114. A History of the American Whale Fishery. 
fishery of the North Pacific and Arctic fleets. Some bone 
is also usually entered at Seattle, whence it is shipped 
east by rail. There were no exports of either sperm oil 
or whale oil in r905—-making the third year of no foreign 
movement of these products. It seems safe to conclude 
that the formerly important European market no longer 
exists, and the consumption of whale oils is by home 
demands—their uses being mainly as lubricating oils. 
Whalebone, on the contrary, still continues to have a 
good foreign demand as in previous years, the exports in 
1905 exceeding 80,000 pounds. 
Such, in brief, was the condition of the whale fishery at 
the end of the year 1905. During the past summer 
(1906) no less than eight whaling vessels, schooners and 
brigs, were in the harbor at New Bedford at one time. 
Such a thing had not happened before for years—the 
daily papers noted it at length and people began to talk 
about a “revival of whaling.’’ But a careful analysis of 
present conditions shows no ground for such a belief. 
What the future of whaling is to be, is, of course, much 
in the nature of mere prophecy—yet the signs seem easy 
to interpret. It appears reasonable enough to say that 
the fishery for right whales will be carried on in the 
northern seas as long as the demand for whalebone con- 
tinues and as long as the price remains at its present 
high figure. That is, the most important phase of the 
industry will be carried on from the Pacific coast, and San 
Francisco will doubtless continue to be the headquarters 
of the fleet. 
The prospect for the Atlantic sperm whale fishery is not 
so promising. The low price of oil is rather discouraging 
to the merchants, and only the good luck of the vessels in 
securing large catches in a short time has made it possible 
to continue the business with any profit. The modest 
manner in which this fishery is carried on by the New 
Bedford and Provincetown merchants, with small vessels 
making relatively short voyages, will probably enable 
