292 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



ists or transferred them to the merchant service under foreign 

 registry. Some whaling merchants who refused to suspend 

 operations put their vessels under the Hawaiian flag and kept 

 them in the Pacific. Other operators, still more cautious, kept 

 their whalers tied up to the home wharves, where they rotted 

 away to such an extent that when the war closed they were in 

 need of extensive repairs, if not entirely unseaworthy. 



For several years after 1865 it seemed that the fortunes of 

 the industry might be revived, in spite of the ravages of war. 

 Prices deserted their war-time heights, it is truej but they fell 

 away gradually, rather than precipitously, and continued to re- 

 main above the level of i860. The average prices of oil and 

 bone for the decade beginning with i860 present a clear picture 

 of the course of the market: ^ 



Year Sperm Oil Whale Oil Whalebone 



(per gallon) (per gallon) (per pound) 



i860 $1,313^ $ .44% $ .66 



1861 i.42>'2 .5973 .88 



1862 1. 61 -95/4 1-62 



1863 1.78 1.28 1.80 



1864 2.25 1.45 1. 71 



1865 2.55 1.21 1.37 



1866 2.23^4 -JSH i-i?/^ 



1867 1.92 .82 1.025^ 



1868 1.78 i.oi^ 1.24 



1869 1.353^ .67^4 .85 



Such relatively favorable prices, together with the removal 

 of war risks, served to release the potential energy which had 

 been held in leash. As a result the annual figures of the 



2 These average prices were taken from the annual figures published by 

 the Whalemen's Shipping List. It should be noted, however, that such averages 

 might be the result of wide fluctuations during the course of any given year. 

 Thus the ship James Maury, arriving at New Bedford during the fifth month, 

 1868, sold her best whale oil for 78^ per gallon, despite the fact that the average 

 price for the year was $i.oi%. Similarly, her whalebone brought only 86^ per 

 pound, although the average price of all bone sold during that year was $1.24 

 per pound. Her sperm oil, however, sold for $1.80 per gallon, whereas the 

 average price was $1.78. Prices varied, too, with quality. The accounts of this 

 same voyage, for instance, showed that the Grade A sperm oil was disposed 

 of for $1.80 per gallon; the Grade B sperm oil ("dark and sour") for $1.50; 

 and the Grade C sperm oil ("black and stinking") for $1.25. The differences 

 in the quality of the whale oil on board were less striking. The best quality 

 brought 78^ per gallon, whereas only three cents less was secured for both 

 brown and black whale oil. Whalebone prices varied with the length and the 



