WHALING 267 



ing. The crew are all landsmen without any knowledge of the 

 sea, and are obtained for the voyage through the agency of 

 crimps. Some were signed on under false statements and others 

 put on board while drunk. In some cases the ship's articles 

 were signed after the vessel was at sea, and the majority of the 

 men when they signed had not had the articles read to them. 

 Advances made by the crimps at extravagant rates are paid by 

 the owners without the knowledge or consent of the crew as 

 soon as the vessel leaves port. No wages are paid, all being on 

 shares; and the share of the crew is so small and the advance 

 account and articles supplied from the ' slop-chest ' so great that 

 it is the usual thing for each man to find himself in debt to the 

 owners on his return from no matter how successful a voyage. 

 None of these practices are allowed on board the British vessel, 

 and the crew are not only raid monthly wages, but participate 

 in the profits of the voyage. 



The Eras crew was composed of a gunsmith, a clerk in a 

 wholesale drug business, an iron moulder, a mechanic, an ex- 

 soldier, a railway brakesman, an Armenian and several non- 

 descripts ' about town.' Of the entire lot only one had ever 



been to sea before. 



i 



The treatment of the crew by the officers was as good as cir- 

 cumstances permitted, and was in strong contrast to their 

 general treatment by the owners. 



The methods of the American whalers differ considerably 

 from those already described. When the ship arrives in the 

 northwestern part of the bay, the Aivillik Eskimos are looked 

 for somewhere in the vicinity of Whale point, and enough men, 

 practically half of the tribe, are engaged for the time the ship 

 remains in the bay. The ship's crew are sufficient to man three 

 whaleboats, and three others are manned by the natives. Four 

 boats are brought on the ship every voyage, and only two are 

 taken home, the other two, equipped for whaling, being left with 



