THE WHALE FISHERY. 49 



The usual plan is for the fishermen to establish camps among the sand hills along the shore 

 between Cape Lookout and Little River, where they live from the 1st of February to the last of 

 April. When the season arrives ibr whaling, three crews of six men each unite to form a camp, 

 and proceed to build a house out of rushes in some desirable location near the shore, for protection 

 against the weather. Their boats, usually three in number, and their implements, are placed in 

 readiness on the beach, and a lookout selected, where one man is stationed, to give the signal if 

 the whales come in sight. 



At this season of the year the whales are moving northward, and in their migrations often 

 come within a short distance of the shore, where they are pursued and often captured by the 

 fishermen. As soon as the whale is harpooned the "drug" is thrown over, and when he turns to 

 fight the fishermen, armed with guns, shoot him with explosive cartridges, and, after killing him 

 with their lances, tow him to the shore, where they try him out. 



The number of crews varies with the season, it formerly averaging but two or three, of 

 eighteen men each. In the spring of 1879 four crews were engaged in this fishery, and five 

 whales were taken. 



In the spring of 1880 there were six crews of 108 men stationed between Cape Hatteras and 

 Bear Inlet, but the season being unusually open, most of the whales had passed before the fisher- 

 men came on the shore, and but one was taken, the bone and oil selling for $408. 



The yearly catch of late is about four whales, averaging 1,800 gallons of oil and 550 pounds 

 of bone each, giving the catch a value of $4,500. The shares usually range from thirty to forty, 

 as follows: Each boat one share, the gun two shares, the gunner an extra share, and each steers- 

 man an additional one-half share, the men all receiving one share each. 



The whaling-gun was introduced into the locality by the schooner Daniel Webster, of Prov- 

 incetown, in 1874. 



COAST OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. 



There are no regular whaling-camps on this coast, but whaling vessels from the north often 

 cruise a short distance off Port Royal, S. C., and Brunswick, Ga., sometimes meeting with good 

 success. These vessels are of the smaller class, ranging from 53 to 117 tons, and spend the winter 

 and early spring months before their departure for the off-shore grounds in capturing whales 

 near the bars off this coast. They were formerly in the habit of going to Feruandina, Fla., every 

 fall to ship their oil and bone to the North, but owing to the yellow fever at that place some of 

 them came to Brunswick, Ga., in 1876, and one of them secured a whale in this vicinity. The 

 following year two vessels came in January and remained till the middle of March, getting one 

 whale. The third year two whales were caught by the same vessel, and in 1879 four vessels 

 visited the locality, and had taken up to March 1, five whales yielding 226 barrels of oil and 2,750 

 pounds of bone. The whaling-ground is on a bar only about 4 miles from the shore. A whale 

 after being captured by the whalemen in boats, is towed by the vessel into the sound and there 

 stripped of blubber and the oil tried out. 



An exciting scene occurred at Charleston in the spring of 1880, which is thus described in the 

 Charleston News of January 8 : 



"UNUSUAL SPORT IN CHARLESTON HARBOR. Several days ago the almost unprecedented 

 presence of a whale in Charleston Harbor was announced. Whether driven here by stress of 

 weather, seeking misanthropic seclusion from his kind, or on an exploring expedition, will never 

 be known, but his presence was a huge black verity. Several timid and ineffectual attempts had 

 been made to effect his capture or destruction, but all were futile, until a regular hunt was 

 SEC. v, VOL. ii 4 



