fX' Of THR 



UNIVERSITY 



THE WHALE FISHERY. 



u Dm-\ng the siege by the Auglo-Frencb fleet the Turko was in the harbor of Petropaulovsk, 

 but succeeded in making her escape, discharging her valuable cargo at Kadiak for safe keeping, 

 and finally reached Sitka, where she remained safely until the end of the war. 



" The third whale-ship dispatched to the North Pacific from Fiulaud was the Aian, 540 tons. 

 She was commanded by a Finlauder, Captain Enderg, and reached the sea of Okhotsk in 1854. 

 The catch during the first year was not great, and in the spring of 1855 the naval commander of 

 Kamtchatka ordered the captain to land his cargo and to transport the families of officers and 

 soldiers from Petropavlovsk to the Amoor, and during this voyage the ship was captured by 

 an English frigate and burned. At the end of the war_the whaling company discovered that, 

 though no actual loss had been incurred, the profits of the business were not what they had 

 expected, and the subsequent operations do not seem to have been pushed with energy or vigor. 



" A few more ships were fitted out, but as soon as they returned with their cargoes of oil and 

 bone they were sold for whatever price they would bring. It was perhaps unfortunate for the 

 interests of the Russian whaling industry in the North Pacific that the company engaged in the 

 business was so closely connected with the Russian-American Company, which was then becoming 

 more deeply embarrassed every year."* 



WHALE FISHERY OF FRANCE. 



" The whale fishery was established in France in 1784, by means of encouragements held out 

 by Louis XVI, who ordered that no duty should be collected on the articles exported, and that the 

 produce of the fisheries should pay no import duty. He guaranteed the adventurers against loss, 

 and ultimately paid, in addition to 12,500, which he advanced without interest, an additional 

 sum of 6,095, being the balance of loss on seventeen voyages; but notwithstanding these encour- 

 agements, the whole project was abandoned in 1787. In- 1816 the offer of bounties attracted new 

 adventurers into this branch of trade. The premium offered by the Government was 50 francs 

 (2) per man, and two-thirds of the crews were allowed to be foreigners. In 1819 40 francs were 

 allowed to foreign vessels having a crew half French, 50 francs when the captain and one-third 

 of the crew were French, the premium to be doubled if the vessel passed Cape Horn. In 1829 a 

 new ordinance granted 90 francs per ton on vessels wholly equipped by Frenchmen, 40 francs when 

 only two-thirds were Frenchmen, and 30 francs if the captain was a foreigner. The premium was 

 doubled if the vessel passed Cape Horn. A supplementary premium was allowed to vessels fishing 

 to the southeast of the Cape of Good Hope, and the double premium was given to all vessels fish- 

 ing at a higher northern latitude than 60 degrees, and as the fishing is seldom or never prosecuted 

 at a lower latitude, this premium of 180 francs per ton (7 4s.) was invariably paid. The law of 

 1832, which regulates the whale fishery of France, established a bounty of 70 francs per ton from 

 March, 1832, to March, 1833, if the whole crew were French ; the bounty to be diminished 4 francs 

 yearly till it reached 54 francs. If one-third of the crew be foreigners, the bounty to be 48 francs 

 per ton, to diminish 2 francs yearly till it reached 40 francs per ton. A supplementary bounty to 

 be given of 50 francs per ton if the crew be French, decreasing 3 francs per annum per ton ; and 24 

 francs if one-third, be foreigners, decreasing 1 franc per annum, to be paid to vessels doubling Cape 

 Horn, or reaching 62 degrees of south latitude, if returning with less than half a cargo or after an 

 absence of sixteen months ; 500 tons to be the minimum for a single whaler. 



" With these extraordinary encouragements capital was attracted to this new line of industry, 

 and in 1831 three vessels cleared out for the Greenland whale fishery and thirteen for the South 



* Report on the Population, Industries, and Resources of Alaska, by Ivan Patroff, special agent U. S. Census 

 Otiire, Washington. 



