THE WHALE FISHERY. 159 



has doiie poorly, it being a small ground and overcrowded with vessels. In the Indian Ocean we cannot report 

 anything better, there being too large a fleet, and consequently the catch has been very small. There is a growing 

 tendency of late years for ships to congregate on small grounds, in order to look for the oil which somebody caught 

 the previous year, and a persistence in this course ruins our best whaling opportunities. The success of the vessels 

 in the Pacific Ocean is largely due to their character and appointments. They are the crack ships of the fleet, have 

 been many years iu the service, and consequently have vastly superior opportunities for being well commanded, 

 officered, and manned. 



For the coming year the whaling fleet will be distributed about as follows: North Atlantic, 80 vessels; Congo 

 River and coast of Africa, 20 vessels; Indian Ocean, 16 vessels; New Zealand, 15 vessels; Chili and oft' shore, 20 

 vessels; Sooloo Sea, 3 vessels; North Pacific, 20 vessels; Cumberland Inlet and Hudson Bay, 5 vessels. 



The number' of vessels expected to arrive at this port the coming year is twenty-two, of which nine will appar- 

 ently make good voyages. 



Oil and bone have been in moderate demand. Sperm oil opened thtTyear at $1.60. declined to $1.4*3 in April, $1.30 

 in May, $1.25 in the summer months, and in the fall advanced to $1.40 per gallon, which was maintained to the close 

 of the year. Whale oil opened at 70 cents, declined to 58 cents in the summer and fall months, and in October ad- 

 vanced to 70 cents, at which price the year closed. Humpback and South Sea oils have corresponded to the price of 

 whale, selling generally at 5 cents less per gallon. Whalebone, from $1.30 in January, advanced to IJl.fiO in February, 

 and $2 in March, at about which figure it continued till news reached us iu October of the loss of the Arctic fleet, 

 when it advanced to $2.50 and later to $3.50 per pound, at which price the year closed. 



TRADE REVIEW FOll 1877. 



Renew of tli whale fishery far 1877. The past year has been free from especial disasters, and there have been no 

 changes in the business worthy of note, except the continued additions made to the fleet. 



Ship building has revived, and twelve whalers were built during the year, it being now apparent that at the 

 present prices new vessels can be built cheaper than merchantmen can be altered into whale ships. 



The present whaling fleet is one hundred and eighty-seven vessels, against one hundred and seventy-two January 

 1, 1*77, one hundred and sixty-nine iu 1876, and one hundred and sixty three in 1875; but, although the increase is 

 mostly iu the sperm-whale fleet, the catch of the past year is not greater than for 1876, on account of some of the 

 grounds being overcrowded with vessels. The present tendency being to cruise on those grounds nearest home, so 

 that the catchings may be shipped at the earliest moment, we find in the North and South Atlantic Oceans a fleet of 

 one hundred vessels, while the more fruitful grounds of the Pacific Ocean, Japan, New Zealand, and Sooloo Sea are 

 almost neglected. The constant shipments of sperm oil have been largely instrumental in reducing the price to the 

 present figures, which are the lowest reached for many years, and are much below the cost of catching oil, excepting 

 the vessels that are very fortunate. 



The frequenting of ports in order to ship oil is the cause of a large part of the expenses to which whaling voyages 

 are subject, and occasions the loss of officers and crews. In view of these facts and the low prices of sperm oil now 

 ruling, we understand several of onr merchants have advised their vessels to retain their oil on board when possible, 

 and no doubt this example will be followed by others. 



The North Pacific whaling lleet was very successful the past season. The catch was small until September, when 

 whales were found plenty, and large fares were taken. Three vessels were lost, and sixteen vessels came out with an 

 average of 1,065 barrels of oil and 8,550 pounds of whalebone. Arctic whaling is now safer, because of caution bor- 

 rowed from the experience of the past, and we trust it will be long before we record any unusual losses in that ocean. 



In Hudson Bay and Cumberland Inlet but few vessels have cruised. In the South Atlantic many sperm whalers, 

 on account of the low price of sperm oil, have tried right whaling with good success, the value of the whalebone 

 being the chief incentive. About a dozen vessels have cruised for humpback oil, with good success, their total catch 

 being 5,500 barrels, 



In sperm whaling the results were varied, the catch in the North Atlantic Ocean being 13,500 barrels by eighty- 

 two vessels, the largest faro taken for many years. The vessels that were well pointed were generally successful, but 

 the presence of so large a fleet in one locality will result soon in smaller catches, and the experience of ten years ago 

 is likely to be repeated. 



The fleet on Chili, the off-shore ground, New Zealand, and in the Sooloo Sea have taken good catches. In the 

 Smith Atlantic vessels have had fair success, the fleet being rather large, and in the Indian Ocean, with too large a 

 fleet, but little oil has been taken. At the present time not a vessel is cruising in the Western Pacific Ocean and 

 Sooloo Sea,, and those excellent grounds bid fair to he entirely neglected. Large catches of sperm oil are becoming 

 infrequent, and it is noticeable that during the past year no vessel has obtained 1,000 barrels, while in previous 

 years several vessels have generally exceeded that quantity. 



Oils and bone have been in fair demand throughout the year. Sperm oil opened in January at $1.40 per gallon, 

 declined to $1.31 in February, $1.28 in March, $1.18 in June, $1.12 in August, $1.10 in November, and to $1.03 in 

 December, closing the year at $1.03}, the lowest prices that have ruled fur more than twenty years. Arctic whale oil, 

 from 70 cents in January, gradually declined to 60 cents in July, at which price it closed the year. Humpback and 

 South Sea oils have ruled at from 5 to 10 cents per gallon less than Arctic. 



Arctic whalebone opened tlie \enr ;it >i.. r >0 per pound, declining to $2.50 in August, and to about $2 in October, 

 closing tli> I, iint thr latter figure. Sonih SIM .vlul.-Uime lias sold at from.?!. 25 to $1.70 jier pound, 



