250 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



In a Case 



Cost 



10 Pieces Louisiana Twill 375 Yds. @ 

 10 Pieces Washington Jeans 375 Yds. @ 



4 Doz. Axe Handles 



2^2 Doz. Handles 



1 Chain Cable 90 Fathoms 5600 lbs. @ 



I Anchor 1450 lbs. @ 



25 Barrels Flour 



I Whaling Gun 

 50 Bomb Lances 

 Specie 



2689.33 

 We wish things sold at cost rather than have them brought home. 

 To Capt. George White. New Bedford, Nov. 30, 1858. 



The figures given in the above list disclose that, on the aver- 

 age, the commodities were sold for about twice as much as they 

 cost. This rate of return, though departed from in many in- 

 dividual instances, was perhaps representative of most mid- 

 century whalers. The more responsible agents and owners 

 gave their captains price lists which were calculated to yield a 

 profit of about I00% per voyage on the slop-chest transactions. 

 But these set prices applied only to sales to the crew. In deal- 

 ing with outsiders the masters were commonly instructed to 

 secure the best terms possible. And these "best terms possible" 

 often pushed the profits well above ioo%. 



A case in point was the voyage of the ship Montreal which 

 closed in 1862. For this cruise the slop-chest alone showed 

 a net profit of $3149.56. During the four-year period 1856- 

 1860, however, the ship Adeline made total sales aggregating 

 only $2663.36 — an amount appreciably less than the net 

 profits of the Montreal. A somewhat smaller amount, $2- 

 458.29, was sold by the ship Fab'ms on her seventh and last 

 voyage (she was wrecked on Solidad Reef, off the coast of Cali- 

 fornia, in 1865). But even these sums were princely when 

 contrasted with the $400.32 slop-chest profit made by the ship 

 James Maury on her first voyage, 1845— 1848. A normal and 

 representative cruise, on the other hand, was that of the bark 

 Mars J 185 7- 1859. H^^r figures were: ^ 



3 All figures given in this paragraph were taken from the original account- 

 books of the vessels mentioned. These volumes are now in the stacks of the 

 New Bedford Public Library. 



