DEBITS AND CREDITS 271 



The articles and prices used in this compilation, together with 

 the quantities consumed annually by the entire fleet at sea on 

 January i, 1844, were as follows: 



13 



43,868 bbls. beef and pork @ $8.50 



40,692 bbls. flour @ 5.25 



14,014 bushels Indian corn @ 55^ 



263,306 lbs. rice @ 3^^ 



169,734 lbs. cheese @ 7^ 



205,578 lbs. butter @ 13^ 



134,831 lbs. dried apples @ 4^ 



3,381 bushels beans & peas @ 1.25 



5,754 bbls. vinegar @ 3.50 



1,237 bushels corn meal @ 3.50 



32,726 bushels potatoes @ 35^ 



193,136 lbs. dried codfish @ 3^ 



320,933 gals, molasses @ 27^ 



52,192 lbs. black tea @ 35^ 



3,650 lbs. green tea @ 60^ 



33,661 lbs. raisins @ 5^ 



206,336 lbs. sugar @ 7/^2^ 



206,336 lbs. coffee @ 8^ 



But whether the amount were $150 or $300 per voyage, the 

 food consumed by the whaleman constituted his only signifi- 

 cant credit in kind. Although it never appeared in his ac- 

 counts, this "free board" constituted far and away his largest 

 source of income, with the exception of the lay itself. And 

 when added as a silent and unannounced companion to the long 

 list of entries which did stride across the pages of his accounts, 

 its very unobtrusiveness only emphasized the whaleman's pre- 

 eminent position as a dealer in long-run debits and credits, a 

 juggler of financial pros and cons. 



12 Together with other figures relating to the whaling industry, this list was 

 given by Joseph Grinnell, in a pamphlet entitled, "Speech on the Tariff, With 

 Statistical Tables of the Whale Fishery." The pamphlet, published in 1844, 

 is now in the New Bedford Public Library. 



