PROFITS AND THE COUNTING-ROOM 273 



The physical losses involved in the destruction of ves- 

 sels, cargoes, and equipment were indeed formidable when 

 considered in the absolute j but when compared with the size of 

 the entire fleet at sea during any given year they formed a 

 smaller percentage of the whole than the nature of the industry 

 would seem to have justified. One contemporary writer 

 stated that the number of vessels which were totally wrecked 

 each year seldom exceeded one per cent of the entire fleet j 

 while the losses resulting from partial wrecks and all other 

 major forms of accident added only a half of one per cent. 

 Insurance underwriters rarely charged a premium of more 

 than two and one-half per cent per annum, since such a figure 

 enabled them to pay good dividends.^ Account-books and 

 policy forms of whaling insurance companies provide further 

 corroborative evidence by showing charges varying from one 

 per cent to nine per cent for an entire voyage. This rather 

 wide range in rates was accounted for by differences in the size 

 and condition of vessels, the type of whaling to be carried on, 

 the probable length of a proposed cruise, and the nature of the 

 regions to be visited. 



The heaviest financial burdens, however, were those con- 

 nected with business risk. It was estimated that during the 

 middle years of the nineteenth century approximately ten per 

 cent of all American whaling vessels made voyages which re- 

 sulted in a net loss to their owners.^ Even after allowing for 

 a reasonable margin of error in the figures underlying this esti- 

 mate, and after allocating one and one-half per cent of all 

 losses to physical factors and not more than a like percentage 

 to labor risks, it is evident that deficits arising out of the quan- 

 tity, quality, or price of the cargoes comprised more than 

 half of the total losses. It is probable, too, that this estimate 

 of ten per cent was not unduly liberal, since many years wit- 

 nessed a far higher proportion of losing voyages. 



In 1837, for instance, 53 vessels paid profits j eight made 

 "saving voyages" (in whaling parlance this term described a 

 venture which escaped an actual loss, but in which the gain was 

 negligible) J and 20 incurred deficits, including nine severe 



1 Wilkes, Charles, "Narrative of the U. 8. Exploring Expedition," V, pp. 494 flF. 



2 Ibid. 



