THE WHALE FISHERY. 293 



The profits of the whalemen bave for many years been very uncertain. Many months may be 

 spent in an unsuccessful cruise over many quarters of tbe ocean, and the vessel return home with- 

 out a barrel of oil. Again, a voyage of short duration may result in very great success, and the 

 officers and crew receive suitable recompense for their dangerous toil. 



Among the most successful voyages may be mentioned that of the ship Envoy, which sailed 

 in 1848. In a 55 days' cruise in the North Pacific this vessel secured 2,800 barrels of whale oil 

 and 40,000 pounds of bone. This oil and bone was transshipped home, and a second cruise made, 

 when 2,500 barrels of oil and 35,000 pounds of bone were secured. Including some oil purchased 

 at a nominal price from a wrecked vessel, the profits of this voyage were about $138,000. The ship 

 Corinthian sailed in 1862 from a four years' cruise, having secured a cargo valued at $275,000. In 

 more recent years some profitable voyages have been made. The bark Alaska arrived at New 

 Bedford in 1880, having taken 3,255 barrels of sperm-oil, the largest quantity ever secured on a 

 single voyage. In 1878 the bark Adeline Gibbs made the remarkable find of 132f pounds of 

 ambergris, which sold for $23,231.25. 



As an example of the "hard luck" sometimes experienced by whalemen, Capt. Gurdon L. 

 Allyn, a veteran sealer and whaler, who had made several successful voyages, tells me that he 

 sailed from New London on the bark Tempest May 21, 1857, bound for Spitzbergen, with hopes 

 of a successful voyage such as Scoresby and other early whalers used to make. On July 28 the 

 Spitzbergen mountains were sighted, but no whales had been seen. " We crossed to East Green- 

 land and after a month's unsuccessful cruising made sail for the Azores, which we reached Sep- 

 tember 8 without having seen a whale. Here we learned, much to our disgust, that the sperm 

 whalers had been very successful. We cruised over the usual grounds, but the season being late 

 we found none. We continued south, bound for the Indian Ocean, and on December 31 caught 

 our first whale near the Crozette group." Captain Allyn continued his cruise from the Indian 

 Ocean into the Southern Pacific, and thence to the North Pacific and Okhotsk Sea, but had little 

 success. After three years' almost total loss of time the little oil secured was transshipped at 

 Honolulu and the vessel turned over to another captain, but only after Captain Allyn, who was 

 owner of the vessel, had suffered a loss of $7,000 by the voyage. 



