230 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



That is, his wage bargain entitled him, as time went on, to a 

 smaller fractional share of the voyages for which he shipped: 

 so that while during the first decade of the century he received, 

 if an ordinary seaman, a lay which was approximately Vis of 

 the net proceeds, by 1850 this fraction had fallen to about /450. 

 Thereafter, however, it remained virtually stationary until 

 1885, when the industry had shrunk to proportions no longer 

 seriously significant. This double process of early decline and 

 subsequent fixation applied to the lays of all ranks aboard a 

 whaler except those of captain and first and second mates. 



The juxtaposition of the lays paid from time to time on 

 board representative vessels serves to throw into bold relief 

 this course of the fractional share throughout the period in 

 question. 



The lays paid by the Lydia and the Lion possess a particular 

 meaning, since they are among the earliest complete records of 

 American whaling voyages which have been preserved.^ 

 When the Lydia sailed during the course of the 8th month, 

 1795, "for a whaling voyage to Delago Bay and elsewhere, via 

 the Cape of Good Hope," such long-distance Pacific whaling 

 was still young and hence redolent of mystery and of daring. 

 Under the terms of the agreement drawn up to govern this 

 cruise, the men were to perform the regular duties of their re- 

 spective "qualities," to obey all lawful commands of the 

 master, and to go ashore only after securing special permission 

 from the commanding ofiicer. Any unauthorized absence of 

 more than forty-eight hours was to be construed as desertion. 

 The owners, on their part, promised to pay to each one of the 

 fifteen members of the crew the share of the "neat proceeds" 

 which was set opposite his name on the crew list. 



By a fortunate chance the figures pertaining to a cruise of 

 the Lion, begun in 1805 and concluded in 1807, comprise not 

 only the fractional lays, but the money lays as well. The sale 

 of the cargo, made up of 37,358 gallons of body oil, 16,868 

 gallons of head matter, and 150 gallons of black oil, yielded 



s There are, of course, records and references pertaining to whaling lays 

 and earnings before this date; but almost without exception they are so frag- 

 mentary or so curiously arranged as to be of little value in indicating the in- 

 dividual lays. 



