WHALING AND BEAR-HUNTING 315 



THE WHALING INDUSTRY 



The St Abbs "Whaling Limited, of which the writer was 

 appointed chairman, found whales at the Seychelles in great 

 numbers in 1913, and we got permission from the Govern- 

 ment there to start an up-to-date whaling station with licences 

 for two whaling steamers, which we chartered and had sent 

 out to us from Norway. 



Our capital was about 20,000, and our station and factory 

 was nearly completed, and we were catching numbers of 

 sperm and some " finner " whales, when war broke out. 

 Our supply of coals was cut off ; barrels could not be obtained 

 for oil ; sacks could not be got for the whale guano (which is 

 made from bones and whale meat) ; and freight completely 

 failed us owing to the congestion caused by war material 

 on the various lines. We could neither get supplies nor send 

 away our products to Durban and other ports, except in some 

 small consignments on our Diesel motor tank whaler, the 

 St Ebba, which finally we were obliged to run on sperm oil 

 at about 28 per ton ! 



We could not " stop down " owing to contracts ; and the 

 difficulty of raising more capital under war conditions finally 

 forced us to voluntary liquidation. 



This promising industry, therefore, had to be stopped 

 in the meantime, and it occurs to us that as one of the 

 " Empire's resources " the Government could very easily 

 put it into working order again, with great profit and for the 

 benefit of the Islands, Africa and the Old Country. For we 

 found immense numbers of sperm and finner whales round 

 the Seychelles, and even before getting into our stride we had 

 secured one hundred and forty whales and shipped home two 

 thousand three hundred barrels of oil, besides what was lost 

 before the station factory was completed and what we were 

 obliged to use locally for our Diesel motor in place of common 

 solar oil. Six barrels of whale oil go to the ton. 



With the experience before them of the vast revenues 

 from whaling at South Georgia and South Shetlands going 

 almost entirely to Norway, our Government has, we think, 

 wisely restricted the granting of whaling licences at the 



