192 



HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



Voyages of American whaling vessels, 1870 to 1880 Continued. 



11. REVIEW OF WHALE FISHERY OF FOREIGN NATIONS. 



In 1846 the combined whaling fleet of the world numbered nearly one thousand sail, of which 

 number seven hundred and twenty-nine were under the American flag, the others hailing from 

 Great Britiau. Germany, France, and other foreign countries. 



In 1880 the entire fleet numbered not more than two hundred and fifty vessels, one hundred and 

 seventy-one of which were American. The only foreign country that now has a fleet of large vessels 

 in the whale fishery is Scotland, which employs about twenty large steamers in the whale fishery 

 of East Greenland and in Davis SI ra it. Norway has a fleet of small-sized steamers and sail vessels 

 employed in whaling chiefly along shore. Australia and New Zealand have a few vessels engaged 

 in whaling in the vicinity of those countries, and Chili owns a few vessels cruising along the South 

 American coast. Canada and Newfoundland also employ a few vessels in whaling, though most of 

 their time is spent in sealing. 



It is impossible to tell when and where the fishing for whales originated. In many of the 

 ancient records there are references to these great animals and accounts of their capture. Most 

 writers on the subject think that the Norwegians were the first to make a business of catching 

 whales, and the account of a voyage to Norway by one Othere, a native of Heligoland, is frequently 

 quoted to show that before the year 890 they had been captured on the coast of Norway. The 

 Norwegians may have been the first to engage in the whale fishery, but they pursued no system- 

 atic plan, and their work should be regarded the same as the fishing expeditious of (he Eskimos. 

 The Biscayans were probably the first who prosecuted the fishery as a regular commercial pursuit, 

 and they carried it on with great vigor in the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries. 



The whales taken by the Biscayans were probably the finback species, which doubtless 

 frequented the bays and seas of Europe in pursuit of herring. As they became scarce near home 

 they were hunted in other parts, as at Iceland, upon the banks of Newfoundland, and in the Gulf 

 of Saint Lawrence. 



The first authentic account of the English people engaging in whaling is in 1594, when 

 several vessels were sent to Cape Breton fitted for hunting the walrus and whale. One of these 

 vessels, the Grace of Bristol, brought home to England a quantity of whale fins or whalebone, 



