X>ESCRIPTiaN OF A WHALE SHIF. 18^ 



As Oil tlie one hand, a ship of 250 tons burden 

 is too small, inasmuch as her capacity will not ad- 

 mit of the most advantageous use being made of 

 the plentiful fisheries which sometimes occur, so, 

 on the other' hand, a ship of 450 or 500 tons is too 

 large, because, with the most prosperous fishings 

 there would not be a jirobability, or scarcely a pos- 

 sibility, that she should ever be filled. We, there- 

 fore, conclude, that a ship of intermediate size be- 

 tween 300 and 400 tons, is best adapted for the 

 fishery. And, on the whole, perhaps, a roomy ship 

 of 330 or 340 tons, possesses more advantages, with 

 fewer disadvantages, than a vessel of similar build 

 of any other capacity *. 



Greenland ships, in the early ages of the fishery, 

 were very indifferent structures ; and even within 

 the last thirty years, when the fishers were not 

 much in the habit of penetrating far into the ice, 

 shijrping of inferior quality were generally deemed 

 sufficient for the trade. At present, however, when 

 a good fishery is rarely made, without frequent ex- 

 posure to the ice, and sometimes in very critical si- 

 tuations, the vessels require to be substantially built, 

 for the purpose of resisting the occasional pressure 

 of, and frequent blows from the ice, to which the 

 ships of persevering fishermen must always be more 

 or less exposed. 



* For the farther investigation of the advantages and disad- 

 vantages of ships of different sizes, see Appendix to this Vo- 

 luine. No. II. 



