REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 71 



The principal drawbacks in the artificial rearing of terrapin are the 

 extremely slow rate of growth of the animals and their failure to engage 

 in the reproductive process in captivity unless the conditions of water, 

 marsh, shore, and food are suitable. The eggs, once laid, are extremely 

 hardy and require no attention from the hands of the culturist, pro- 

 vided they are deposited in the i^roper place. 



THE WHALE FISHERY. 



Comparing the results of the whale fishery in 1892 with those in 

 recent years, it appears that the season was fairly successful. This 

 was due in a large measure to the high prices commanded by the whale 

 products, the average value of whale and sperm oil being 42^ and 67J 

 cents xjer gallon, resi)ectively, and that of bone $5.35 per pound. 



The whaling fleet consisted of 05 vessels, of which 48 had head- 

 quarters at San Francisco, 33 at New Bedford, 7 at Proviucetown, 1 at 

 Edgartown, 1 at Boston, and 1 at New London. 



The catch in the Atlantic Ocean was about the same as in 1891, and 

 the season was considered satisfactory. The product consisted of 6,910 

 barrels of sperm oil, 1,775 barrels of whale oil, and G,935 pounds of 

 bone, the whole having a value of $201,895. One vessel, the bark A. 

 B. TucJcer, of New Bedford, fished in Hudson Bay, taking 276 barrels 

 of oil and 4,000 pounds of bone. 



The success of the vessels fishing out of San Francisco was marked, 

 and was chiefly due to the abundance of whales in the Arctic Ocean 

 about 300 miles east of Point Barrow, where only small catches had 

 been made for nearly twenty years. About the middle of August, the 

 fleet reached Point Barrow, thence 2 sailing and 9 steam vessels cruised 

 to the eastward, joining the steamer ^Fary D. Hume, which had spent 

 the winter at Herschel Island, in the mouth of the Mackenzie River. 

 Within about a month these vessels took 116 bowhead whales in this 

 region, and then sailed westward to join the remainder of the Arctic 

 fleet in the vicinity of Herald Island, where 90 additional whales were 

 obtained. Twenty-two vessels that cruised on the grounds off Kadiak 

 and Okhotsk Sea took 27 bowhead whales. The total number of whales 

 secured by the San Francisco fleet was 242. The oil and bone extracted 

 from these consisted of 11,610 barrels of whale oil, valued at $155,429; 

 1,845 barrels of sperm oil, valued at $39,230; and 362,-950 pounds of 

 bone, valued at $1,941,783; the total stock of the west coast fleet being 

 $2,136,442. 



The most x)rominent feature of the whale fishery x)rosecuted on the 

 Pacific coast was the conclusion of the voyage of the steamer Marxj i>. 

 Hume in 1892, after the most successful whaling trip on record. The 

 vessel sailed April 19, 1890, passed the winters of 1890-91 and 1891-92 

 in the ice at Herschel Island, and returned to San Francisco Septem- 

 ber 29, 1892. The vessel killed 12 whales in 1891 and 26 in 1892, which 

 had a value of about $400,000. The captain is reported to have shared 

 between $30,000 and $40,000, and each of the crew $1,800 or $2,000. 



