BEARINGS 15 



lation and to enforce those laws which were on the statute 

 books. 



And when, after enduring many months of such conditions, 

 the whaleman finally returned to his home port, his lot only 

 passed from bad to worse. For the average foremast hand on 

 shore was helpless in the toils of an organized system of 

 exploitation. Outfitters and infitters, shipping-agents, and 

 boarding-house keepers all took heavy toll from his slender 

 purse. And their satellites and confederates, the runners, 

 grog-dispensers, and keepers and inmates of brothels, took 

 equally heavy toll from his character — and completed the 

 pilfering of his purse. In the end, after a few days or weeks 

 of hectic and degrading dissipation, he was usually cajoled or 

 bullied into signing on for another cruise of three to four 

 years. And very soon thereafter, with an empty pocketbook 

 and an outfit for which he was being charged an exorbitant 

 price, plus interest at twenty-five per cent per voyage, he was 

 dumped into the forecastle of an outward-bound whaler, com- 

 monly in a comatose state of drunkenness which only many 

 hours and much profane abuse on the part of the mates could 

 dispel. 



What were the compensations for such a life of hardship, 

 danger, and degradation? The financial remuneration took 

 the form of a "lay," or a fractional share in the net proceeds 

 of an entire voyage. A green hand commonly started with a 

 lay of 1/200 J an able seaman secured about 1/15OJ a boat- 

 steerer often obtained 1/75 j whereas a few favored captains 

 sometimes bargained for as much as i/io or 1/12. Since the 

 amount due under this system could not be calculated until 

 the conclusion of a cruise, the ordinary whaleman was depen- 

 dent upon the owners and master for the advance of any goods 

 or cash which he might require during the long absence of 

 one to four years. Consequently it was necessary to keep 

 an individual account for each member of a crewj and the final 

 settlement involved only the payment of the net difference 

 between the totals of a rather elaborate set of debit and credit 

 items. 



Such a system provided excellent opportunities for extortion 

 and financial chicanery — and these opportunities were by no 



