EARNINGS AND THE LAY 237 



Average Length of Voyage and Average Earnings of 39 Fore- 

 mast Hands Carried by the Bark Minerva During Three Consecutive 

 Voyages, 1 836-1 841. 



Average Length of Voyage 614 Days 



Average Lay per Voyage $94-5 1 



Average Earnings per Month $ 4.62 



Average Earnings per Day $ .154 



Average Length of Voyage and Average Earnings of 192 Fore- 

 mast Hands Carried by the Vessels James Maury, Marcelhy and 

 Minerva During 13 Voyages Made Between 1836 and 1868. 



Average Length of Voyage 992 Days 



Average Lay per Voyage $200.09 



Average Earnings per Month $ 6.06 



Average Earnings per Day $ .202 



Substantial confirmation of these figures is found in an es- 

 timate made in i860 by W. B. Whitecar, who had but recently 

 returned from four years of blubber-hunting. The average 

 catch of a four-year sperm whale voyage was placed at 1200 

 barrels of oil. At a lay of /200, the average green hand was 

 thus entitled to six barrels of oil. When translated into money 

 at the current price of $45 per barrel, this was equivalent to 

 $270, or $5.63 per month for 48 months! And if the more 

 experienced foremast hand, with an average lay of /4go, had 

 been considered, a similar calculation would have placed his 

 monthly wage at only $7.03.^*^ 



The most extensive contemporary calculation of whalemen's 

 earnings, however, was made in England. Mr. Charles En- 

 derby, head of the greatest whaling firm in British history, 

 stated in 1846 that for some years the average wages of fore- 

 mast hands had not exceeded £1.9.0 ($7.05) per month. 

 Then, delving into the inherited account-books of vessels which 



10 Whitecar, W. B., Jr., "Four Years Aboard the Whaleship," p. 411. The 

 estimate of 48 months as the average length of a sperm whaling voyage is open 

 to question. Contemporary figures compiled by the JVhalemen's Shipping List 

 show that for the period 1842-1857, inclusive, the average length of voyage for 

 all American sperm whalers was 42 months and 5 days. It is true that by 

 i860 four-year cruises were common; but it is quite improbable that the average 

 length, though undoubtedly increasing, had gone up to four full years. If the 

 more conservative figure of 42 months be employed in connection with White- 

 car's other estimates, the average monthly wages prove to have been $6.43 for 

 a green hand and $8.03 for seamen. 



