HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



but for reasons which we shall presently have occasion to mention, it has never, as a rule, come 

 into general use. Few sails were used in whale-boats iu early days, but now they are exclusively 

 used. The rate of .speed varies with different boats. Whalemen take pride in having a fast sailer, 

 and as it is a difficult matter to combine both sailing and pulling qualities, they prefer the former 

 iu all cases. The present boat is capable of making about 7 or 8 knots per hour in a smooth sea 

 with a good fresh breeze well aft on the quarter. Under favorable conditions some whalemen 

 claim a speed of 8 knots under sail and others 10; but from 4 to (> knots per hour perhaps would 

 be a fair average when down for whales. Sails are iu variably used in connection with the paddles 

 whenever the wind gives a rate of speed of about 2 miles an hour iu approaching a whale, as the 

 boat moves much more quietly under sail than when propelled by oars. As to the speed by means 

 of oars, a well trained crew may in smooth water pull at the rate of 5 knots an hour during the 

 first hour when lowered from the ship, but generally they do not make more than 4 during the 

 second. Pulling to windward with a fair breeze, they would probably make about 4 knots an hour; 

 with a green crew probably not over 3 knots. 



THE LIFE OF A WHALE-BOAT. As to the durability or life of this kind of boat I should say 

 that some vessels return with the same boats they took out, which have, however, undergone many 

 repairs during the voyage ; but usually the boats are so much disabled iu the service as to render 

 substitutes imperative. One of the most destructive agents is the flukes of the whale. In the 

 Arctic regions the boats are frequently stove by collision with ice. As a rule, however, they suffer 

 the greatest damage when hoisted and lowered to and from the vessel, particularly in rough 

 weather. This has a tendency to split the strakes, break the gunwales, and rack the boat to 

 pieces generally. Towing dead whales to the ship also weakens the boat and sometimes " starts" 

 the nails. 



THE COLOR OF A WHALE-BOAT. When finished the boats are generally painted white unless 

 otherwise ordered, since this color is more popular. But the color depends upon the localities 

 in which the ship is expected to cruise; for example, the boats used about the Gulf Stream are 

 sometimes painted of a leather or salmon tint, and others may be painted of a lead color or a light 

 blue. White is preferable in the Arctic regions as it assimilates to the color of the ice and dimin- 

 ishes the chances of " gallyiug" the whales. Some builders simply prime the boats and the whale- 

 men paint them on board ship. The top strake is usually of a color differing from that of the rest 

 of the boat; it is green, black, or perhaps blue, dependent upon the fancy of the officer in charge. 

 Previous to 1818 I am told it was not customary to paint whale-boats at all; they were, however, 

 pitched with hot resin. 



THE WEIGHT OF THE WHALE-BOAT. Messrs. Beeves and Kelley, boat-builders of New 

 London, tell me that the boats of their manufacture weigh from 500 to 550 pounds. The whale- 

 boat in the F. S. National Museum, the gift of Messrs. I. H. Bartlett & Sons, of New Bedford, weighs, 

 with the masts, sails, oars, and all necessary apparatus of capture and accessories, 1,528 pounds. 

 If we add to the above the weight of a crew of six men, we shall have the average weight of a 

 whale-boat when engaged iu the capture. 



THE PRICES OF THE WHALE-BOAT. In 1880, the 28-foot boats sold for $90 and the 30-foot 

 boats for $100 each, at New Bedford; at Provincetowu the price was from $110 to $120 each. 

 When the smooth-bottom boats were first made, the difference in price between them and the lap- 

 streak boats was 810 each in favor of the former. 



TRANSPORTATION OF BOATS ON WHALING VESSELS. Ships and barks in the whale fishery 

 carry four boats for immediate use, and two or perhaps three spare boats; the former on the 

 cranes suspended out-board and the latter with reversed bottoms lashed to the after deck house. 



