Whaling as a Business Enterprise 321 



grounds where whales were numerous and not 

 easily frightened. In 1835 the whalers brought 

 home 5,181,529 gallons of sperm oil, which sold 

 at 84 cents. The take of whale oil was 3,950,289 

 gallons, which sold at 39 cents. This was less than 

 the price of 1817, but, in the meantime, the price 

 of whalebone had increased to 21 cents a pound, 

 and the take was nearly a million pounds. Two 

 years later the take of whale oil passed that of 

 sperm, 6,385,995 to 5,319,138 gallons. 



In 1829 the American whaling fleet numbered 

 203 vessels; in 1834, 421; in 1840, 552. In 1846 

 there were 680 ships and barks, 34 brigs, and 

 22 schooners, a total of 736 vessels, hunting for 

 whales under the American flag. That was the 

 flood-tide year for the number of vessels. The 

 fleet measured 233,262 tons, and the estimated 

 investment was $21,000,000, or say $28,000 per 

 vessel. It is certain that this estimate is high 

 enough, for shipowners have always had the 

 habit of appreciating their own possessions. New 

 London owned the largest ship of the fleet, the 

 Atlantic, measuring 699 tons, and the smallest as 

 well, the schooner Garland, of 49 tons, that was 

 at work on the coasts of Desolation Island. 



