BEARINGS 5 



Bedford alone was $2,490,0515 and during the ensuing forty 

 years, with six annual exceptions, it remained between $2,000,- 

 000 and $6,000,000/ The whaling fleet attained its greatest 

 size as early as 1846, when 735 vessels, aggregating 233,189 

 tons, were engaged in the industry. The years of greatest 

 production, however, extended over the decade 1 843-1 853. 

 Sperm oil, with 166,985 barrels, reached its peak in 1843J 

 whale oil, with 328,483 barrels, in 1851; and whalebone, with 

 the enormous catch of 5,652,300 pounds, in 1853.^ 



The size and scope of the industry stand out clearly in two 

 cross-section views. The first is a statistical photograph taken 

 during the year 1833, when the whaling merchants were just 

 entering upon their greatest era. The second portrays the 

 business as it appeared on January i, 1844, while gathering 

 resources to send out its greatest fleet two years later. 



In 1833 there were some 392 American whaling vessels, 

 displacing about 132,000 tons and carrying approximately 

 10,000 men. The value of vessels and outfits was placed at 

 $12,000,000; and the annual income for each of the three 

 preceding years was estimated to have been about $4,500,000. 

 In addition, there were numerous other occupations which were 

 wholly or partly dependent upon the industry. Such were 

 the manufacture of whaling equipment and of whaling prod- 

 uctsj shipbuilding and repairing; ship-chandlery; the conduct 

 of sail-lofts and of rope-walks; the furnishing of outfits and 

 of board and lodging for prospective and returning crews; and 

 the provision, for whalemen on shore leave, of facilities for 

 recreation and dissipation. Including these subsidiary callings, 

 it was held that about $70,000,000 worth of property and some 

 70,000 persons were involved, directly and indirectly, in the 

 business of whale-hunting.' 



Within the next decade, however, even these generous fig- 

 ures were far outdistanced. By January i, 1844, the fleet had 



1 Pease, Z. W., and Hough, G. A., "New Bedford, Mass.: Its History, In- 

 dustry, Institutions, and Attractions," p. 36. Published by the New Bedford 

 Board of Trade in 1889. 



2 Figures taken from the Whalemen's Shipping List, the authoritative weekly 

 organ of the whaling industry. Figures for a given year are found in a 

 January issue of the ensuing year. 



'Williams, J. R., in North American Revieiu, xxxviii, pp. 84-116. 



