214 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



WHALE FISHERY AT BARBADOES. 



Mr. Alleyne S. Archer, iii an article in The Field, the Country Gentleman's Newspaper, for 

 October 22, 1881, thus refers to the whale fishery at Barbadoes : 



"The whale fishery was started by nie some fourteen years ago ifi this island, and I have 

 carried it on every year up to the one last past. I find that the whales have not decreased, nor 

 do they appear any wilder or harder to be caught; on" the contrary, with the improved weapons 

 that have been introduced of. late years, and with the experience that has been gained by all who 

 engage in it, the catching and killing of them may now be considered as pretty easy, although at 

 times a very tiresome work. When first I engaged in it Demerara offered a very remunerative 

 price for the oil, which is made from what we call the black or humpback whale. I then readily 

 obtained 5s. 6d. per imperial gallon for the oil, which at that time was largely used there for 

 lubricating as well as for burning. Year by year has witnessed its decline in value in every 

 market iu the world. A few years after I had first started, Demerara rejected it, and would not 

 purchase it at any price, kerosene having superseded it as a burner, and lard oil as a lubricator. 

 Trinidad for a year or two then afforded a good market; but from the great influx of oil from 

 Grenada, St. Vincent, &c., the market became glutted, and the price has never gone back to any- 

 thing like a remunerative figure. The United States was then tried, but the heavy duty of 20 per 

 cent, ad valorem on foreign catch entirely hindered any further exportation to those shores. The 

 only market now where the oil or bone can be sold to any advantage is the English, that is to say, 

 in London. This oil is of much the same value as that procured from the large ' right whale,' 

 which sometimes yields 150 barrels of oil, while these humpbacks never give more than 90 to 100 

 barrels, 45 being the average. Right whales and sperm whales are never seen in these waters, but 

 the latter are often taken amongst the Leeward Islands. The bone obtained from the humpback 

 is about from 1 to 3 feet long, while the bone from the right whale is from C to T2 feet long, and 

 now worth 500 per ton. The carcass of the whale has recently been utilized for the purpose of 

 manure manufacture, and all the bones thereof have been used up; and this, with the oil and 

 baleen (or bones from the mouth), would make the business profitable, notwithstanding the low 

 quotation of oil and bone as given before. 



"The fishery is carried on now in the central part of the island (to leeward). The boiling- 

 house, where we try out the blubber, is on the shore, close to the beach; the boats are hung on 

 davits on a jetty, which is about 200 feet long, and built iu very smooth water. The whale is 

 taken to the end of the jetty, where we have a depth of water of 2 fathoms. A large whale is 

 generally about from 50 to 60 feet in length, and makes from 50 to GO barrels of oil ; and we rarely 

 catch larger. This is cut in in about twenty-four hours, and then boiled out in forty-eight hours. 

 Four boats lower every week day ; two go north, and two go south. Each boat has seven men: 

 one officer, who sticks and kills the whale; one boat-steerer, who steers and attends to the line 

 when the whale is struck; and five men to use the paddles and oars, &c. 



"Whales make theiv appearance here in January and leave in June, but we do not employ 

 men to' go after (hem until March; we, however, keep the boats ready in January, and if an oppor- 

 tunity offers we avail ourselves of it; and I have many times killed whales in January and Feb- 

 ruary. Iu the month of March they begin to arrive pretty plentifully, and the cows then begin to 

 calve, or bring their young calves with them to feed close in shore in smooth water. Whenever 

 we see a cow and calf we generally succeed in taking them ; but when the bull is with them our 

 chances are not so good, as he seems to keep a first-rate watch, so that we cannot approach as wo 

 otherwise should do. However, the way we set to work is this: the boat is provided with 300 

 fathoms of manila whale-line, four toggle-irons (harpoons), three hand-lances with spear-shaped 



