286 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



It should be remarked, however, that the sums allocated to 

 the owners did not comprise business profits proper j for the 

 latter appeared only after certain further deductions, such as 

 depreciation charges and interest payments, had been made. 

 Similarly the thirty per cent of the net proceeds which went to 

 officers and men by no means represented actual cash re- 

 ceived; for this gross amount was whittled away in order to 

 pay for the numerous charges against the lay which accumu- 

 lated during the course of a cruise. Thus one voyage of the 

 bark Minerva^ 1836— 1839, yielded gross lays of $2,768.21, 

 or 24.75% of the net proceeds. But the amount of cash actu- 

 ally paid out to officers and men at the time of final settle- 

 ment was only $1546.58, or 13.8% of the net proceeds. The 

 difference of $1,221.63 represented the cumulative debit en- 

 tries for the voyage. Or, stating the matter in other terms, 

 charges and advances made during the cruise absorbed 44. i % 

 of the total wages bill and 10.9% of the entire net proceeds. 



But what determined whether the earnings of a given firm's 

 voyages, however divided between owners and crews, were to 

 be great or small? The facts of the industry made it pain- 

 fully and unmistakably evident that luck was by no means a 

 despicable factor in bringing about whaling success or failure. 

 Was it, however, more important than the possession of capi- 

 tal, connections, and business ability? 



The possession of adequate capital was particularly advan- 

 tageous in whaling because it was often necessary to tide over 

 long periods of severe losses. Good connections, too, could not 

 fail to prove helpful in an industry which was so strongly 



taken directly from the original account-books, now in the New Bedford Public 

 Library. Those for the Lion were found in an early article entitled "Notes 

 on Nantucket," dated August i, 1807, and published in the Massachusetts 

 Historical Society Collections, Series 2, Vol. Ill, p. 30. 



