4 A History of the American Whale Fishery. 
there such a complete statement of the origin and devel- 
opment of the fishery on the west coast. The accounts of 
shore and ‘‘between season”’ whaling are especially valu- 
able and at the same time very interesting reading. 
Scammon’s work is essentially the statement of the con- 
ditions of the western fishery rather than in the nature 
of a history of the whaling industry. 
Alexander Starbuck may be said to be practically 
the only one who has written an actual history of the 
whale fishery. His book was published in 1876 under 
the title, “History of the American Whale Fishery from 
its Earliest Inception to the year 1876.” The title, 
however, is somewhat pretentious, since in several ways 
the history is rather incomplete. But whatever its 
limitations, Starbuck’s work is now, and always must 
be, the classic treatise on the American whale fishery. 
The many references to Starbuck in the following 
chapters will show how frequently he has been drawn 
on for facts. Starbuck has been accused more than 
ence of being inaccurate and unreliable. But if these 
accusations are true they must be founded on minor 
points. In the use of the book there was ample oppor- 
tunity to judge of its value. In most important questions 
the authority or source is stated. Whenever possible 
these were verified before being accepted for this present 
history, and almost without exception they were found 
to be correct. 
The most valuable part of Starbuck’s work is in his 
history of the fishery in colonial times. This part of the 
work is the most thorough and the most complete, 
though in many places the general arrangement of topics 
makes it rather difficult to follow the real course of 
development. Starbuck drew quite extensively from 
Macy, and in most cases he acknowledges the fact. But 
in other cases, Macy was unmistakably the original 
source though no reference is made to that author. 
In some cases, also, Macy’s full presentation conveys a 
