EARNINGS AND THE LAY 227 



nal. The prices charged for both original outfit and slop- 

 chest articles, too, were notoriously high and often extortionate. 

 And at the time of final settlement the prices of all purchases, 

 the principal and interest of all loans, and other charges, in- 

 cluding some of doubtful justification, appeared amongst the 

 items to be deducted from the amount of the lay. It is ap- 

 parent that in so far as these charges were either unjustifiable 

 or exorbitant they represented deductions from total wages 

 which were far from giving the crews full value received. 

 Thus a large proportion of the average whaleman's gross earn- 

 ings came to him in the form of goods and cash which could 

 be secured only upon the most unfavorable terms. Purchas- 

 ing power was provided in advance of actual payment, but was 

 also greatly reduced. 



Such a paring down of real wages accounted largely for the 

 fact that the lay system failed miserably to furnish an incen- 

 tive toward more energetic work by foremast hands. Since 

 wage payment by means of the lay rendered the earnings of 

 the whaleman directly dependent upon securing the greatest 

 possible catch in the shortest possible time, it would seem that 

 under it he should have been stimulated to hearty endeavor. 

 The absence of such a looked-for result must be attributed in 

 part to the unambitious character of the crews. But it was 

 due even more to the many conditions which brought about a 

 wide gap between the immediate efforts of any individual and 

 the amount of his earnings. 



These conditions included the attitude and actions of the 

 remaining members of the forecastle j the whaling skill, navi- 

 gating ability, and trading shrewdness of the captain j the busi- 

 ness judgment of the agents and owners j the varying fortunes 

 of the chase J the nature and amount of the debit items ac- 

 cumulated during the course of a voyage j and the fluctuations 

 in the market prices of oil and bone. Any one or more of 

 these circumstances, over which the individual foremast hand 

 was able to exercise little or no control, might well offset any 

 conscientious contribution to the success of a cruise. This fact, 

 coupled with the apathy, indifference, and suspicion manifested 

 on most whalers, caused the average hand to labor only under 

 the immediate spur of a brutalizing discipline, and to be as inef- 



