150 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



Later, however, other areas were opened in Behring Straits 

 and in the frigid waters to which the Straits gave access. 



The favorite localities in the Atlantic comprised the Car- 

 roll Ground between St. Helena and Africa j the north and 

 south coasts of Brazil j the Caribbean Seaj the Gulf of 

 Mexico 3 the waters in the vicinity of Greenland and Davis 

 Straits 3 and other regions ofF the Azores and Cape Verde Is- 

 lands, east of the Windward Islands, and north of the Bahama 

 Banks. The Indian Ocean afforded favorable opportunities 

 for the chase in the waters off the coast of Arabia, the west 

 coast of Java, the south and northwest coasts of New Holland 

 (Australia), and the southern and northern ends of Mada- 

 gascar. 



In a classification based upon the species sought, the sperm 

 whale grounds included practically all those in the tropical and 

 temperate waters of the world, while the right whale resorts 

 were situated in the frigid and temperate zones. There was 

 thus an appreciable overlapping of the two in the temperate re- 

 gions. The domains of the cachalot have been listed fully in 

 the preceding paragraphs. The northern right whale, how- 

 ever, was to be found also in the waters of Spitzbergen, 

 Kamchatka, Bafiin Bay, Hudson Bay, the Sea of Okhotsk, the 

 Japan Sea, and the Arctic Ocean j and the southern right whale 

 frequented the areas adjacent to Tristan d'Acunha, St. Paul's, 

 Crozet, Kerguelen, and the Falkland Islands, the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and the coasts of Chile, Patagonia, Brazil, Africa, 

 and New Zealand. 



A whaler, unlike a merchant vessel, pursued no definite 

 course. And yet certain general routes were followed, with 

 many deviations, in passing from one whaling ground to an- 

 other. Thus sperm whalers necessarily went out either by 

 way of Cape Horn or via the Cape of Good Hope. In the 

 former case they were likely to leave the United States in the 

 early summer, in order to reach the coast of Chile or Peru in 

 time to "recruit" (putting into port in order to obtain fresh 

 provisions and new supplies) for the season on the Off-Shore 

 Ground which began in November. After two or three 

 months there, one of two favorite courses was usually fol- 

 lowed. The vessels might proceed to the Marquesas Islands, 



