52 A History of the American Whale Fishery. 
ceeding years when the size of the fleet was distinctly 
smaller. 
Though 1846 or 1847 is generally regarded as marking 
the year when the whale fishery reached its greatest 
prosperity, the conclusion is a mistaken one. The year 
1846 marks only the year when the largest fleet was em- 
ployed and the amount of invested capital was therefore 
greatest. The real value of the fishery as a commercial 
enterprise continued to remain high for a number of years 
afterward. Prices of oil and bone continued to rise quite 
steadily year after year during the next decade. Between 
1846 and 1856 sperm oil rose from 88 cents to $1.62 per 
gallon; whale oil rose from 34 cents to 79 cents and bone 
rose from 34 cents to 58 cents a pound. In the latter 
year, despite the smaller importations than for some of 
the previous years, the actual value of the products was 
greater. These highly prosperous conditions were the 
direct result of the ready markets and increased consump- 
tion of whale products throughout the country. In 
1857, however, the financial depression brought a sudden 
slump in prices of oil, and sounded the doom of whaling 
interests. 
The whaling boom in 1846 and 1847 was the outcome 
partly of the previous years of success and prosperity, 
encouraging new ventures, and partly of the opening of 
the new grounds for bowhead whales in the Okhotsk and 
Kamtchatka Seas. The opening of the Arctic fishery 
two years later gave another impetus to the industry. 
The importance of the Pacific grounds at this time may 
be seen from the number of vessels cruising in the differ- 
ent regions in the year 1847. About sixty small barks, 
brigs and schooners were cruising in the Atlantic for 
sperm whales, and one ship was engaged in the Davis 
Straits fishery. Some thirty-two barks were in the In- 
dian Ocean after sperm whales, while a single schooner 
was sperm whaling in the Pacific and a dozen other 
whalers were temporarily engaged in the merchant ser- 
