HISTORY AND DETAILS OF WHALING. 267 



whether for sperm or right whaling, and the time for which 

 they are fitted, may be classed as follows : — 



1. Small vessels, principally schooners, though barks and 

 brigs are included, cruise in the North and South Atlantic 

 Oceans. They are fitted for six to eighteen months, and even 

 two years. 2. Ships and barks that cruise in the South Atlan- 

 tic and Indian Oceans are usually fitted for two to three years. 

 3. Ships and barks that cruise on the Peru coast, or Off Shore 

 ground, are fitted for two to four years. 4. Ochotsk Sea and 

 Arctic Ocean whalers are fitted for two, three, and four years. 

 5, New Zealand whalers, sperm and right, are fitted for two, 

 three, and four years. 



The Time when "Whaling Vessels sail to their re- 

 spective Whale Grounds. Ships and barks fitted for the 

 North Pacific, the Ochotsk Sea, the Kodiak, or the Arctic 

 Ocean, usually leave our ports in the fall of the year, so as to 

 make the passage of the Horn, or Cape of Good Hope, in the 

 southern summer ; these ships will arrive at the Sandwich 

 Islands in March or April, remain in port a week or two, re- 

 cruit, and sail to the north. On their return from the north in 

 October and November, and sometimes as late as December, 

 they usually touch at the islands again, take in a fresh supply 

 of provisions, it may be ship their oil home, and sail to some 

 other whale ground in a more southern latitude, either for 

 sperm or right whaling, or both, and continue this cruise un- 

 til the season comes around for them to go to the north again. 

 The first is called the « regular season " for whaling, and the 

 second /'between seasons." 



Ships that have completed their voyages, and intend return- 

 ing home, when they leave the Ochotsk or Arctic, generally 

 touch at the islands, or some other intermediate port, for re- 

 cruits, and arrive on our coast some time in the spring months, 

 and even as early as February or March, though not generally. 

 The great majority of the ships sail in the autumn, and the 

 largest arrivals are usually in the spring. 



