° to 50° north, longitude 21° to 24° west; and on the "Commodore Morris Grounds,"}: in latitude 52° to 54° north, longi- tude 23° to 25° west. Sperm whales are often seen and taken near the Azores. Good cruising places, known as the " Western Grounds," are situated in latitude 28° to 37° north, longitude 40° to 52° west. Another resort is the " Steen Ground," in latitude 31° to 36° north, longitude 21C to 24° west, where vessels cruise from August to November. Sperm whales are sometimes found quite numerous along the southern coast of Portugal and Spain from Cape St. Vincent to the Straits of Gibraltar; also near the southern side of the island of Tenerifle; north and west of the Cape Verde Islands during the winter months; from latitude 10° to 14° north, longitude 35° to to 40° west in March. April, and May, and in latitude 5° to 7° north, longitude 18° to 20° west, during the winter season. Good whaling has also been found in the Gulf of Guinea near the Island Fernando Po; also on the " Cornell Ground," in latitude 5° to 9° north, longitude 22° to 27° west.§ SOUTH ATLANTIC GROUNDS. — On the west side of the South Atlantic, sperm whale grounds were formerly found on and near the Carabellas banks in latitude 17° to 19° south from the coast of Brazil to longitude 35° west ; also in about latitude 23° south, longitude 39° to 42° west. The smaller class of vessels cruised on these grounds, capturing mostly large bull whales, while large * " Iu IS:;?," says Captain Atwood, of Proviucetown, "the 'Edward and Rienzi'was bought for blackfisbing, and went on the ground south of the George's Bank and towards Cape Hatteras. No whaling vessels had ever been there before, and she found sperm whales abundant, and since that time the ' Hatteras Ground' and the ' Charleston Ground ' farther south, have been favorite cruising places for the Provincetovvn fleet." t On the northern edge of the Grand Banks and the Gulf Stream where the Labrador current meets the Stream, making an eddy and a strong current, sperm whales were reported in the months of September, October, and November. The geographical position of this spot, as given by Messrs. Swift & Allen, of New Bedford, is latitude 41° to 48° N., and longitude 45° to 50° W. Care should' be taken to keep a medium temperature of water. — J. T. BROWN. I This ground was first visited by the American fleet about the year 1859 and was then called the Camilla Ground, after the bark Camilla. It has been cruised upon by many of the best vessels of the sperm-whale fleet. § Captain Tripp, of the bark Pioneer, makes the following condensed report of a cruise for sperm whales in 1873 and 187 1 mainly in the North Atlantic. On July 12 he found sperm whales in latitude 38° 05' N., longitude 67° 45' W., aud on the 30th killed a large whale in latitude 35° 45' N., longitude 45° 50' W. August 4 he again saw sperm whales in latitude 35° '27' N., longi- tude 4.V 1C' W. On the 27th took a large one in latitude 34° 37' N., longitude 39° 41', W., and found them on the 31st in latitude 34° 37' N. and longitude 39° 41' W. On September 12 he killed two whales iu latitude 35° N. and longi- tude 39° 50' W. He crossed the equator, but again worked to the northward and finished his cruise. On March 'J9 he killed two whales in latitude 13° 58' N., longitude 37° 28' W., and another on April 28 in latitude 13° 20' N. and longitude 44° 25' W. Sperm whales were seen on the 1st, 2d, 3d, aud 4th of May in the latitudes of 13° 36', 13° 34', 13° 28', and 13° 22', and in the longitudes of 44° 51', 44° 34', 44- 24', aud 44° 20", respectively, but no catches were made ; on the 5th he killed four whales in latitude 13° 28', longitude 44° 28'; two on the 8th iu latitude 13° 18' and longitude 44° 49'; three on the 10th iu latitude 13° 08', longitude 44° 'J.V, and four on the 12th in latitude 13° 56', and longitude 45° 22'. On the )3th sperm whales were seen iu latitude 13° 08' and longitude 45° 14', but none were killed. From that time on he had "greasy luck." On the 19th he killed three whales in latitude 13° 06', longitude 46° 25'. One was killed July 21 iu latitude 34° and longitude 44° 12' ; two on August 1 in latitude 34° 45' ; one on the 10th in latitude 34° 13', longitude 40° 17' ; two on the 20th in latitude 31° 26', longitude 50°, and one large one on the 25th in latitude 31° and longitude 50°. He cruised in this locality fourteen months and obtained 1,100 barrels of sperm oil.— J. T. BROWN. 10 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. vessels tbuud good whaling on the '-River La Plate Ground" extending from latitude 30° to 40° south, and from 30 to 250 miles off-shore. The season here was from September to May, and the whales taken were of all sizes. A few vessels continue to cruise on all these grounds, meeting with moderate success. Large whales have also been found quite plenty in latitude 45° to 47° south, longitude 00° to 60° west, where ships cruise from November to May. Passing across to the east side of the ocean we find good whaling grounds along the coast of Africa, also around the islands of Ascension and St. Helena. The principal resorts are in latitudes 4° to 23° south, longitude 9° to 10° west; around St. Helena; latitude 34° south, longitude 0° to 7° west ; also a few degre es east of the meridian iu the same latitude; and on the "Carroll Ground" iu latitude 32° south, longitude 7° east. The time for cruising on the more southern of the above grounds is from September to May, and farther north during the whole year. SOUTH PACIFIC GROUNDS. — Sperm whales are often seen off Cape Horn, and it is the opinion of most whalers that they pass from one ocean to the other in their migrations. Captain Seabury writes that he has himself on two occasions taken large sperm whales within sight of land off this cape. The grounds in the Pacific have been exceedingly profitable. From the time of their dis- covery in 1788, by Nan tucket whalemen in an English whale ship, dates the great prosperity of the sperm-whale fishery which reached its climax in the year 1837. One of the most important and extensive grounds in the South Pacific lies off the coast of Chili, extending from latitude 35° to 40° south, and from the coast 200 miles off shore. Within these limits there are some specially favorable spots, as around the island of Huafo, near the south end of Chiloe Island, off Mocha Island, and off the port of Talcahuano. Around the islands of Juan Fernandez and Masafuero, and from these islands to longitude 00° west, are good grounds. Ships cruise here and farther south from September to May, and sometimes throughout the year, find- ing mostly large whales. Passing farther north we come next to the Archer Ground, which lies in latitude 17° to 20' south, longitude 84° to 90° west, where ships cruise throughout the year, capturing large whales. From the Archer Ground, all along the coast to Panama Bay, in latitude 8° north, from the shore to 90° west longitude, many sperm whales have been taken. Along the coast from latitude 12° to 18° south, also from latitude 10° to 14° south, longitude 80° to 911° west, were formerly noted cruising places. The latter is called the "Callao Ground," and is still visited by a few ships that cruise throughout the year, taking medium sized bull whales, yielding from 40 to GO barrels of oil each. One of the most important grounds iu the South Pacific extends from latitude 5° south to 2° north, and from the coast of Peru to longitude 93° west, embracing the Galapagos Islands. " Most of the whales found here," says Captain Seabury, "are cows and calves, though occasionally a large bull whale is captured. The large whale is quite often found 3 or 4 miles from the school of small ones. After striking > of a school the o;hers sometimes slop around the fast whale. which is called 'bringing to' or ' brought to,' when each of the lour boats may fasten to a whale. More frequently the rest start off after the first boat strikes and are pursued by the boats,." Many ships have cruised on the Offshore Ground, extending from latitude 3° 30' to 5° 30' south, and from longitude 100° to 120° west. The season here lasts during the whole year, and the whales taken are of all sizes, though the majority are young bulls. These whales go in schools, and the larger the size of whale the, smaller is the number. This ground was discovered in the year 1818 by Capt. George, \V. (larduer iu the ship Globe, of Nantucket. The whalers had been cruising along the coast of South America when Captain Gardner concluded to find new THE WIIALK FISHERY. 11 fields, and in his search he cruised over the ground extending from latitude 5° to 10° south, and from longitude 105° to 125° west, where whales were found in great numbers. This new field was christened the li Offshore Ground," and continues to this day a favorite resort of 1'anlic whalers. On a belt of ocean from latitude 2° north to 2° south and extending across the Pacific from the west coast, of South America, large numbers of sperm whales have been taken, especially from longitude 110° to 130° west, and also around Jarvis Island and the King's Mill Group. The whales taken near the equator are generally of the smaller kind. Vessels have cruised with some success around the Marquesas Islands, Low and Societies, Navigator's Islands, the Fiji group, and around New Zealand and Australia. The most noted part of the New Zealand Ground is 20 miles southeast and southwest from French Rock, which lies in about latitude 31° 30' south, lougitiule 179° west. Other resorts included on the New Zea- land Ground are on the Vasques Ground, iu latitude 36° south, longitude 165° west ; from lati- tude 36° to 38° south, longitude 104° to 166° west ; around the Three Kings, in latitude 32° south, longitude 170° to 175° east; 40 to 80- miles off shore east-northeast from Mouganui and east-southeast from Cape Bret; around Stewart's Island, the Snares, and Chatham Islands. Sperm whales have sometimes been found abundant all around New Zealand. Large schools of great sperm whales abounded here more than on any other whaling ground. Captain Seabury says that " several ships often get into a school of these whales at one time, each vessel taking one or more whales that yield 100 barrels of oil. The season for cruising at the extreme south is in the summer months, or from September to April, and on the northern ground vessels cruise throughout the year. Hurricanes are sometimes encountered off the Navigator's Islands and French Rock, so that only the best of vessels are sent there." Sperm whales were once abundant all the way across from New Zealand to Australia, and around Tasmania ; also along the shores of Australia, and near Wreck Reef, around New Ireland, the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Kermadec Islands, New Caledonia, and New Georgia. Banker Bay, New Ireland, was a noted place. NORTH PACIFIC GROUNDS. — The most important ground in the North Pacific for many years was off the coast of Japan, first visited by whaling vessels in 1820. Around the Bonin Islands, in latitude 27° north, longitude 140° west, was also a noted ground. Vessels cruised all the way from latitude 2S° to 32° north, and longitude 165° west to 165° east. The Japan Ground included the region from the coast of Japan southeast to Bonin Islands, across to 165° west longitude. The season was from May to November, during which time great quantities of oil were frequently taken. The whales were mostly large bulls, and many of them very old. as was shown by their teeth. Capt. William M. Barnes, formerly of New Bedford^, writes : ''There is now (1881) not a single sperm whaler in the North Pacific Ocean, and in certain parts of.it, as on the old Japan Ground, the Arctic cruisers in crossing ha ve lately seen sperm whales in increasing numbers." During the winter season in the northern hemisphere the Arctic whalers occasionally spend a few months among the islands of the Western Pacific, but otherwise these large grounds are now seldom resorted to by whalemen. In many cases the sperm whalers find it difficult to fill their casks with sperm oil, and so assist in making up their cargo by spending a few mouths in " humpbackiug." Sperm-whaling was formerly carried on with good success around the Ladrone Islands, also in the Sooloo or Mindora Seas, and around the East India Islands, where ships continued to cruise until within about three years. The whales were generally very small, and mostly cows with calves. A great deal of calm weather and strong currents are found around these islands and seas. 12 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. We corne now to the grounds on the eastern side of the North Pacific. In former years many ships cruised around Cape San Lucas,.near the Gulf of California, and along the coast of Lower California from 10 to 50 miles off shore. Whales of large size were taken here in the winter months by vessels that had spent the summer on the Japan Ground. Around the Maria Islands, near San Bias, on the Mexican coast, whales were quite often found ; also in the Bay of Panama from the coast to 90° west longitude, and farther west in the ocean from latitude 4° to 8° north, longitude 100° to 110° west. In the vicinity of Owhyhee and other parts of the Sandwich Islands vessels met with fair success. INDIAN OCEAN GROUNDS. — The principal resorts of vessels in this ocean were off' Port Dauphin and around Madagascar in the Mozambique Channel ; around the islands of Mauritius and Bourbon and the island of Roderique ; around the Amirante Group, and Seychelle and Comore Islands ; off Zanzibar and along the east coast of Africa to the Red Sea; off the island Socotra; along the Arabian coast ; around the Laccadive Islands and the island of Ceylon. Other resorts are along the west and south coasts of Australia, especially in the vicinity of Cape Leeuwiu and off Shark's Bay, on the ground extending from latitude 20° to 23° south, longitude 107° to 110° east. From March to July ships cruise several degrees off shore to the west of Australia and from October to May near the land. The number of American whaling vessels visiting the Indian Ocean has .been gradually diminishing for several years, and in 18SO not a single vessel from the United States went there for sperm oil. A fleet of about eleven sail of vessels, belonging at Tasmania, is engaged mostly in sperm whaling, and some years they meet with good success. SPEEM- WHALE GROUNDS IN 1840. — The principal grounds visited by sperm whalers about the time of the greatest prosperity in this fishery are thus described by Commander Wilkes, of the United States Exploring Expedition : " The following embraces all the different grounds in the Pacific visited by our whalers : " (1) The on-shore ground; that includes the whole extent of ocean along the coast of Chili and Peru from the island of Juan Fernandez to the Galapagos Islands. " (2) The off-shore ground ; being the space between latitude 5° and 10° south, longitude 90° and 120° west. " (3) In the neighborhood of the Hawaiian Islands. " (4) In the neighborhood of the Society Islands. " (5) In the neighborhood of the Samoan Group. "(6 In the neighborhood of the Fiji Group. " (7) In the neighborhood of the King's Mill Group. " (8) Along and to the south of the equator, from the coast of South America to the King's Mill Group. " (9) Across the South Pacific, between the parallels of 21° and 27° south. " (10) Across the North Pacific, between the parallels of 27° and 3.5° north. "(11) In the neighborhood of the east coast of New Zealand. <;(12) In the middle ground between New Holland and New Zealand. " (13) The coast of Japan, and between it and Bonin Islands. '•(14) The northwest coast of America. " (15) Coast of California. "These, it will be seen, embrace a large field, and it might be supposed that a ship could hardly miss finding the animals. Such, however, is not the case. A vessel may visit all these places, and yet return home a ' clean ship,' if she happened to be out of season. It appears from experience that whales, in their migrations congregate in the above-named places at certain times THE WHALE FISHERY. 13 of the year, and those who are acquainted with the business endeavor to be early on the cruising grounds. I shall now point out the times, according to the best information, at which the whales visit the several grounds, and, although not a whaler, I hope to £ive such information as may be useful to this class of my countrymen. " For convenience of description, the cruising-grounds may be considered as included within four sections or belts. " These belts are from 20 to 25 degrees of latitude iu width. " The first of which I speak is that between the equator and the northern tropic ; the second, between the tropic and 50° north ; the third, between the equator and the southern tropic and latitude 50° south. " Within the tropics whales are almost always to be met with. There are, however, particular places within this zone where they chiefly congregate. Whales are found iu the first belt on the north side of the equator, to the southward of the Sandwich Islands, and thence westward as far as the Mulgrave Islands, for the greater part of the year ; but the only spot or space they are known to abound in at any particular season, within this belt is to the westward of the Galapa- gos; they pass and repass over the rest of this space in their migrations, and may generally be found near to or around the small islands. " In the second belt they range from the coast of Japan to the northwest coast of America and California; this they frequent from May till November. In the month of July they are found off the Boniu Islands, and between them and the coast of Japan. They frequent the space lying to the north- ward of the Hawaiian Islands, and comprehended between the parallels of 28° and 35° north ; and within the meridians of 145° and 156° west, from June to October ; and resort to the northwest coast of America in August and September, and to that of California in November and January. " The third belt comprises the ocean from the coast of South America to the King's Mill Group, including the Marquesas, Society, and Friendly Islands, the Samoan and Fiji Groups. Within these are spaces known as the on-shore and off-shore grounds. The latter the whalers frequent from November to February, and along this belt they are found until the mouths of July and Au- gust, by which time they reach the King's Mill and Fiji Groups. There are, however, stragglers to be met with in this space during all seasons. "The fourth belt extends from the southern tropic to the latitude of 50° south. The most profitable time for cruising within it is in the months of March, April, and May, to the eastward of New Zealand. After that date, along and between the parallels of 22° and 28° south, from the coast of New Holland to that of South America. The portion of sea between New Holland and New Zealand is called the 'middle ground,' and is frequently found very profitable. "From an examination of the particular localities iu which whales are found most at certain seasons, and connecting these with my own observations on currents, I am induced to believe the places of their resort will point more correctly to the neutral points or spaces of no current, than any other data that we yet possess. "These must necessarily become the rendezvous, or feeding-places, of these animals. The determination of these points will, therefore, throw additional light on the systems of currents iu the ocean, by pointing out the neutral spaces. The chief resort of whales will be seen on the map at one view ; and when these are connected with the currents shown to exist by the observations of the expedition and others, they will be found to correspond in a remarkable manner with the neutral spaces. " I have myself paid much attention to acquiring information in relation to the position of these grounds from the masters of whale-ships, but have usually found their reports at variance 14 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. one with another, and they have sometimes differed as much as 5 degrees in assigning their limits. Their position, no doubt, varies much in different years ; but even this will not explain all the discrepancies of the statements. t " If we examine the seasons of the appearance of whales at certain islands, they will generally be found to be between the beginning and the end of the summer of the climate, during which time animal life is most prolific, and the food of the whale consequently abounds near the par- ticular group. I have frequently been told, and it is generally believed, that whales are partial to warmth, and frequent few places outside the tropics. This, if true, would be singular enough; but the main reason for their frequenting the summer seas at particular seasons is the procure- ment of food, which is there to be found in greater abundance ; and there appears to be little doubt that iu migrating these animals move with the currents until they find their food in plenty, and then continue in such locality until it is exhausted. "A number of instances are known, * * in which, at certain seasons, strong currents have been experienced iu places where three months afterward they were found to have ceased altogether, or even to have changed their direction. I have now particular reference to the northwest coast. "Having pointed out the different belts iu the Pacific, I will now refer to the localities in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans where the sperm-whale fishery is most successful. " These, in like manner, are found to correspond, and are connected with the obstructions of the submarine currents, or the places where, from opposing currents, they become lost. " In the Atlantic Ocean : (1) Off the Azores or Western Islands ; (2) off the Cape de Verdes; (3) north of Bahama Banks ; (4) Gulf of Mexico; (5) Caribbean Sea; (G) to the eastward of the Windward Islands ; (7) north coast of Brazil ; (8) south coast of Brazil ; (9) Carrol Ground, or a space of ocean lying between St. Helena and Africa. " In the Indian Ocean : (1) Off the south end of Madagascar, and between it and Africa ; (2) off the north end of Madagascar; (3) the coast of Arabia; (4) west coast of Java; (5) northwest coast of New Holland ; (6) south coast of New Holland, and between it and Van Diemen's Land. " The periods of time allotted to these fisheries coincide with the time at which it might be expected that the food of the whale would be most plentiful if brought by the polar streams. "The Atlantic fishery is, for the most part, carried on in a smaller class of vessels than those used iu the Pacific ; the voyages are of less duration, and less capital is therefore required in this business than the other. In speaking of the cruisiug-grounds, I shall follow the order in which they are visited. " The first in point of time is that near the Azores. This ground does not extend more than 200 miles from these islands, and lies principally to the southwest of them. Here whales are found during the summer mouths, and as late as October. These islands, it will be well to remark here, lie in the route of the great north polar stream, and form an obstruction to its passage; consequently the food is arrested iu its progress, and is accumulated here. " The next ground visited is off Cape Blanco and the Cape de Verdes, and it is also searched by the outward-bound ships of the Pacific fleet. The whalers of the Atlantic next pass to the north coast of Brazil, in the months of October, November, and December, aud thence to the Brazil Bank, and off the mouths of the Rio de la Plata, where they fish in January aud February ; after this they .seek Saint Helena aud Carrol Ground, which lies from 50 to 200 miles south of that island, toward the Cape of Good Hope. On the latter ground they remain during the, mouths of .March, April, and May; and thence they pass to the westward along the South American coast, to the eastward of the Windward Islands; thence to the Bahama Banks, Cape Hatteras, and along the coast of the United States, home. THE WHALE FISHERY. 15 "The smaller class of whalers seldom extend their cruising to the south of the line, but after they have visited the first two whaling-grounds they usually pass to the westward toward the island of Fernando de Noronha, and thence along the South American coast until they reach the Windward Islands. They frequent the Caribbean Sea in the months of January and Feb- ruary, and farther to the. westward off the peninsula of Yucatan and Cuba in April ; after which time they proceed through the Gulf of Mexico to cruise off the Bahama Banks and Cape Hatteras in May. Thence they pass northward, on either side of the Gulf Stream, to the eastern side of the Grand Banks. " In the Indian Ocean, the south part of Madagascar, off Point Dauphin, is visited in March and April ; in May, June, and July the ground off the southwest coast of Madagascar, in the Mozambique Channel, and upon, both sides of that channel. The whalers usually recruit iu Saint Augustine's Bay, where supplies are to be had in abundance, and both wood and water are easily procured. After this they usually spend some time off Cape Corrientes. with the cape and head- lauds on either side, and visit the Comoro Isles. Sperm whales are frequently found in numbers among these islands, and ships usually do well in their vicinity. The African coast, from Mozam- bique to Zanzibar, is good ground, and the latter is also a good port for repairing. " Some ships extend their cruising during the northeast monsoon, from October to April, to the Arabian coast, but the African is generally preferred. The Chagos Archipelago at times affords some success, but it is very doubtful ground, and has not often been frequented. The proper season is during the southwest monsoon. " The most profitable ground iu the Indian Ocean is the west and northwest coast of New Holland, as far eastward as the islands of Timor, Lomboch, and Angier, and westward to the Keeling Islands, including the coast of Java. ********** " It wilt be perceived how nearly these grounds coincide with the places wherein, according to the views already stated, the polar streams are obstructed by land or islands, so as either to interrupt their course or create such an impediment as to change it. " The Sooloo Sea is the only place that remains to be noticed. American ships, however, have seldom gone thither, but English vessels are reported as having met with much success there."* (b) EIGHT-WHALE GROUNDS. GEOGRAPHICAL, DISTRIBUTION OF RIGHT WHALES. — The right whale (Eubalcena) is found in various parts of the world as far north as latitude 61° 30', at the mouth of Hudson Strait, and south to the Antarctic Ocean, though it is rare in the warmest latitudes. This whale, of which there are several species in the different oceans, must not be confounded with the bow-head, or polar whale, which is called right whale by many whalemen, though quite distinct from it and inhabiting much colder waters, the bow-head being an ice whale and the right a temperate whale. The principal right-whaling grounds east of America are in the South Atlantic, while in the Pacific Ocean they are of about equal importance both north and south of the tropics. NORTH ATLANTIC GROUNDS. — The North Atlantic grounds for this species are few iu num- ber. They are taken during the summer mouths off the southern end of Greenland and to a limited extent in the lower part of Davis Strait, near Resolution Island. Along the eastern coast of the United States they are occasionally captured by shore, whalemen, especially at the whaling stations in North Carolina. During the winter mouths whalers find them on the Hatteras " Narrative of Wilkes's U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. v. ] 6 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. Ground, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Caribbean Sea. A few small vessels have cruised with indifferent success for right whales along the west coast of Africa, in latitude 15° north, and in Center Bay, about latitude 23° north. At no particular place in the North Atlantic are they now abundant, though they were formerly taken in great numbers close to the New England shore, and eastward of the Newfoundland fishing-banks. SOUTH ATLANTIC GROUNDS. — The most noted grounds for right whales at the commencement of the right- whale fishery iu the last century were off the coasts of Brazil and of Patagonia, on what were called the "Brazil," or " Main," and " False Banks," and especially between the thirty-sixth and the fifty-fifth parallels from the coast to 30° west longitude. The most important spots were on and about the above banks and from latitude 38° to 45° south, and longitude 38° to 45° west. Right whales were also quite abundant in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands, which were first visited by our whalemen in 1774; near the Tristan Islands, between latitude 28° to 42° south, and from the meridian to 20° west longitude, was called the "Tristan Ground," and was a favorite cruising place. Good whaling was also found from latitude 34° to 43° south and longitude 24° to 28° west. Other important grounds were along the west coast of Africa from latitude 22° to 32° south, or to the Cape of Good Hope. Ships met with great success on the South Atlantic grounds for many years, and it was not an uncommon occurrence for vessels of from l/iOO to 2,500 barrels capacity to fill up and return home from the South Atlantic in one season, making the voyage in from seven to ten months. The grounds more particularly visited at the present day in this ocean are around the Tristan Islands in latitude 36° to 38° south, longitude 10° to 25° west, from September to January; on the east coast of South America in latitude 30° to 35° south, from May to August ; and from September to June along the coast of Patagonia in latitude 42° to r<2° south. The whales caught are of the regular right-whale species, the bull when full grown yielding from 40 to 60 barrels of oil and the cow from 60 to 80 barrels, or about 60 barrels on an average. The whalebone aver- ages about 300 pounds to 100 barrels oil in the bull, and 400 to 600 pounds to 100 barrels oil in the cow whale. INDIAN OCEAN AND SOUTH PACIFIC GROUNDS. — We now pass the Cape of Good Hope to the right- whale grounds in the Indian Ocean, all of which are at present entirely abandoned by the Americans. On many parts of the ocean lying between the parallels of 20° to 50° south, and from longitude 18° to 80° east, right whales were found abundant in former years, and a few ships continued to cruise there up to 1879, though most of the whales have been killed or driven from the ground. The most important places within these limits of latitude and longitude were at Delago Bay, in latitude 26° south, longitude 32° east ; east of Cape of Good Hope, in latitude 35° to 38° south, longitude 30° to 35° east ; around the Crozette Islands, in latitude 45° to 47° south, and longitude 49° to 52° east ; in the vicinity of St. Paul's Island, in latitude 32° to 38° south, longitude 70° to 80° east; and near Kerguelen Island, in latitude 48° to 50° south, longi- tude 69° to 700 West. The season for cruising in the Indian Ocean is the same as in the South Atlantic. The best mouths for whaling offshore are from September to May, and when inshore more whales are taken in the winter months, when they can be found around the islands, near the rocks, and among the kelp or seaweed. The whales in this ocean are smaller than those taken in the South Atlantic, averaging 40 barrels of oil and 240 pounds of bone for the bull, and for the cow whale 60 barrels of oil and 360 pounds of bone, or 600 pounds of bone to 100 barrels of oil. In former years right whales were found quite plenty on the west and south coasts of Australia, especially at Cape Leeuwin, Geographe Bay, and King George Sound. They were also taken THE WHALE FISHERY. 17 around Van Diemen's Land, or Tasmania, which place, for the past ten years, has employed a fleet of eleven vessels, principally in the sperm-whale fishery in this vicinity. In the year 1872 nineteen vessels, measuring 4,017 tons, belonged at Tasmania, and produced 112 barrels of whale oil and 2,712 barrels of sperm oil. The vicinily of New Zealand was once an important right- whaling ground, and is still occa- sionally visited by vessels, that meet with moderate success, taking both right and sperm whales. The grounds are both inshore and offshore ; the most noted of those offshore, from October to March, are from latitude 38° to 48° south, and longitude 154° to 162° east. Commencing the season to the north, vessels work south with the whales. Around the Auckland Islands and in the vicinity of Stewart's Island, from the laud to 100 miles offshore, are good cruising grounds; also from 36° to 45° south latitude, and KJIP east to 160° west longitude. Right whales were takeu in abundance off the coast of Chili about forty years ago, and a few vessels still cruise in that vicinity, making mixed voyages for sperm and whale oil. The season is from September 1 to January 1, on the grounds from latitude 42° to 47° south, and longitude 75° to 80° west. After the beginning of the year vessels work along shore toward the north as far as latitude 35° south, occasionally anchoring in the bays and cruising back and forth between the thirty-fifth and the fortieth parallels until 'May. The most noted grounds are Concepcion and St. Vincent bays, near the port of Talcahnaua, where they formerly caught their whales and tried out their oil while at anchor, sometimes taking 1,000 barrels of oil in a month. Some vessels used to winter in these bays, though they were not very successful in the winter months. NORTH PACIFIC GROTTNDS. — One of the principal cruising places for right whales in this ocean is that known as the "Northwest coast right- whale ground," or the "Kadiak ground," situated near an island of that name off the Aliaska peninsula, and extending from latitude 50° to GO0 north, and longitude 130° to 160° west. The best portion of this ground lies between latitude 55° to 58° north, and longitude 140° to 152° east, and the most profitable cruising season is from April to October. The first whaling vessel to cruise here was the ship Ganges, of Nan- tucket, commanded by Capt. Barzillar Folger. This was in the year 1835, from which time until within a few years past the Kadiak was the most important ground north of the Japan ground. The whales taken on this ground average about 125 barrels of oil each, the male or bull making from 60 to 100 barrels, and the cow whale from 100 to 250 barrels. The bone will average about 1,000 pounds to 100 barrels of oil, and is much longer than the South Sea bone. A full-grown whale here has about two hundred slabs of bone, varying in length from 1 foot to 11 feet. Some ot these whales, though apparently good when taken, prove to be " dry skins," making no oil, and many of them sink after being killed. The blubber varies in thickness on different parts of the body, being from 5 to 15 inches on a 100-barrel whale, and on a 200-barrel from 5 to 18 inches. The lips, from which oil is also taken, sometimes yield from 8 to 10 barrels. Right whales are found and have been captured around the Fox Islands and in Bristol Bay north of the Aliaska peninsula. In Bering Sea, along the coast of Kamchatka, there is good right whaling ; also at the entrance to Okhotsk Sea, and in the southern part of that sea during the months of April and Jlay. They are also taken in the Japan and the Yellow Seas. "In former years," says Scammou, "the right whales were found on the coast of Oregon, and ocea- sionly in large numbers ; the few frequenting the coast of California are supposed to have been merely stragglers from their northern haunts. Some, indeed, have, been taken (from February to April) as far south as the Bay of San Sebastian Viscaino, and about Cerros Island, both places being near tin- parallel of 29° north latitude."* * Marine Mammalia, ji. Wi. SEC. v, VOL. ii 2 |g HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHEE1ES. (C) BOWHEAD-WHALE GROUNDS. GEOGRAPHICAL DisTinr.rrioN OF BOWHEAD WHALES.— The bowhead or polar whale is the spi-Hes ibnucrly taken in great numbers by the Dutch and English whalers at Spitzbergen, •Greeuliind. nnd Davis Strait. It is the whale captured by the American fleet in the Arctic Ocean, and is the most valuable of the right or whalebone whales both for the quantity and for the quality of its oil and for the length and the thickness of its baleen. In the English whale fishery it is not distinguished from the right whale, but is not the same us the species commonly known to American whalemen under that name, The American right whale lives in more temperate waters, while the polar or bowhead whale inhabits only the icy regions of the northern seas. The home of the bowhead is in must of 1 he waters north of the sixtieth parallel of north latitude. It is found in lower latitudes on the Asiatic than on the Greenland side of America, being taken in the Okhotsk Sea as far south as the fifty-fourth parallel and in the Bering Sea as far south as the fifty-fifth parallel, which is the southern limit of the winter ice in that sea. In the Greenland Arctic the bowhead is not found south of Cape Farewell on the sixtieth parallel. The northern limit of this whale is undefined. TLe capture of the bowhead whale began at Spitzbergen in the early part of the seventeenth century; it soon extended to the east coast of Greenland, and early in the eighteenth century they were taken in Davis Strait and adjoining waters. It was not until the year 1848 that the whalers pushed their way through Bering Strait and established the very profitable fishery for this species in the Pacific-Arctic. The principal grounds visited by the whaling vessels of the United States in search of the bowhead are as follows: ATLANTIC-ARCTIC GROUNDS. — Off Cape Farewell, at the southern end of Greenland, from June to August; also in Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay, especially in the vicinity of South- hampton Island and near Cape Fullerton, that lies in about latitude 64° north, and longitude 86° west. The vessels are accustomed to work through the ice in Hudson Strait about the middle of July, arriving in the bay about August 1, and if intending to return home the same year they leave the bay by the 1st of September. Many of them go into winter quarters about Sep- tember 15, and spend the winter in the ice, taking advantage of the early and the late appearance of the whales, as also occasionally capturing seals or walrus in the winter months. In Davis Strait the vessels cruise near Northumberland Inlet in about latitude 65° north, and longitude 68° west. Cumberland Inlet has also been a favorite resort for whaling vessels of the smaller class, and they frequently winter there. Eesolution Island, at the entrance to Cumber- laud Inlet, is a good ground for both bowhead and right whales during April and May. The whales taken in these bays and inlets in former years would average about 120 barrels of oil each, the bull 100 barrels, and the cow 140 barrels ; but of late years they have been smaller and scarcer. The yield of bone is usually about 1,300 pounds to 100 barrels of oil. American vessels at present cruise no farther north than the sixty-fifth parallel, though the Scotch steam-whalers, that carry their blubber home to be boiled out, frequently take their whales as far north as the seventy-fifth parallel. The American vessels formerly went as far as Pond's Bay, in about latitude 73° north. A further discussion of the movements of the Scotch whalers is given below under the head of Foreign Whale Fishery. In the seventeenth and eighteenth and first part of the nineteenth centuries there were very profitable whaling grounds for the bowhead in the vicinity of Spitzbergen and off the east coast THE WHALE FISHERY. 19 of Greenland, where extensive fisheries were curried on by the European nations. These grounds were not visited by vessels of the United States until within the past thirty years, and then only in a lew instances. The first American whaler sailing for Spitzbergen Sea was the ship Han- nibal, Captain Kovee, that left New London May '21, 18.3.3, and returned March 21, 1856, with only twenty eight barrels of whale-oil. A second attempt was the, voyage of the bark Tempest, Captain Allyn, that left New London May HI, 1857. Captain Allyn states that he had under- taken this voyage to the Spitsbergen regions by the advice of Hon. Thomas W. Williams, a successful whaling agent, who furnished him with Scoresby's journals and information obtained by correspondence with whaling agents in Scotland, setting forth the frequent appearance of whales in the region of ocean north of Knssia. During the month of July these seas were cruised over by the Tempest, but, "although we sought diligently for whales," says Captain Allyn, "our search was totally unsuccessful, and on the 9th of August we concluded to proceed to a more congenial climate."* The vessel then cruised clown through the North and South Atlantic Oceans, round Cape of Good Hope, on to New Zealand, and thence to the Okhotsk Sea, and after cruising with moderate success for two or three seasons in these waters returned to New London in 1861. In 1865 a third attempt was made to establish an American fishery in these seas, this time at Iceland by the bark Reindeer, of New York, principally for sulphur-bottom whales. The first year's work was unsuccessful, and the second season resulted in such little profit that the project was abandoned. Tbese three voyages are the only ones, so far as known, that have been made by American whaling vessels to the oceans east of Greenland or north ot Europe. The Eussians and Norwegians carry on profitable whale fisheries, mostly for the fin-back, at one or two points along the coasts of Norway and Fiurnark. One of these stations is on an island in Varangar Fiord, opposite Wadso, in Fiumark. In recent years a few Norwegian vessels have visited Spitzbergeu in search of whales, as in the season of 1873, when six vessels, with fifty-seven men, were frozen in the ice at the island, and seventeen of the men perished before assistance reached them. PACIFIC-ARCTIC GROUNDS. — The fleet of whaling vessels cruising north of 50° north latitude in the waters between the Asiatic and the American coasts is called the North Pacific fleet. It has been the most important branch of the American right-whaling fleet since 1835, when the famous Kadiak ground, lying between latitude ,3

f> whales. "The principal herding places of the bowheads in the Okhotsk," says Scammou, "were at the extremities of this great sheet of water, the most northern being the Northeast Gulf (Gulf of Ghijigha), the most southern Tehauter Bay. The whales did not make their appearance in Northeast Gulf so soon as iu the bay. Whalers endeavored, as soon as possible, to get to the head of Tehauter Bay, where they found the objects of pursuit in the intermediate water, between the ice and the shore, long before the main body of the congealed mass was broken up, and before the ships could get between the ice aud the shore, even at high tide, the boats being sent forward weeks previous to the ships. Soon after the ships' arrival the whales avoided their pursuers by going under the main body of ice, situated in the middle of the bay, where they found breathing- holes among the floes. The boats cruised about the edge of the barrier, watching for them to emerge from their covert, which occasionally they did, when chase was instantly given. Fre- quently, in sailing along this ice-field, yon could hear distinctly the sound of whales blowing among it, where no water was visible at the point whence the sound came. The first of the season, before the ice broke up and disappeared, when there were no whales about, the question was frequently asked, 'Where are the whales?' and as often answered, 'They are in the ice'; and, 'When do you think they will come out?' was answered by, ' When the ice leaves.' It has been established lieyond question that this species pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or rather, if we may be allowed the expression, from the Atlantic Arctic to the Pacific Arctic, by the north ; and, too, it is equally certain that numerous air-holes always exist in the ice that covers the Arctic waters, even in the coldest latitudes. These fissures are caused by the rise and fall of the tides, and con- traction and expansion of the ice. Storms acting upon the water hundreds of miles distant also have their influence in rending asunder the icy fetters of those frozen seas. It appears to us not improbable that the bowhead has a feeding and breeding ground iu a polar sea. And as they have never been seen during the winter months in any other quarter of the globe, except as before mentioned, it would appear that they nmst remain among the rough water and broken ice, at the southern edge of the winter barrier, or migrate to some remote sea unknown to man." * The whaling vessels enter the Okhotsk as soon as the ice leaves, which is usually about the last of May, though sometimes it is as late as July. Having anchored the vessel in a convenient bay or inlet, the boats are sent out in search of the whales, and the animals, after being captured, are sometimes towed ashore and cut up there, the blubber being rafted off td*"the vessel. This mode is made necessary from the fact that the boats may be absent several days or even weeks, and be quite a distance from their vessel. The difficulties incident to whaling in the Okhotsk are told by Captain Scammon in his history of the whale-fishery. The whales found here during recent years have been much smaller than those taken at the beginning of the fishery, when the largest sometimes yielded 250 barrels of oil each, and the smallest about 80 barrels. The cow whales gave the most oil, averaging about 130 barrels, and the bulls about 90 barrels, the yield of bone being about 1,500 pounds to TOO barrels of oil. The M-ason closes in the Okhotsk about the .ION : lljiriue Mammalia, y. 59. THIO WHALE KISIIKKY. 21 latter part of October, though vessels sometimes continue musing throughout November at great risk from the ice, and they have occasionally wintered in the ice in order to take advantage of the late and early seasons. Ships that cruise in the Arctic Ocean generally arrive in the Kamchatka and the Anadyr Seas about the beginning of May, and continue cruising south of Bering Strait until the ice per- mits them to pass through the .Strait into the Arctic, which is usually about the first of June. Before entering the Strait a considerable number of whales are sometimes taken in the bays and gulfs along the Siberian coast and about St. Lawrence Island. Captain Barnes, in the bark Sea Breeze, of New Bedford, in the. season of 1S77, passed the. Aleutian chain on May 4, and three days after came up to the ice in latitude f>(P 30' north. Until May -',', the ice was skirted toward the westward, and frequent iuell'ectual attempts were made to penetrate it. Laud was sighted on the iMth, l-'.JO miles west -sout Invest from Cape Xavarin, and on that day the ice was entered. On June 18, whales were seen off Cape Chaplin. The. whales usually pass through the Strait about the beginning of June, and are followed up by the vessels that cruise along the western side of the Arctic during the, first part of the season, while waiting for the ice to open NO that they may pass to the eastward to 1'oint Barrow. This time of waiting usually lasts from the middle of June till the 1st of August, and is called the "summer season" or ''between seasons." It is spent princi- pally in capturing walrus which herd on the ice floes in immense numbers in the vicinity of Cape Serdze-Kameu. During specially favorable 4; summer seasons,1' as that of 1880, many whales are taken, and little time is spent in wall-using, but these weeks are usually quiet ones with the fleet, the killing of walrus being considered a pastime by the whalemen. As soon as the ice will permit, at, the beginning of August, the fleet follows up through the openings, capturing whales wherever they can be found. Most of the vessels reach Point Barrow by the middle of August, and begin to push farther to the eastward, creeping along the edge of the ice or entering the openings in search of their prey. Some of the vessels in the season of 1877 went as far east as Return Beef, and early in September they had all returned to Point Barrow. From this time until the ice begins to close tip the fleet cruises back and forth westward of Point Barrow, reaching some seasons as high as the seventy-second parallel, which is about the most northern cruising ground in the Arct ic. The period from the middle of August until about October 1, when the fleer leaves the ocean, is the real Arctic season, and an exciting one it is. Ships quite often anchor along the shores in thick weather, as also to " cut in" the whales, or to "try out" the oil. Most of the ships leave the sea about the 1st of October, though sometimes they stay later, at the risk of being caught in the new ice. "The general breaking up of the ice in this region," says Captain Hooper, ••commences in May or June in the vicinity of Bering Strait, and continues until the first part of .September, after which time new ice begins to form, although the sea is not entirely close. 1 for some weeks later. The heavy j;ales keep the larger floes in motion, and prevent them from unit ing in one mass. After October 1 the water is so chilled that a general closing up of the sea is likely to occur at any time. Formerly the whale-ships did not remain in the Arctic later than the middle < mber. but as whales grew scarce they prolonged their stay each year, until last year (ls7'.h they did not leave until after the middle of October. This resulted in the loss of three vessels and two entire crews; a fourth vessel, the bark Helen Mar, Captain Bauldry, barely escaped, bringing with her the crew of the bark Mercury, one of the lost vessels. Her escape was effected by carrying all sail with a strong, fair wind, and forcing a passage through the new ice, which was so t hick that at times her headway was entirely lost until a strong puff of wind started her again. In this way the vessel worked on a few miles each day, reaching Bering Strait about the 1st of November."* * Corwin's Cruise, 1880. 22 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. (d) nTJMPBACK-TVHAI/E GROUNDS. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OP HUMPBACK WHALES. — Humpback whales (Negaptera) are found within the parallels of C0° north and 70° south latitude. They are seldom seen far from laud, but me generally caught in mild climates, within certain bays and along coasts where the water is shallow. The most noted places lor taking them in the Atlantic Ocean are in the vicinity of the Island of Trinidad and in the Gulf of Para, irom 10° to 11° north latitude, and 01° to 63° west longitude, also around Cape Verde Islands during the winter months, and on the coast of Africa from 3° north to 7° south latitude from June to October. " Some, of the Provmcetowu whalers,'' sa\ s Captain Atwood, " prosecute both the humpback and the sperm whale fishery. They sail from port about the middle or last of January and go direct to the West Indies, where they whale near the shores of these islands for humpbacks. Their whaling-ground for this species is from Tobago, latitude 11° 20' north, longitude 60° 27' west, thence northward around the shores of the islands as far as the Island of Mariegulante, in latitude 15° 52' north, longitude Cl° 18' west. These vessels stop there until the latter part of April or early in May, when they leave for the Western, Charleston, or Hatteras grounds in pur- suit of sperm whales, and usually return home in September. Another favorite ground is around the Cape Verde Islands, where these vessels cruise near the shore for the humpback during the winter mouths and then go north to the sperm whale grounds." In 1879 humpback whales were abundant on the coast of Maine. One of the most successful whalers out of Provincetown that season was the Brilliant, an old pink-stern schooner of 17 tons, which hunted this species off Deer Isle, Maine. Up to October 1 she had taken four whales, yield- ing one hundred and fifty-five barrels. The Brilliant carried but one whale-boat, and tried out the oil on shore, towing in the whales as they were killed. Capt. J. W. Collins reports that on May 17, 1877, when in latitude 44° 16' north, longitude 58° 59' west, he noticed an unusual number of whales and porpoises. " There were more humpback whales than I had even before seen in that locality ; appeared to be entirely fearless of the vessel; played around her all day, sometimes coming up alongside within 15 or 20 feet, their heads out of water 10 or 12 feet. At other times they would lie on top of the water and lash it into snowy foam with their long, flexible fins." In the Pacific Ocean humpbacks are taken all along the coast of Ecuador and Colombia, from Guayaquil to the Bay of Panama and on reefs around the islands of the Friendly Group, also occasionally around the New Hebrides and the Fiji Group. They are also found in considerable abundance around the Rosemary Islands, on the northwest coast of Australia, and around Bramp- tou Shoals. The liesi -rounds on the South American coast are in the Gulf of Guayaquil, which lies in about latitude o° south, and from here along the shore to the north as far as 3° north lati- tude, off the villages of Tacaroes and Esmaraldas, in Ecuador. Ships occasionally anchor and send out their boat for the whales, that must- as a rule be killed in shoal water, as most of them sink and must be hauled up. The season for whaling ou this coast is from February to August, beginning at Esmaraldas in February, and working along south until, in June, the whales appear at the Gulf of Guayaquil, and continue until August. The season ou the Australian coast and around the Western Pacific group of islands begins about the 1st of June and continues into November and December. Humpback whales are taken along the coast of California at the shore-whaling stations, especially at Moniei-ey Bay. They are also seen and captured at Magdaleua and Balenas Bays. In many bays and around islands in the Alaskan territory and the Aleutian Islands they are taken by the Indians atid the Eskimos. THE WHALE FISHERY. 23 Captain Scammon records the following observations on this species of whale : " In the years is.li! ami 1853 large numbers of humpbacks resorted to the Gulf of Guayaquil, coast of Peru, to calve, aud the height of the season was during I lie months of July and August. The same may be said of the gulfs aud bays situated near the corresponding latitudes north of the equator; still, instances are not infrequent when cows and their calves have been seen at all other seasons of the year about the same coast. In the Bay of Valle de llanderas, coast of Mexico (latitude 20° 30'), in the month of December, we saw numbers of humpbacks, with calves but a few days old. In May, 1855, at Magdalena. Ray, coast of Lower California (about latitude 24° 30'), we found them in like numbers, some with very large calves, while others were very small. The season at Tongataboo (one of the Friendly Islands, latitude 21° south, longitude 174° west), according to Captain Beckermau, includes August and September. Here the females were usually large, yielding an average of 40 barrels of oil, including the entrail fat, which amounted to about 6 barrels. The largest whale taken at this point during the season of 1871 produced 73 barrels, and she was adjudged to be 75 feet in length." * In the year 1872 humpback whaling was successfully prosecuted at Panama Bay; Harper's and Tonga Islands; Chesterfield Shoals; coast of Africa; West Indies; Crozet and Desolation Islands. The last two islands have been visited more especially for the capture of right whales and sea elephants, though humpback whales were taken here aud in other parts of the Indian Ocean. (e) FINBACK, SULPHUR-BOTTOM, AND OTHER WHALING GROUNDS. SULPHUR-BOTTOM WHALES. — The finback and the sulphur-bottom whales are found in most parts of the different oceans and in some places are very numerous. The sulphur-bottom is the largest whale known, varying from 60 to 100 feet or more. It is, like the finback, exceedingly swift in its movements, aud can be captured only by the whalingrocket or the bomb-gun. Captain Seabury states that "they sometimes follow the vessel for miles." There can hardly be said to be any special grounds where the sulphur-bottom is captured, comparatively few having ever been taken. On the coast of California the shore-whalemen have taken a few, and several were taken some years since by the schooner Page, of San Francisco, off the port of San Quentin, Lower Cali- fornia. An attempt was made about 1865 to establish a fishery for this species at Iceland. " Two or three small screw steamers," says Captain Seabury, "were sent there from England to whale in the bays, using for the capture a whale-gun and a large line to go through the bottom of the boat. They were quite successful in taking the whale, aud followed up the business for two or three years, but the expense being greater than the income, it was abandoned. Beyond those taken by this expedition off Iceland, there have been but few sulphur-bottoms captured." FINBACK WHALES. — This whale is taken principally by shore-whalemen, vessels preferring more profitable game, as the finback has but little blubber, no valuable bone, and withal is very difficult to capture. They are taken by the California boat-whalers, aud for two years past have been captured in considerable number along the coast of New England, especially at Proviucetown, where forty-eight were secured in the spring of 1880. The shore-whaling stations on the coasts of Norway and Fiumark are for the capture of this species. GRAY WHALE OR DEVIL-FISH. — The California gray whale, also called "devil-fish" and "mussel-digger," is found principally on the coast of California, in the bays and gulfs and along the shores, in shoal water. The most noted places are Magdalena Bay, in about latitude 25° north, and Scammon's Lagoon, in about latitude 30° north. They are also found aud taken in the "Marine Mammalia, ji. 4::. 24 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. Okhotsk Sea and the Arctic Ocean. They are not large, and yield on an average only about 30 barrels of a reddish oil. They are said to be the most dangerous to capture of all whales. The bomb-lance or the whaling rocket is generally used in the chase. On the Calit'ornian coast the best season for the capture of this species is from November to April or May, after which time they move north. They appear in October and November off the coast of Oregon on their return south. This whale is known only in northern latitudes, and is not found in the Atlautic Ocean. No great number has ever been taken. Captain Scarninon, in 1872, estimated that the whole number captured or destroyed since 1846, when bay-whaling commenced, would not exceed 10,800. DISTRIBUTION OF BLACKFISH AND PORPOISE. — There are several other species of cetacea, as the blackfish and the porpoise, that are widely distributed over the oceans, and are often taken by whaling vessels, though they are not special objects of pursuit. Those fisheries for these species are discussed in the next chapter. The white whale or beluga is found principally in the icy waters of the north, and several hundred of them are annually taken by the natives of the countries bordering those seas, as also by the Scotch whaling vessels visiting Davis Strait. These vessels in 1877 took 935 white whales, and in 187G they captured 700. According to Scammon large numbers are captured by the natives of Alaska and of Eastern Siberia, where they ascend the rivers for several hundred miles. They are taken in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and also by the Norwegians at Spitzbergen. Nordeuskiold * states that in 1871 vessels from Tromsoe alone caught 2,167 of this species in nets. Their value was estimated at about $15 each. Both the blubber, hide, aud carcass are utilized, the latter by the guano factories in Norway. They are also taken in nets by the Russians and Samoyeds at Chabarova. ROUTES TO GROUNDS; SUPPLY STATIONS. ROUTES TO WHALING- GROUNDS. — Vessels engaged in the Atlautic Ocean fishery are of two classes, those of small size on short cruises and those of large capacity that make longer voyages. The former cruise principally in the North Atlantic, and are always on the alert for whales, work- ing on all the grouuds in this ocean, but especially those near the Azores or on the Hatteras ground. They usually leave home in the spring and return in the fall, proceeding first to the more southeru and working toward the more northern fields. Some of these small vessels, however, remain out for a year or even more, spending the winter mouths on the tropical grounds aud often cruising in the South Atlantic, where they obtain a quantity of oil to be transshipped from St. Helena to the United States. They will work toward home, .stopping in the principal equatorial and northern grounds. The second or larger class of vessels are gone fiom home for from two to three years, often cruising on all the grounds in both the North and the South Atlantic. They usually go first to the Western Islands and from there work south or north as the abundance or the scarcity of whales on the different grounds may suggest. They frequently resort to ports at the Azores or Cape Verde Islands, in the north Atlantic, and St. Helena, in the South Atlantic. The Hudson Bay or Davis Strait fleet is composed of vessels of all sizes. They make voyages lasting from eight mouths to one or two years. Many of them have been accustomed to leave home in the spring and to proceed at once to the Straits in time to enter the bays and gulfs at the breaking up of the ice. They spend the summer in search of whales, and may return home in the early fall, or remain to winter in the ice in ordei- to take advantage of the early movement of whales in spring. There are no refitting ports to which they can resort, so that if the vessel be of small carrying capacity she will generally prefer to winter at home rather than in the icy regions. * Voyage of the Vega, vol. i. TILIC WHALE FISUEBY. 25 The I'acitie-Aretic fleet is aceustomcd to winter in San Francisco or at the Sandwich Isl- ands, and upon the opening <>t' spring to proceed at once to the north, there awaiting the open- ing of the ice to go through the Strait. They return to winter quarters in the late fall and trans- ship their catches by rail or \ New Bedford. Vessels sailing from New Bedford for the Arctic leave home in the fall, in order to pass Tape Horn during the summer season. These vessels seldom stop on the various grounds in their pathway, but will not refuse a good chance to take a whale wherever tlie.s maybe. They are frequently absent from home for several years, making annual cruises north from their retifting station. Ships and barks that cruised in the Pacific Ocean in former years made their voyages in from thirty to forty-eight mouths, or an average of about forty months. At the present time such a vessel shipping products home seldom makes a. voyage in less than three years, and sometimes they are gone live years. The usual course of sperm and right whale ships when sailing in the spring or summer is to look the ground over as far as the Western Islands, touch there and get recruits and ship oil, if they have any; then run down and sight the Cape Verde, and sometimes touch there for refreshments and ship men if needed, which is quite often done at the Azores or Western Islands. They then cross the equator in from 24° to 31° west longitude, and, if bound round Cape Horn, run along within a few degrees of the east coast of South America, generally to the west of the Falkland Islands, and, passing through the Straits of Le Maire or to the east of Stateu Laud, steer for Cape Horu, keeping as near to the cape as possible, to avoid the strong westerly gales and easterly current that is usually found off shore. After getting around the Horn each ship steers for its chosen ground. In coming home they take a more easterly course, after getting into the Atlantic Ocean, than the passage out, so as to strike the southeast trade wind in about longitude 28° or 30° west; then make a direct track for home. If bound around the East Cape or Cape of Good Hope, after crossing the equator they keep by the wind in going through the southeast trades, and when in latitude 28° to 30° south, steer to the eastward and double the cape. If bound to New Zealand, they keep in the variable wind to the south of latitude 30° south, and pass around Van Diemau's Land. If bound into the Indian Ocean, after passing the cape they steer for their several grounds. If sailing late in the season, and bound direct for the Pacific or Indian Ocean, ships keep the same course, except that they go more to the south and avoid the Western Islands. SUPPLY STATIONS. — The principal places in the North Atlantic visited by whaling vessels for supplies or for transshipment of oil are the Barbadoes, Bermuda Islands, Fayal at the Azores, and Port Praya at Cape Verde Islands. In the South Atlantic the most important places are Peruambuco, Rio de Janeiro, St. Catherine, and Montevideo, on the east coast of South America. On the African coast are St. Helena, Ambrozet, and Cape Town. lu the Indian Ocean, Mauritius, on the Isle de France, is about the only port whence oil is transshipped aud about the only place for repairs, though there are other places, as Zanzibar. Seychelle Islands, Singapore, aud some of the East India islands, that are visited by the vessels. On the west coast of New Holland, Shark's Bay, Geographe Bay, and King George's Sound; also, Hobart Town, on Van Dieman's Land, and Sydney, on the east coast of Australia, are supply stations for vessels cruising on adjacent grounds. The principal places visited by whalemen in the South Pacific are Monganui and Bay of Islands, on the east coast of New Zealand, Feejee and Navigator's Island, Papeta, on the island of Otaheite, and Nookaheva, one of the Marquesas Islands ; and on the west coast of South America the ports of Sail Carlos, Talcahuano, Valparaiso, Callao, Payta, and Tumbez. Only two ports are much used for transshipping oil; these are Talcahuano, in Chili, and Bay of Islands, in New 26 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHEEIES. Zealand. These, with Payta and Tumbez, in Pern, are the principal ports visited by ships. The Galapagos Islands have some good harbors and are occasionally resorted to for the land turtles or terrapin that are abundant there. On some islands wood can be obtained, and on the south side of Chatham Island good water can be got with safety from November to May. In the North Pacific the principal ports visited for the transshipment of oil are San Fran- cisco, Panama, Hila, and Honolulu. Tacames, in Ecuador, Acapulco, on the west coast of Mexico. Yokohama, Hakadadi, Guam, one of the Ladrone Islands, Hong-Kong, and Manila have all been visiting stations. There are also many other places occasionally visited by the whaling fleet. For the convenience of the Arctic fleet a supply vessel is sent from San Francisco to meet the vessels at Bering Strait or in the Arctic and receive what oil they may wish to send home and supply them with fresh provisions. 3. EARLY HISTORY OF BOAT-WHALING IN NEW ENGLAND. r.OAST OF MAINE. We find no records to indicate that shore-whaling was ever extensively practiced on the coast of Maine, though drift whales may have been frequently cast ashore and cared for by the shoremen. The following item, given by Hubbard in his history of New England, shows that the people of Maine, in early times, were not versed in the handling of whales: "In 1668 a sperm whale fifty-five feet long was taken at Winter Harbor, near Casco Bay. The like hath happened in other places of the country, where, for want of skill to improve it, much gain hath slipped out of the hands of the finders." MASSACHUSETTS NORTH OP CAPE COD. There is little in the early records to show what interest the people of Massachusetts, north of Cape Cod, had in shore whaling. It is probable that at Salem and vicinity this business was carried on in a small way during the eighteenth century. Mr. John Higginsou, in 1700, writes that at Salem, u we have a considerable quantity of whale oil and bone for exportation."* He writes again in 1706 to a friend in Ipswich as if he were concerned with others in boat whaling. Drift whales were frequently found, and claimants notified to prove their rights before courts of adininilly in accordance with the laws of the colony. Boston papers of December 12, 1707, mention tbc capture by boats of a 40-foot whale near Noddle's Island. It is therefore inferred that whale boats and implements for capture were kept in readiness in the vicinity of Boston. It is probable that, as in recent years, drift whales were taken at Cape Ann and other points farther north along the coast of Massachusetts, though we find no record to show a definite business done in boat whaling at places north of Cape Cod. BOAT WHALING AT CAPF. COD. Starbuck has called attention to the fact that the abundance of whales was one of the main arguments for the early settlement of Cape Cod by the English, and has quoted some interesting accounts of the manner in which the aborigines hunted the whale two centuries and a half ago. In Richard Mather's Journal of his voyage to Massachusetts, iu 1635, he records seeing on the end of the Bank of Newfoundland near to New England " mighty fishes rolling and tumbling in the waters, twice as long and as big as an ox " and " mighty whales, spewing up water in the air, like * FELT : Annals of Salem, II, p. 225. TIIK WHALE FISHERY. 27 tbe smoke of a chimney, anil making tin- sea about them white and hoary, as is said in Job, of such incredible bigness that I will never wonder that the body of Jonas could lie in the belly of a whale." As early as 1W51, Sandwich, Harnstable, Yarmouth, and Kastham were included in a proposition regarding the distribution of drift whales, submitted by the general court of Plymouth Colony,* and in 1690, the people of Xantucket, finding that the people of Cape Cod had made greater profi- ciency in the art of catching whales than themselves, sent tliitlier for an instructor. t The Cape Cod whale fishery in. the seventeenth century, and perhaps later, was prosecuted no doubt nearly exclusively from the shore, as was also done in Nan tucket, and as to the present day the sperm-whale fishery is carried on about the Bermudas. A lookout was kept by watchmen on the shore, who gave signals when a whale appeared and indicated his movements from their lofty stations. One of these stations was ou Great Island, at the mouth of Wellfleet Harbor, where, tra- dition says, there were at one time ten or twelve houses and the first tavern built in Wellfleet. Wellfleet was then included in the town of Eastham, and it was doubtless by the people of this settlement that the petition was presented in 1706, which states, "all or most of us are concerned in fitting out Boats to Catch and take Whales when ye season of ye year Serves; and whereas when we have taken any whale or whales, our Custom is to Cutt them up and to take away ye fatt and ye Bone of such Whales as are brought in and afterwards to let ye Kest of ye Boikly of ye Lean of whales Lye on shear in lowe water to be washt away by ye sea, being of uoe vallue nor worth any Thing to us," and begs that Thomas Houghtou or his assigns be permitted to take away this waste. f Another of these stations was in what is now the town of Dennis, and is the present site of the hotel called the "Bay House." This tract was the joint property of Dennis and Yarmouth, and was reserved until March, 1877, when it was sold by the mutual vote of the two towns at the yearly town meeting. Starbuck relates that in 1724 and 1726, in the prosecution of the wars between the Indians and the colonists, some of the friendly Indians from the county of Barnstable were enlisted with the express understanding that that they were to be discharged in time to take part in the fall and winter whale fishery. § This would indicate that the boat fishery was still at that time profitable and actively prose- cuted. In 1737, a paragraph in the Boston News Letter stated, a dozen whaling vessels were fitting in Proviucetown, for Davis Strait, and that so many people were going that not over a dozen or fourteen men would be left. Eastham also had a vessel in Davis Strait this year, and the Davis Strait fleet from Massachusetts alone is estimated by Starbuck to have consisted of from fifty to sixty vessels. Four years later Barnstable had at least one, whaling vessel which was captured by the Spanish, and in 1770 this port still had two whalers in the Arctic. The size of the Arctic fleet of Massachusetts in 1737 would indicate that the shore-fishery was falling off in importance. Indeed a statement to this effect occurs in Felt's Annals of Saleui, under date of 1748, where it is said, " whales formerly for many successive years set in alongshore by Cape Cod. There was good whaling in boats * * * . After some years they left this ground and passed farther off upon the banks at some distance from the shore. The whalers then used sloops with whale-boats aboard, and this fishery turned to good account. At present the whales take their course in deep water, whereupon a peace our whalers design to follow them." || * STARBUCK : in Rep. U. S. Fish. Com., Part IV, 1875-'76, p. 7. t STARBUCK : 1. -a., p. 17. til. MSs. mriTit'mr>, TV, pp. 72-73, quoted l.y Starlmolc, ?. c., p. JW. } J. C., p. 3V I1 PTARBnCK: I c., p W. 28 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. This corresponds also with statements gathered by Starbuek from various sources to the effect that the years 1737, 1738, and 1739 were very unfortunate ones for the people of Province- town, Sandwich, and adjacent ports, insomuch that some of the inhabitants took into serious consideration a change of residence. The people of Yarmouth preserve a tradition that the early whale fishery of that region had for its object the capture of humpbacks and right whales. As has been suggested, the number of humpbacks taken must have been very considerable, yet the right whales must also have been plenty in early days. The Plymouth colonists, according to Thacher,* were inclined at first to settle on Cape Cod, because large whales of the best kind for oil and bone came daily alongside, and played about the ship, while the master (presumably of the "Mayflower") and his mate, and others experienced- in fishing, preferred it to the Greenland fishery. In February, 1738, the Yarmouth whalemen had killed but one large whale during the season ; the bone of that being from 8 to 9 feet long. This was of course a right whale, and the thing in the occurrence remarkable to the recorder was that a great many more had not been taken the same winter. In March, 1736, the boats of Province- town took a large whale which produced 100 barrels of oil. Humpbacks rarely yield more than 50 barrels, and probably would not have been classed among the numerous '-large whales" taken in those years. Another argument in favor of the supposed early abundance of the right whale in these waters, was that upon their becoming scarce, a large fleet was forthwith dispatched to Davis' Straits, where none but whalebone whales occur. The sperm-whale fishing of Cape Cod was not inaugurated until about 1826, or at least not in a permanent way, though Starbnck gives nine vessels from "Cape Cod" in 1789, eight of which cruised in the "Straits of Belleisle," six of which obtained about 50 barrels each of sperm oil, the other two about 80 barrels each. In the early records of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies are numerous orders relating to drift whales, among which we find the following : "At a session of the general court, the first of the 8th mouth, 1645," it was ordered as one of the duties of the Auditor-General, " that he shall take notice and looke aftr wafes, strayes, goods lost, shipwrecks, whales, &c., or any such things of y* like nature, wr ye pticuler owner is not knowne ; and ye country may claiine a priviledge in or comon right unto.'H July 4, 1656, it was " ordered by the court that wheras the countrey hath receiued great dammage by a defect in the order about the barrell of oyle due for euery whale taken on drift or cast on shore as is expressed in the said order by leakquage of Caske or otherwise; tho court bane ordered that for the future all such oyle as shalbee due and payable as aforsaid shalbee deliuered att Boston, viz, a full barrell of march aiitable oyle for euery whale and the fraight therof discharged by those that deliuer it, the said oyle to bee deliuered att Boston to such as the Treasurer shall appoint from yeare to year and a receipt taken from such as to whome it is deliuered shalbee a discharge to those that deliuer it."} In 1661 it was "enacted by the Court and the Authentic therof that whosoeuer taketh any whale on drift att sea without those bounds and limites alreddy sett and bring them on shore hee shall have the one halfe and the Countrey the other halfej and the Countrey to allow Caske for theirej?te of the oyle. That whosoeuer shall find any whale on shore on the Cape or elsewhere that is out of any Townese bounds and is on the Countreyes bounds or liinittes shall allow the Countrey two hogsheads of oyle cleare and payed to the Countrey ."§ On the 3d of June, 1662, it was resolved that "wheras there hath bine much controversye occa tioned for want of a full and cleare settlement of matter relateing into such whales as by Gods •Quoted by Starbuek, 1. a., p. ;>. t Plymouth Colony Records, XI, p. 20» tRecords of Massachusetts, II, p. 143. $ Hid., XI. p. 66. THE WHALE FISHERY. 29 providence doe fall iiito any pte of this Jurisdiction. This Court doth therfore order for the pre- vention of any discontent or controversy for tlir future and for a iinall Issue and settlement soe farr as in the Court lyeth about the saint- ; that for all such whales as by Gods providence shalbee cast on shore on any pte of this gournieiit or shalbee by any cut vp att sea, and brought on shore in the Goirment ; there shalbee for every such Uish one full hogshead of Marchantable oyle payed into the Count rev delivered alt Boston by such to\vnes or psons as are Interested in the lauds where they fall or shall soe cutt vp any tlish att sea; and iucaso that any Ih'sh bee soe considerably torne or wasted that a full quarter pte bee gone; the.u to jiay but halfe a hogshead and for such Incon- siderable ]iet-ce.s of I'tish as are lesse then halfe they shall pay nothing; and for the resedew of such tlish or the produce of them as remaines the Countu-yes pte being discharged. It shalbee freely att the dispose of such Townrs when- it falls or for the Uenifef t of such as Cutt them Vp; if taken on drift without such bounds as have bine formerly sett; the same being still continewed."* On the 4th of November, 1690, it was— "Ordered, that tor the prevention of contests and suits by whale killers: — "1. This Court cloth order, that all whales killed or wounded by any man & left at sea, sd •,vha!e killers that killed or wounded s'1 whale shall presently repaire to some prudent person whome the Court shall appoint, and there give in the wounds of sb whale, the time & place when & where killed or wounded; and s'1 person so appointed shall presently comitt it to record, and his record shall be allowed good testimony in law. " 2. That all whales brought or cast ou shore shall be viewed by the persons so appointed, or his deputy, before they are cut or any way defaced after come or brought on shore, and sd viewer shall take a particular record of the wounds of sd whale, & time & place where & when brought on shore ; & his record shall be good testimony in law, and sd viewer shall take care for securing sd fish for the owner. " 3. That whatever person or persons shall cut up or deface any whale fish, by cutting, stab- bing, or launcing, after come on shore or at sea, if a drift, unless of necessity to towe it to shore, before it hath beeu viewed by the person appointed thereto, and a record taken by him, shall lose their right to sd fish, & pay a fine of ten pounds to the county. And sd viewers shall seize sd fish for the owners use, on the effects thereof, and sd viewer shall have power to make a deputy or deputies under his hand, and to have six shillings for [each] whale so viewed & recorded of the owners thereof. " 4. That whosoever find, takes, or cuts up any drift whale found on the stream, a mile from the shore, not appearing to be killed by any man, shall be thet first sieze and secure them, paying an hogshea'd of oyle to y county for every such whale." MARTHA'S VINEYARD. The inhabitants of this island were early engaged in boat whaling. According to Starbuck the earliest mention of whales at this place occurs in November, 1652, when Thomas Daggett and William Weeks were appointed "whale cutters for this year." In the following April it was " Ordered by the town that the whale is to be cut out freely, four men at one time, and four at another, and so every whale, beginning at the east end of the town." In 1690 Mr. Sarson and William Vinson were appointed by "the proprietors of the whale" to oversee the cutting and sharing of all whales cast on shore within the bounds of Edgartowu, "they to have as much for their care as one cutter." * Ply. Col. Bee., zi, p. 134. ilbid., vi, p. 252. 30 HISTORY AND METHODS OP THE FISHERIES. "In 1692," says Starbuck, " came the inevitable dispute of proprietorship. A whale was cast oil shore at Edgarfown by the proprietors, ' seized by Benjamin Smith and Mr. Joseph Norton in their behalf,' which was also claimed by 'John Steel, harpooner, on a whale design, as being killed by him.' It was settled by placing the whale in the custody of Richard Sarsou, esq., and Mr. Benjamin Smith, as agents of the proprietors, to save by trying out and securing the oil; 'and that no distribution be made of the said whale, or effects, till after fifteen days are expired after the date hereof, that so such persons who may pretend an interest or claim, in the whale, may make their challenge; and in case such challenge appear sufficient to them, then they may deliver the said whale or oyl to the challenger; otherwise to give notice to the proprietors, who may do as the matter may require. By the inhabitants of Martha's Vineyard, in 1702-'3, there appear to have been several whales lulled. The following entry occurs under that date in the court records: 'The marks of the \\ hales killed by John Butler and Thomas Lothrop. One whale lanced near or over the shoulder blade, near the left shoulder blade only ; another killed with an iron forward in the left side, marked W; and upon the right side marked with a pocket-knife T. L.; and the other had an iron hole over the right shoulder-blade, with two lance holes in the same side, one in the belly. These whales were all killed about the middle of February last past; all great whales, betwixt (i and 7 and 8-foot bone, which are all gone from us. A true account given by John Butler from us, and recorded Per me, Thomas Trapp, clerk.' " NANTTJCKET. The history of shore-whaling at Nantucket begins with the occupancy of that island by Euro- peans, about the year 1640, although prior to that time the Indians were doubtless accustomed to occasionally capture a whale. "The very earliest account of a capture," says Mr. C. S. Raleigh, "was in the year 1608, when a party of Indians killed a humpback whale which got stranded on a part of Nantucket, called Chiton, in the inner harbor." "The first whaling expedition," says Macy. "was undertaken by some of the original purchasers of the island; the circumstances of which are handed down by tradition, and are as follows: A whale, of the kind called 'scragg,' came into the harbor and continued there three days. This excited the curiosity of the people, and led them to devise measures to prevent his return out of the harbor. They accordingly invented and caused to be wrought for them a harpoon, with which they attacked and killed the whale. This first success encouraged them to undertake whaling as a permanent business ; whales being at that time numerous in the vicinity of the shores."* The islanders were, anxious to rugate in the whaling industry and, according to Starbuck,t recorded a memorandum of a proposed agreement with one James Loper, in which it is said that the said James "doth Ingage to carrey on a Desigue of Whale Catching on the Island of Nan- tucket that is to say James In gages to be a third in all Respects, and som of the Town Ingages also to carrey on the other two thirds with him in like manner — the town doth also consent that first one company shall begin, and afterwards the rest of the freeholders or any of them have Liberty to set up another Company provided they make a tender to those freeholders that have no share in the first company and if any refuse the rest may go on themselves, and the town doth engage that no other Company shall be allowed hereafter ; also, whoever kill any whales, of the Company or Companies aforesaid, they are to pay to the Town for every such whale five shillings and for the Incoragemeut of the said James Loper the Town doth grant him ten acres of Land in surne Couvenaut place that he may chuse in (Wood Laud Except) and also liberty for the com- monage of three cows and Twenty sheep and one horse with necessary wood and water for his " MACY : Hist. Nantucket, p. 28. t Report U. S. Fish Com., 1875-76. THE WHALE FISHERY. 31 use, on Conditions that lie follow (lie trade of whalling ou this Island two years in all seasons thereof beginning the first of March next Insuing; also he is to build upon his Land and when he leaves Inhabiting upon this Island then he is first to offer his Land to the Town at a valuable, price and if the Town do not buy it he may sell it to whom he please ; the commonage is granted only for the1 time of his staying !•< '. t the same meeting," continues Starbuck, "John Sav- idge had a grant made to him, upon condition that he took up bis residence ou the island for the space of three years, and also that he should ; follow his trade of a cooper upon the island, as the Town or whale Company ha\e need to employ him.' Loper beyond a doubt never improved this opportunity offered him of immortalizing himself', bnt Savidge did, and a, perverse world has, against his own will, handed down to posterity the name of Loper, who did not come, while it has rather ignored that of Savidge, who did remove to That island." In the mean time the people of ( 'ape Cod were becoming more proficient in whaling than those of Nantucket, so that the latter sent TO the cape in IG'JO, and "employed a man by the name of Ichabod Paddock to instruct them in the manner of killing whales and extracting their oil."* From small beginnings The industry increased, and reached its greatest prosperity in 1726, when, says Maey, eighty-six were taken, "a greater number than was obtained in any one year, either before or since that date. The greatest number ever killed and brought to the shore in one day was eleven." Shore whaling at this period was the principal employment of the islanders. "The Indians even manifested a disposition for fishing of every kind, readily joined with the whites. in this new pursuit, and willingly submitted to any station assigned them. By their assistance, the whites were enabled to fit out and man a far greater number of boats than they could have done of themselves. Nearly every boat was manned, in part, many almost entirely, by natives ; some of the most active, of them were made steersmen, and some were allowed even to head the boats; thus encouraged, they soon became experienced whalemen, and capable of conducting any part of the business." The following incident illustrates their bravery when in danger: "It happened once, when there were about thirty boats about six miles from shore, that the wind came round to the northward and blew with great violence, attended with snow. The men all rowed hard, but made but little headway. In one of the boats were four Indians and two white men. An old Indian in the head of the boat, perceiving that the crew began to he- disheartened, spake out loud in his own tongue, and said, ' Momadichchator auqua sarshlcee sarrikee plncliee eynoo sememoocli'kee cliaquanl's -irihclu'c phirlicc eynoo;' which in English is, 'Pull ahead with courage ; do not be disheartened ; we shall not be lost now ; there are too many Englishmen to be lost now.' His speaking in this manner gave the crew new courage. They soon perceived that they made headway, and after long rowing they all got safe on shore."t Whales were abundant close in shore for many years, so that a plentiful supply of oil was obtained without going out of sight of land. "The south side of the island," says Hector St. John, " was divided into four equal parts, and each part was assigned to a company of six, which, though thus separated, still carried on their business in common. In the middle of this distance they erected a mast, provided with a sufficient number of rounds, and near it they built a tem- porary hut where five of the associates lived, whilst the sixth, from his high station, carefully looked toward the sea, in order to observe the spouting of whales." f "The process of savin// the whales, " says Macy, "after they had been killed and towed ashore, was to use a crab, an instrument similar to a capstan, to heave and turn the blubber off as fast as •MACY: op. <• tM ass. Jlisl. Sue. Coll., iii j>. 175. t JLetturs iruui uu Amui-icuu i'urtuer; Hrrtnr St. .lobn ('revem-m ; jmlilislinl l?8i. 32 HISTORY AOT) METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. it was cut. The blubber was then put iuto their carts and carried to their try -houses, which, at that early period, were placed near to their dwelling-houses, where the oil was boiled out and fitted for market." * Shore- whaling continued till about the middle of the eighteenth century, when whales became scarce and were pursued by vessels, when the boat-whaling, as a regular business, was, according to Macy, abandoned. "The first sperm-whale known to the islanders was found ashore on the southwest part of Nantucket. It caused considerable excitement, some demanding a part of the prize under one pretense, some under another, and all were anxious to behold so strange an animal. There were so many claimants of the prize, that it was difficult to determine to who it should belong. The natives claimed it because they found it ; the whites, to whom the natives made known their discovery, claimed it by a right comprehended, as they affirmed, in the pur- chase of the island by the original patent. An officer of the crown made his claim, and pretended to seize the fish in the name of his majesty, as being property without any particular owner. After considerable discussion between these contending parties, it was finally settled that the white inhabitants, who first found the whale, should share the prize equally amongst themselves. The teeth, which were considered very valuable, had been extracted by a white man and an Indian, before any others had any knowledge of the whale. All difficulty being now settled, a company was formed, who commenced cutting the whale in pieces convenient for transportation to their try- works. The sperm procured from the head was thought to be of great value for medical purposes. It was used both as an internal and external application ; and such was the credulity of the people, that they considered it a certain cure for all diseases ; it was sought with avidity, and, for awhile, was esteemed to be worth its weight in silver. The whole quantity of oil obtained from this whale is not known."! RHODE ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT. In 1731 Rhode Island passed an act for the encouragement of the fisheries, giving " a bounty of five shillings for every barrel of whale oil, one penny a pound for bone, and five shillings a quintal for codfish, caught by Rhode Island vessels, and brought into this Colony." f The fishery had been carried on to some extent in boats from the shore, and whales were taken in the waters of Narragansct Bay. The first official document to be found connecting the State of Connecticut with the whale fishery is a resolve passed at a meeting of the general court held at Hartford, May 25, 1647, which says: " Yf Mr. Whiting, wth any others shall make tryall and prsecute a designe for the takeing of whale wthin these libertyes, and if vppou tryall wthin the terme of two yeares. they shall like to goe on, noe others shalbe suffered to interrupt the, for the tearine of seauen yeares."§ It is probable that drift-whales were occasionally taken along the coast of Connecticut in early times, but we find no special reference to show that boat-whaling was ever engaged in by the inhabitants. NEW YORE. Long Island, with its long stretch of sandy beaches, was in early times a favorite resort for boat whalemen. It was the rival of Cape Cod, and the inhabitants on its eastern end found much profit in capturing whales, and shipping oil and bone to London. The following interesting account of shore-whaling along those shores is taken entire from Mr. Starbuck's|| report on the whale fishery. * Hist. Nantucket, p. 31. ilbid., p. :«. t ARNOLD : Hist. Rhode Island, ii, p. 103. $ Comi. Col. Reu., i, p. 154. 1 U. 8. Fisli Commissioner's Report, Part IV, 1875-76. THE WHALE FISHERY. 33 " It is probably safe to assert that the first organized prosecution of the American whale-fishery was made along the shores of Long Island. The town of Southampton, which was settled in 1640 by an offshoot from the Massachusetts Colony at Lynn, was quick to appreciate the value of this source of revenue. In March, 1644, the town ordered the town divided into four wards of eleven persons to each ward, to attend to the drift-whales cast ashore. When such an event took place two persons from each ward (selected by lot) were to be employed to cut it up. 'And every Inhabitant with his child or servant that is above sixteen years of age shall have in the Division of the other part,' (i. e. what remained after the cutters deducted the double share they were, ex-officio, entitled to) 'an equall proportion provided that such person when yt falls into his ward a suffi- cient man to be imployed about yt.'* Among the names of those delegated to each ward are many whose descendants became prominent in the business as masters or owners of vessels— the Coopers, the Sayres, Mulfords, Peirsons, Hedges, Howells, Posts, and others. A few years later the number of 'squadrons' was increased to six. " In February, 1645, the town ordered that if any whale was cast ashore within the limits of the town no man should take or carry away any part thereof without order from a magistrate, under penalty of twenty shillings. Whoever should find any whale or part of a whale, upon giv- ing notice to a magistrate, should have allowed him five shillings, or if the portion found should not be worth five shillings the finder should have the whole. ' And yt is further ordered that yf any shall finde a whale or any peece thereof upon the Lord's day then the aforesaid shillings shall not be due or payable.' t ' This last clause,' says Ho well, ' appears to be a very shrewd thrust at "mooning" on the beach on Sundays.' "It was customary a few years later to fit out expeditious of several boats each for whaling along the coast, the parties engaged camping' out on shore during the night. These expeditions were usually gone about one or two weeks. f Indians were usually employed by the English, the whites furnishing all the necessary implements, and the Indians receiving a stipulated proportion of oil in payment. "At Easthampton on the 6th of November, 1651, ' It was Ordered that Rodman Mulford shall call out ye Town by succession to loke out for whale.'§ Easthampton, however, like every other town where whales were obtainable, seems to have had its little unpleasantnesses on the subject, for in 1653 the town ' Ordered that the share of whale now in controversie between the Widow Talmage and Thomas Talmage ' (alas for the old-time Chesterfieldian gallantry) ' shall be divided among them as the lot is.'|| In the early deeds of the town the Indian grantors were to be allowed the fins and tails of all drift-whales; and in the deed of Montauk Island and Point, the Indians and whites were to be equal sharers in these prizes, fl In 1672 the towns of Easthampton, South- ampton, and South wold presented a 'memorial to the court at Whitehall ' setting forth that they have spent much time and paines, and the greatest part of their estates, in settling the trade of whale-fishing in the adjacent seas, having endeavoured it above these twenty yeares, but could not bring it to any perfection till within these 2 or 3 yeares last past. And it now being a hopefull trade at New Yorke. in America, the Governor and the Dutch there do require ye Petitioners to come under their patent, and lay very heavy taxes upon them beyond any of his MatieB subjects in New England, and will not permit the petitioners to have any deputys in Court,** but being chiefs, do impose what Laws they please upon them, and insulting very much over the Petitioners * HOWELL : Hist, of Southampton, p. 179. t Ibid., p. 184. t Ibid., p. 183. § Bicentennial Address at Easthamptoti, 1850, by Henry P. Hedges, p. 8. || Ibid., p. 8. 11 Ibid. **Iu this petition is an early assertion oi' the twiuship of taxation and representation, for which Massachusetts aud her ofl'shoots WPI-H pver strenuous. SEC. T, VOL. II 3 34 HISTORY AND METHODS OP THE FISHERIES. threaten to cut down their timber which is but little they have to Casks for oyle, altho' the Pet™ purchased their landes of the Lord Sterling's deputy, above 30 yeares since, and have till now under the Government and Patent of Mr. Winthrop, belonging to Conitycut Patent, which lyeth far more convenient for ye Petitioners assistance in the aforesaid Trade.' They desire, therefore, either to continue under the Connecticut government, or to be made a free corporation. This peti- tion was referred to the ' Council on Foreign Plantations.' " This would make the commencement of this industry date back not far from the year 1650. In December, 1652, the directors of Dutch West India Company write to Director General Peter Stuyvesaut, of New York : ' In regard to the whale-fishery we understand that it might be taken in hand during some part of the year. If this could be done with advantage, it would be a very desirable matter, and make the trade there flourish and animate many people to try their good luck in that branch.' In April (4th), 1656, the council of New York ' received the request of Hans Jongh, soldier and tanner, asking for a ton of train-oil or some of the fat of the whale lately cap- tured: " In 1669 Mr. Maverick writes from New York to Colonel Nichols, as follows : " On ye East end of Long Island there were twelve or thirteen whales taken before ye end of March, and what since wee heare not ; here are dayly some seen in the very harbour, sometimes within Nutt Island. Out of the Pinnace, the other week, they struck two, but lost both, the iron broke in one, the other broke the warpe. The Governour hath encouraged some to follow this designe. Two shollops made for itt, but as yett wee doe not heare of any they have gotten."* " In 1672," continues Starbuck, " the town of Southampton passed an order for the regulation of whaling, which, in the latter part of the year, received the following confirmation from Governor Lovelace : ' Whereas there was an ordinance made at a Towne-Meeting in South Hampton upon the Second Day of May las relating to the Regulation of the Whale ffishing and Employment of the Indyans therein, wherein particularly it is mentioned. That whosoever shall Hire an Indyan to go a-Whaling, shall not give him for his Hire above one Trucking Cloath Coat, for each whale, hee and his Company shall Kill, or halfe the Blubber, without the Whale Bone under a Penalty therein exprest: Upon Considerac'on had thereupon, I have thought good to Allow of the said Order, And do hereby Confirm the same, until some inconvenience therein shall bee made appeare, And do also Order that the like Rule shall bee followed at East Hampton and other Places if they shall finde it practicable amongst them. " ' Given under my haud in New Yorke, the 28th of Novemb'r, 1672.' " Upon the same day that the people of Southamption passed the foregoing order, Governor Lovelace also issued and order citing that in consequence of great abuse to his Royal Highness in the matter of drift- whales upon Long Island, he had thought fit to appoint Mr. Wm. Osborne and Mr. John Smith, of Hempstead, to make strict inquiries of Indians and English in regard to the matter.! " It was early found to be essential that all important contracts and agreements, especially ' between the English and Indians, relating to the killing of whales should be entered upon the town books, and signed by the parties in presence of the clerk and certified by him. Boat- whaling was so generally practiced, and was considered of so much importance by the whole community, that every man of sufficient ability in the town was obliged to take his turn in watch- ing for whales from some elevated position on the beach, and to sound the alarm on one being seen near the coast.'}: Ju April (2d), 1668, an agreement was entered on the records of Easthamp- ' J >oc. ->t' Col. Hist. New York, III p. 183. t N. Y. Col., MSS., General Entries iv, p. 193, Francis Lovelace. t HONVKI.L : Hint.. .Southampton. THE WHALE FISHERY. 35 ton, binding certain Indians of Montauket in the sum of £10 sterling to go to sea, whaling, on account of Jacobus Skallenger and others, of Easthampton, beginning on the 1st of November and ending on the 1st of the ensuing April, they engaging ' to attend dilligently with all opportuuitie for ye killing of whales or other fish, for ye sum of three shillings a day for every Indian ; ye sayd Jacobus Skalleuger and partners to furnish all necessarie craft and tackling convenient for ye designe.' The laws governing these whaling-companies were based on justice rather than selfish- ness. Among the provisions was one passed January 4, 1669, whereby a member of one company finding a dead whale killed by the other company was obliged to notify the latter. A prudent proviso in the order was that the person bringing the tidings should be well rewarded. If the whale was found at sea, the killers and finders were to be equal sharers. If irons were found in the whale, they were to be restored to the owners.* In 1672, John Cooper desired leave to employ some 'strange Indians' to assist him in whaling, which leave was granted ;t but these Indian allies required tender handling, and were quite apt to ignore their contracts when a fair excuse could be found, especially if their hands had already closed over the financial consideration. Two or three petitions relating to cases of this kind are on file at New York. One of them is from 'Jacob Skallenger, Stephen Hand, James Loper and other adjoined with them in the Whale Designe at Easthampton,' and was presented in 1675. It sets forth that they had associated together for the purpose of whaling, and agreed to hire twelve Indians and man two boats. Having seen the natives yearly employed both by neighbors and those in surrounding towns, they thought there could be no objection to their doing likewise. Accordingly, they agreed in June with twelve Indians to whale for them during the following season. ' But it, fell out soe that foure of the said Indians (competent & experienced men) belonged to Shelter-Island whoe with the rest received of your petition™ in pt. of their hire or wages 25s. a peece in hand at the time of the contract, as the Indian Custome is and without which they would not engage themselves to goe to Sea as aforesaid for your Peticon™.' Soon after this there came an order from the governor requir- ing, in consequence of the troubles between the English and the aborigines, that all Indians should remain in their own quarters during' the winter. 'And some of the towne of Easthampton wante- ing Indians to make up theire erne for whaleing they take advantage of your hon™ sd Ordre thereby to hinder your peticon™ of the said foure Shelter-Island Indians. One of ye Overseers being of the Company that would soe hinder your petition™. And Mr. Barker warned yor peticon™ not to en- tertaine the said foure Indians without licence from your honr. And although some of your peti- coners opposites in this matter of great weight to them seek to prevent yor peticon™ from haveing those foure Indians under pretence of zeal in fulfilling yr hon™ order, yet it is more then apparent that they endeavor to break yor peticon™ Company in y* maner that soe they themselves may have opportunity out of the other eight Easthampton Indians to supply theire owne wants.' After rep- resenting the loss liable to accrue to them from the failure of their design and the inability to hire Easthampton Indians, on account of their being already engaged by other companies, they ask relief in the premises,J which Governor Andross, in an order dated November 18, 1675, grants them, by allowing them to employ the aforesaid Shelter-Island Indiaus.§ "Another case is that of the widow of one Cooper, who in 1677 petitions Andross to compel some Indians who had been hired and paid their advance by her late husband to fulfill to her the contract made with him, they having been hiring out to other parties since his decease. || " This code was very similar to that afterward adopted in the Massachusetts Bay. tN. Y., Col. MSS.; General Entries, iv, p. •.':;:.. t N. Y. Col. MSS., xxv, Sir Ed. Audross, p. 41. ^Warrants, Orders, Passes, &c., K>74-lti79, p. 161. U N. Y. Col. MSS., xxvi, p. 153. 36 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. "The trade in oil from Long Island early gravitated to Boston and Connecticut, and this was always a source of much uneasiness to the authorities at New York. The people inhabiting- East- hamptou, Southampton, and vicinity, settling under a patent with different guarantees from those allowed under the Duke of York, had little in sympathy with that government, and always turned toward Connecticut as their natural ally and Massachusetts as their foster mother. Scarcely had what they looked upon as the tyrannies of the New York governors reduced them to a sort of sub- jection when they were assailed by a fresh enemy. A sudden turn of the wheel of fortune brought them, in 1673, a second time under the control of the Dutch. During this interregnum, which lasted from July, 1673, to November, 1674, they were summoned, by their then conquerors, to send dele- gates to an assembly to be convened by the temporary rulers. In reply the inhabitants of Easthamptou, Southampton, Southokl, Seatoocook, and Huntington returned a memorial setting forth that up to 1664 they had lived quietly and prosperously under the government of Connec- ticut. Now, however, the Dutch had by force assumed control, and, understanding them to be well disposed, the people of those parts proffer a series of ten requests. The ninth is the par. ticular one of interest in this connection, and is the only one not granted. In it they ask, ' That there be ffree liberty granted ye 5 townes aforesd for ye procuring from any of ye united Collonies (without molestation on either side:) warpes, irons, or any other necessaries ffor ye comfortable earring on the whale design.' To this reply is made that it 'cannot in this conjunction of time be allowed.' ' Why,' says Howell,* "the Council of Governor Colve chose thus to snub the English in these five towns in the matter of providing a few whale-irons and necessary tackle for capturing the whales that happened along the coast, is inconceivable;" but it must be remembered that the English and Dutch had long been rivals in this pursuit, even carrying their rivalry to the extreme of personal conflicts. The Dutch assumed to be, and practically were, the factors of Europe in this business at this period, and would naturally be, slow to encourage any proficiency in whaling by a people upon whom they probably realized that their lease of authority would be brief. Hence, although they were willing to grant them every other right in common with those of their own nationality, maritime jealousy made this one request impracticable. How the people of Long Island enjoyed this state of affairs is easy to infer from their petition of 1672. The oppressions alike of New York governors and Dutch conquerors could not fail to increase the alienation that difference of habits, associations, interests, and rights had implanted within them. Among other arbitrary laws was one compelling them to carry all the oil they desired to export to New York to be cleared, a measure which produced so much dissatisfaction and inconvenience that it was beyond a doubt "more honored in the breach than in tue observance." At times some captain, more scrupulous than the rest, would obey the letter of the law or procure a remission of it. Thus, in April, 1678, Benjamin Alford, of Boston, in New England, merchant, petitioned Governor Brock- holds for permission to clear with a considerable quantity of oil that he had bought at Southampton directly from that port t'> London, he paying all duties required by law. This he desires to do in order to avoid the hazard of the voyage to New York and the extra danger of leakage thereby incurred. He was accordingly allowed to clear as he desired, t "Hist, of Southampton, p. 62. t N. Y. Col. MSS., xxvii, pp. 65, 66. Accompanying the order is a blank clearance reading as follows : " Permit!. & suffer the good — — of — — A. B. Commander, bound for the Port of London in Old England to passe from the Harbor at the North-Sea near South*0" at the East End of Long Isl. with her loading of Whale Oyl & Whalebone without any manner of Lett Hindrance or Molestation, shee having bernc rlc-aivd by order from the Custom house here & given security accordingly. Given under my hand in N. Y. this 20th day of April in the 30th yeare of his Matie> raigne A° Domini 1(578. " To all his Ma*588 Offic™ whom this may Coucerue." THE WHALE KISIIKHY. 37 " In 168-4 an act for the 'Encouragement of Trade and Navigation' within the province of New York was passed, laying a duty of 10 per cent, on all oil and bone exported from New York to any other port or place except directly to England, Jamaica, Barbadoes, or some other of the Caribbean Islands. "In May, IfiSS, the Duke of York instructs his agent, John Leven, to inquire into the number of whales killed during the past six years within the province of New York, the produce of oil ami bone, and 'about his share.'* To this Leveu makes reply that there has been no record kept, and that the oil and bone were shared by the companies killing the fish. To Leven's statement, Andross. who is in England defending his colonial government, asserts that all those whales tha were driven ashore were killed and claimed by the whalers or Indiaus.f " In August, 1088, we find the first record of an intention to obtain sperm oil. Among the records in the State archives at Boston is a petition Irom Timotheus Vauderueu, commander of the brigautiue Happy Return, of New Yorke, to Governor Audross, praying for 'Licence and Per- mission, with one Equipage Consisting in twelve mariners, twelve, whalemen and six Diners — from this Port, upon a fishing design about the Bohames Islands, And Cap florida, for sperma Coeti whales and Racks: And so to returns for this Port.'f Whether this voyage was ever undertaken or not we have no means of knowing, but the petition is conclusive evidence that there were men in the country familiar even then with some of the haunts of the sperm-whale and with his capture. *' Francis Nicholson, writing from Fort James, December, 1688, says : l Our whalers have had pretty good luck, killing about Graves End three large whales. On the Easte End aboute five or six small ones.'§ During this same year the town of Easthatnptoii being short of money, debtors were compelled to pay their obligations in produce, and in order to have some system of exchange the trustees of the town 'being Legally met March 6, 1688-9 it was agreed that this year's Towne rate should be held to be good pay if it be paid as Follows: £. s. d. Dry merchantable hides att 0 0 6 Indian Corn 0 3 0 Whale Bone 3 feet long and upwards 0 0 8. ' NOTE. — It is estimated by George R. Howells, from papers on tile in the office of the secretary of state of New York, that the boat-whalemen of Southampton in 1637 took '2,148 barrels of oil. •' In July, 1708, Lord Cornbury writes again to the board of trade regarding New York affairs.|| In his letter he says : ' The quantity of Train Oyl made in Long Island is very uncer- tain, some years they have much more fish than others, for example last year they made four thousand Barrils of Oyl, and this last Season they have not made above Six hundred: About the middle of October they begin to look out for fish, the Season lasts all November, December, January, February, and part of March; a Yearling will make about forty Barils of Oyl, a Stunt or Whale two years old will make sometimes fifty, sometimes sixty Barrils of Oyl, and the largest whale that I have heard of in these Parts, yielded one hundred and ten barrels of Oyl, and twelve hundred Weight of Bone.' " In 170!) the fishery had attained such value on Long Island that some parties attempted to reduce it, so far as possible, to a monopoly, and grants of land previously made by Governor Fletcher and others, in a reckless and somewhat questionable manner were improved for per- sonal benefit. Earl Bellomont, in commenting on these irregular practices, writes to the lords of trade, under date of July 2 of that year,fl citing, among others, one Colonel Smith, who, he states, ' \. Y. Col. Records, iii, p. 282. t Ibid., p. 311. t Mass. Col. MSS., Usurpation, vi, p. 126. j Ibid., iv, p. 303. || N. Y. Col. Rec., v, p. 60. f Ibid., iv, p. 535. 38 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. ' has got the beach on the sea shore for fourty miles together, after an odd manner as I have been told by some of the inhabitants * * * having forced the town of Southampton to take a poore £10 for the greatest part of the said beach, which is not a valuable consideration in law, for Colonel Smith himself own'd to me that that beach was very profitable to him for whale fish- ing, and that one year he cleared £500, by whales taken there.' " In 1716, Samuel Mulford, of Easthampton, in a petition to the King, gave a sketch of the progress of this industry in that viciuity.* In the recital of the grievances of his neighbors and himself, he writes that ' the inhabitants of the said Township and parts adjacent did from the first Establishment of the said Colony of New Tork enjoy the Privilege & Benefit of fishing for whale & applying ye same to their own use as their undoubted right and property.'! By his petition it appears further that in 1664 Governor Nicolls and council directed that drift-whales should pay a duty of every sixteenth gallon of oil to the government, ' exempting the whales that were killed at Sea by persons who went on that design from any duty or imposition.' Governor Dongan also claimed duty on drift-whales, and he also exempted those killed at sea. 'There was no pretence,' under Dongau, ' to seize such whales or to exact anything from the fishermen on that account, being their ancient right and property. Thus the inhabitants had the right of fish- ing preserved to them, and the Crown the benefit of all drift Whales, and everything seemed well established between the Crown and the People, who continued chearfully, and with success, to carry on the said fishing trade.' This state of affairs continued until 1696, when Lord Corubury (afterward Earl of Clarendon) became governor. It was theu announced by those in authority that the whale was a 'Royal Fish,' and belonged to the Crown; consequently all whalers must be licensed ' for that purpose which he was sure to make them pay for, and also contribute good part of the fruit of their labour ; no less that a neat 14th part of the Oyle and Bone, when cut up, and to bring the same to New York an 100 miles distant from their habitation, an exaction so grievous, that few people did ever comply for it.' \ The result of this policy was to discourage the fishery, and its importance was sensibly decreased. In 1711 the New York authorities issued a writ to the sheriifs directing- them to seize all whales. This demand created much disturbance, but the people, knowing no remedy, submitted with what grace they could to what they felt was a grievous wrong, and an infringement upon their rights under the patent under which their settlement was founded. Since that time, Mulford continues, a formal prosecution had been commenced against him for hiring Indians to assist him in whaling. He concludes his petition with the assertion that, unless some relief was aiforded, the fishery must be ruined, since ' the person concerned will not be brought to the hardship of waiting out at sea many months, & the difficulty of bringing into New York the fish, and at last paying so great a share of their profit.' " Mulford, during the latter part of his life, was continually at loggerheads with the govern- ment at New York. A sturdy representative of that Puritan opposition to injustice and wrong with which the early settlers of Eastern Long Island were so thoroughly imbued, the declining years of his life were continual eras of contention against the tyrannies and exactions of governors, whose only interest seemed to be to suck the life blood from the bodies of these unfortunate flies caught in their spider's-uet, and cast the useless remains remorselessly away. He was one of the *N. Y. Col. Kec., v, p. 474. These are undoubtedly what the, authorities were pleased to term "Massachusetts notions." t It was these outrageously unjust laws that brought the government into the notorious disrepute it attained with its outlying dependencies from 1675 to 1720. In March, 1693, the council of Lord Cornbury declared certain drift-whales the property of the Crown (which apparently meant a minimum amount to the King and a maximum share to the governor), "when the subject can make no just claim of having killed them." One Richard Floyd having offered a reward to any parties bringing him information of such whales, the council ordered an inquiry into the matter in order to prevent such practices in the future. (Council Minutes, viii, p. 6.) \viiALK 1'isiiKKY. :;<.) remonstrants against flu- annexation of the eastern towns to the New York government, and irom 1700 to 17L'0 was the delegate from these towns to tbe assembly. In 1715 the opposition of the government to his constituency reached the point of a personal conflict with him. In a speech delivered in the assembly in this year he boldly and unsparingly denounced the authorities as tyrannical, extravagant, and dishonest. He cited numerous instances of injustices from officers of the customs to the traders of and to his section. While grain was selling in Boston at 6s. per bushel, and .only commanding one-half of that in New York, his people were compelled by existing laws to lose this difference in value. While the government was complaining of poverty and the lack of disposition on the part of the people to furnish means for its subsistence, the governor had received, says Mulford, during the past three years, three times the combined income of the governors of Massachusetts, Ehode Island, and Connecticut. In 1716 the assembly ordered this speech to be put into the hands of the speaker, but Mulford, without hesitation, caused it to be published and circulated.* From this time forth the war upon him was, so far as the government was concerned, a series of persecutions, but Mulford undauntedly braved them all and in the end was triumphant. Quite a number of letters passed between the governor and himself, and between them both and the lords of trade in London. As an earnest of the feeling his opposition had stirred up, the governor commenced a suit against him in the supreme court, the judges of which owed their appointment to the executive. Shortly after this, Governor Hunter, in a communi- cation to the lords of trade regarding the state of affairs in the province, writes that he is informed that Mulford, who 'has continually flown in face of government,' and always disputed with the Crown the right of whaling, has gone to London to urge his case.t He states that ' that poor, troublesome old man' is the only mutineer in a province otherwise quiet (an assertion that evidenced either a reckless disregard for truth, or a want of knowledge of affairs inexcusably culpable); that the case he pleads has been brought before the supreme court and decided against him, and Mulford is the only man who disputes the Crown's right, and the good governor charitably recommends their lordships to ' bluff him.'| Still later, Hunter states that it was the custom long before his arrival to take out whaling licenses. Many came voluntarily and did so. If whaling is ' decayed,' it was not for want of whalemen, for the number increases yearly ; ' but the truth of the matter is, that the Town of Boston is the Port of Trade of the People inhabiting that end of Long Island of late years, so that the exportation from hence of that commodity must in the Books be less than formerly.' The perquisites arising from the sale of these licenses were of no account in themselves, but yielding in this matter would only open a gap for the disputation of every perquisite of the goverument.§ * A copy of this speech is bound in an old volume of the Boston News-Letter, in the library of the Boston Athenaum. tin the address of H. P. Hedges at the Bi-Centennial celebration at Easthaiupton, iu 1850, he says, whenMulford finally repaired to London to present the case to the King, he was obliged to conceal his intention. Leaving South- ampton secretly, he landed at Newport, walked to Boston, and from thence embarked for London. Arrived there, he " presented his memorial, which it is said attracted much attention, ami was read by him in the House of Commons." He returned home in triumph, having obtained the desired end. Atthis time he was seventy-one years old. "Songs and rejoicings," says . I. Lyon Gardiner (vide Hedge's Address, p. 21), "took place among the whalemen of Suffolk County upon his arrival, on account of his having succeeded in getting ibe King's sharu given np." It is related of him (Ibid., p. 68) that while at the court of St. James, being somewhat verdant, he was much annoyed by pickpockets. As a palliative, he had a tailor sew several fish-hooks on the inside of his pockets, and soon after one of the fraternity was caught. This incident being published at the time won for him an extensive notoriety. He was representative from East Hampton from 1715 to 1720, and died in 1725, aged eighty years. t N. Y. Col. Eec., v, 460. This assertion must be inexcusably inaccurate, for it was unquestionably on the ground of his sturdy defense of their rights that the people of Easthainpton so steadily returned him to the assembly. § N. Y. Col. Eec., v, p. 484. This admission of Hunter's of the smallness of the revenue is indisputable evidence of his incompetence, and of the truth of Mulford's assertion of the ultimate ruin of the whale-fishery under such restric- tions. 40 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. "To this the lords of trade reply :* 'Ton may intimate in your letter to our Secretary of 22d November last that the Whale fishery is reserved to the Crown by your Pateuts : as we can find no such thing in your Commission, you will explain what you mean by it. ' Mulford is now in London, and desires dispatch in the decision in regard to this matter, pending which the lords desire to know whether dues have been paid by any one; if so, what amount has been paid, and to what purpose this revenue has been applied. They close their letter with the following sentence, which would hardly seeui open to any danger of misconstruction : ' Upon thin occasion we must observe to you, that ire hopeyou trill give all due incovragement to that Trade.' Evidently the case of Mulford vs. Hunter looks badly for the governor. Still, Hunter is loth to yield readily, and the discussion is further prolonged. "It is now 1718. Governor Hunter, in his answer to the inquiries of their lordships, says Commission was issued giving power ' Cognosceudi de Flotsam, Jetsoin, Lagon, Deodandis, &c.,' follows ' et de Piscibus Itegalibus Sturgeonibus, Balenis Ccetis Porpetiis Delphinis Eeggis. &<•.' In regard to the income, he again writes that it is inconsiderable; that only the danger of being accused of giving up the Crown's right would have led him to write about it. In amount, it was not £20 per annum (corroboratory of Mulford's assertion of its decline), and as the fish had left this coast, he should not further trouble them about it. Up to the present time all but Mulford had paid and continued to pay. The subject appears to have been finally referred to the attorney- general, and the governor says (1719), waiting his opinion, he has surceased all demands till it comes. The question must have been left in a state of considerable mistiness, however, for in 1720 Governor Burnett informs the lords, in a letter which indicates a satisfied feeling of compromise between official dignity and the requirements of the trade, that he remits the 5 per centum on the whale fishery, but asserts the King's rights by still requiring licenses, though in ' so doing he neglects his own profit,' ; and this,' he adds, 'has a good effect on the country.' Under his admin- istration the act for the encouragement of the whale fishery was renewed." t 4. BOAT WHALING IN TSE PRESENT CENTURY. Within the present century shore whaling has been prosecuted to some extent at .various points on the Atlantic coast, from Maine to South Carolina. The business has been profitable at Provincetown, Mass., and at Beaufort, N. C. At the former place during the spring of 1880, forty- eight whales, valued at $14,037, were captured; at the latter place the average annual catch is four whales, valued at $4,500. The total value of the shore whaling on the entire coast in 1880 reached about $18,000, which is far above the average year's work. We are indebted to Mr. Earll for facts about .this fishery at Maine, and the southern North Carolina coast, and to Captain Atwood for an account of the business at Provincetown. COAST OF MAINE. Shore-whaling in the vicinity of Tremout began about 1840. Mr. Benjamin Beaver and a small crew of men caught three or more whales annually for about twenty years, but gave up the business in 1860. No more whales were taken from this time till the spring of 1880, when one was taken and brought into Bass Harbor, and yielded 1,200 gallons of oil, but no bone of value. *N. Y. Col. Eec., v, p. 510. t ALEXANDER STARBUCK: Hist. Am. Whale Fishery, in U. S. Fish Com. Report, 1875-76. THK WHAL!<; FISHERY. 41 ('apt. .1. r.ickford, a native ol' Winter Harbor, is reported by Mr. C. P. Guptil to have cruised off the coast in lSl."i in schooner IIn/,/a, and to have captured eight whales, one of which was a finback, the rest humpback whales. This schoouer made only one season's work, but in 1870 Cap- tain Hir.kford again tried his luck in a vessel from Prospect Harbor and captured one finback whale. Mr. Harll states that according to Capt. George A. Clark and Captain Bickford whaling was extensively carried on from Prospect Harbor for many years. The fishing began about 1810, when Stephen Clark and Mr. L. Ililler, of Rochester, Mass., came to the region, and built try- works on the shore, having their lookout station on the top of an adjoining hill. The whales usually followed the menhaden to the shore, arriving about the first of June and remaining till September. When one was seen the boats, armed with harpoons and lances, immediately put out from the land and gave chase. If they succeeded in killing the whale, it was towed to the flats of the harbor at high water, where it was secured and left to be cut up at low tide. Ten years later they began using small vessels in the fishery, and by this means were enabled to go farther from laud. The fishery was at its height about 1835 to 1840, when an average of six or seven whales was taken yearly. The largest number taken in any one season was ten. The -average yield of oil was 25 to 30 barrels for each whale. The business was discontinued about 1860, since which date but one or two whales have been taken. COAST OF MASSACHUSETTS. In the early part of the present century whales were abundant along this coast, and Province- town whalers in small boats frequently captured a large number in a season. The Gloucester Telegraph of November 6, 1850, says : "A right whale was taken at Provincetown last Thursday by a party in three boats. It is estimated to yield GO barrels of oil/' In the Barnstable Patriot of November 12, 1861, is the following item : •' Whale. — On Saturday morning the spout of a whale which was discovered playing around off Nauset in the midst of a fleet of some 200 mackerel fishermen was suddenly cut short by a Nantucket fisherman, the Sam Chase making fast to him. This is the fifth whale taken by Sam Chase since July 25, and will make about 25 barrels. The five will have made 125 barrels, worth $1,500." Whales have from time to time been stranded on the beaches about Cape Ann; several have also been found by fishing vessels and towed into Gloucester Harbor. In July, 1833, one 50 feet long, and measuring 10 feet through, was towed into the harbor and tried out on Eastern Point. The Cape Ann Advertiser of October 21, 1870, records the capture off Eastern Point of a whale 45 feet in length. In the. spring of 1880 finback whales were unusually abundant in Ipswich and Massa- chusetts Bays, so that fishermen in their dories were in some cases alarmed for their own safety, as the whales were darting about in pursuit of schools of herring. Six of this species of whale were found dead floating in the bay and towed into Gloucester harbor. They had been killed by Provincetown whalers. Three of them were tried out at Gloucester ; the remainder were allowed to drift to sea again. Captain Atwood writes the following account of the shore-whaling at Provincetown in 1880: "Early in March there came into our bay and harbor immense quantities of herring and shrimp. They were followed by a great number of finb ack whales, that remained here most of the time in greater or less numbers until about the middle of May, when they all left the coast. During the time they were here many of them were killed with bomb-lances. They sank when killed, and 42 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. remained on the bottom some two or three days, when they floated on the surface, and as they were liable to come up in the night or during rugged weather, when the whalemen were not on hand to take care of them, many drifted out to sea, and were lost or picked up by Gloucester fish- ing vessels and towed to that port. A few were brought to Provincetown by these vessels, with whom the proceeds for the oil were divided. There were brought in and landed at Jonathan Cook's oil works on Long Point 38 whales, from which the blubber was stripped and the oil extracted. Two other whales brought in were sold to parties who tcok them away for exhibi- tion, one to Boston and the other to New York. "Early in June immense quantities of sand-eels (Ammodytes) came n our harbor and bay and remained several days. About the 10th of June there appeared plenty of whales feeding on the sand-eels. They were again attacked "by our men, when a number of them were killed in a few days, and ten were saved and landed at the oil works. Probably as many more that were not killed outright received their death wound, went out of the bay, soon after died, and were lost. " The forty-eight whales delivered at the oil works yielded about 950 barrels of oil, that sold at an average price of 40 cents per gallon. " When the first whales were killed it was supposed the whalebone in their mouths was worth- less, and it was not saved; but subsequently some was saved and sold at 15 cents per pound. The average quantity of bone in each whale is about 250 pounds. Probably the bone of thirty-five whales has been saved, making an aggregate of 8,750. "No whales have come in of late; our men are still anxiously looking for another school, hoping they will come again and give them another benefit. " Total for the season's work : 48 whales, 29,925 gallons of oil, at 40 cents $11,970 00 1 whale, sold for exhibit in Boston 350 00 1 whale, sold for exhibit in New York 405 00 8,750 pounds of whalebone from thirty-five whales, at 15 cents 1, 312 50 14,037 50 "Besides the whales saved and taken to Provincetown, many of those lost by our whalers were towed into other places ; others have drifted on shore at different points. We hear of four being towed into Gloucester, three into Boston, one to Newburyport, one to Cape Porpoise, one Portland, one Mount Desert ; two drifted ashore at Scituate, two at Barnstable, one at Brewster, one at Orleans, two at Wellfleet, one on the back of Cape Cod ; one was stripped of its blubber at sea by a fishing vessel, that sold it in Boston. The entire catch from March to July was probably one hundred whales, of which number nearly all were killed by Provincetown whalers. Three of these whales were humpbacks ; the rest were of the finback species." In the fall of 1S80 a finback whale about 50 feet long was killed in Cape Cod Bay, and towed to Boston, where it was sold to an enterprising Yankee, who, after realizing quite a profit by exhibit- ing it in Boston, conceived the idea of transporting it to Chicago for exhibition. It was accordingly carefully cleaned and loaded upon a large platform car. Salt and ice were freely used for its preservation. It reached Chicago, and was shown to the public as one of the wonders of the deep. The enterprising exhibitor made several thousand dollars by this venture. The following graphic description of whaling in Massachusetts Bay in 1881 was written for a Boston newspaper : " The denizens of Cape Cod have always been an amphibious population, largely taking their living from, and making their fortunes upon, the waters of the oceans of the world. Especially is this the case with the people of the lower half of the ' Right Arm,' who are fishers indeed, the Till'; \\ IIAU<; nsiiKiiY. 4:l> majority of them taking to the water, like ,\ on ng ducks, immediately alter their advent into a sandy world, and becoming experts in the navigation of its depths and the capture of its treasures even before their school days have fully passed. " Pro vincetown occupies the extremity — the curling finger — of this cape, and its situation is in every way peculiar. With the exception of a narrow strip or neck of sand heaps which unites it to the main cape, it is surrounded by water — the salt water of the Atlantic — which rolls unchecked between its outer shores and those of Europe. Its outer coast line, beginning at a point opposite the narrow neck alluded to, sweeps around in a grand circle almost the entire circuit of the compass, its outlines nearly resembling those of a gigantic capital O, as that letter is usually found in manuscript. The inclosed water of this circle is the harbor of Provincetown, and the town is built along the inner shore, at the bottom of the basin. Outside is the Kace, Wood End, and sundry interesting points of light-house, life-saving station, all of vast moment to mariners and ship-owners. Inside is one of the singular harbors of the world, deep enough and spacious enough to shelter a fleet of hundreds of the largest ships of the world at one time, and with pecu- liarities belonging to itself sufficient to make it famous wherever these ships may sail. "If there are any kinds of fish, or any methods of taking them, which are not familiar to the waters or the people of Provincetowu, their description is now in order. From the fry and minnow for pickerel bait up to the 100 barrel right whale, Provincetown watershave witnessed the capture of all kinds, and have frequently contributed specimens over which savants have puzzled and wondered. ' The beaches of her shores have received as loot mighty carcases of whales and black- fish ; shoals of porgies at one time, which all the teams of all the region could hardly remove soon enough, so immense was the deposit, while fish-weirs (one of them took 700 barrels of mackerel a few mornings since), try-works, and the implements and appliances of various fisheries mark the scene in all directions. " Now, it has been no unusual thing, at any time since the establishment of this exaggerated fish-net yclept Provincetown, for a whale of some variety to be occasionally stranded upon her beaches, or captured by her cruisers or boatmen. But it is only within the past three years that the systematic pursuit of a leviathan within her waters has been established ; in other words, that the home whale-fishery has been a feature of her business operations. A whale in the harbor of Provincetown, especially at certain seasons, is almost as common a presence as that of a turtle in a mill-pond ; but they are usually representatives of a class disliked and scorned by old-school whalemen, and not remunerative to their capturers, unless the latter be men of enthusiasm and desperate enterprise. So that, although there are plenty of veteran whalers in the region, it has been left to the young Provincetowners of the present generation to inaugurate and establish an enterprise which has already shown good results. One young captain, with his crew, last year took upward of 250 barrels of oil off Provincetown, and is scoring fair results the present season, though the conditions have, so far, been very unfavorable. Some of his whales he captured in the harbor; but mainly his game was chased and killed in the water outside and near by. "The variety of whale mostly found in Massachusetts Bay waters is the finback, a long, clean, perfectly formed creature, growing sometimes to 75 or 80 feet in length, but usually from 45 to 55 feet. He is the most complete model of craft for speed and easy working in the water that can be imagined, and his tail in motion the most perfect development of the screw motor ; and, indeed, the finback moves through the water when occasion offers as the most rapid express train never does on its tracks on land. It is timid and non-resistant, and it is principally on account of its great speed and its habit of immediate fight when stricken that the old whalemen detest it. Tour veteran has no relish for being drawn to the bottom, boat and all, by an aqua- tic race-horse possessing the traveling qualities of a meteor. 44 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. "Therefore, as hinted above, the youugsters who are perpetually learning new 'kinks' and confounding their progenitors, have stepped into a new order of things. They begin with an exact reversal of the old-time processes, which were to harpoon the whale, and then lance him to death. The Provincetowner first lances his prey, and immediately after harpoons it, for reasons and in pursuance of methods shortly to be given. ''The finbacks come in numbers early in the spring, following the bait which is their food — herrings, sand eels, mackerel, and the like, and where this bait is found in reasonable quantities the whales will surely be found. Wheu feeding this whale stretches wide open his jaws, moves forward among the bait on the surface with velocity until he has pocketed or scooped (in his mouth) a quantity (some barrels), when he snaps together his front doors and swallows the catch, having no teeth, nor need of any. It is at this feeding season that he is easiest approached and fastened to. Wheu not feeding he is usually lazily sleeping, or disporting, and, indeed, the gam- bols of this variety of whale seem to form a very necessary part of his existence, to which he pays much attention. The antics of a calf in a pasture, or a young puppy in a back yard, are hardly more diverting or singular than are those of a pair of whales in their festive moments. They will stand on their heads and flourish their tails in the air ; then stand upon their tails and snap their jaws in the air. They whirl and roll and swash about, sometimes tearing the water into shreds, and again darting about, exhausting every possibility of whale enjoyment. They are as full of curiosity as a deer, or as are many of the fish varieties, and this they evidence frequently by play- ing about the boats which have come out to capture them, reconuoiteriug and viewing these boats from all sides, and sinking a few feet below the surface, following their every motion, while they occasionally appear at the surface for an outside observation. " When touched or struck their immediate impulse is to dash off like a rocket, and this impulse they obey to perfection. To test their marvelous facility of speed, a harpoon was thrown into one off the Eace (the extremity of Gape Cod), when he started off across the bay in the direc- tion of Boston, and in forty minutes had dragged the boat and its contents of crew and imple- ments within full view of Minot's Ledge light-house. All the line was paid out by the boat's crew and they