234 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



Nantucket and New Bedford were now the leading 

 whaling ports. 



Between 1820 and 1835 tne development of the 

 American whaling was steady; towards the latter 

 portion of this period, owing to the generally 

 prosperous condition of the industry, a large number 

 of ports engaged in the enterprise. In 1835 there 

 were nearly thirty ports, with .whalers numbering 

 from two or three to over two hundred sail. Growth 

 by this time was exceedingly rapid, the total number 

 of whalers rising from two hundred and three in 1829 

 to four hundred and twenty-one in 1834. 



The two decades following 1835 marked the 

 zenith of the American whale fisheries. This year 

 whaling was commenced by a Nantucket vessel 

 along the north-west coast of America. In 1848 a 

 Sag Harbour whaler passed through Behring Strait 

 into the Arctic, this being the last whaling ground 

 opened up 4 by the American whalers. In 1835 the 

 Nantucket fleet went mainly to the Pacific, after 

 1840 it went almost exclusively there, and by 1850 

 the New Bedford fleet had followed its example. 



By this time new uses had been found for whale- 

 bone, and the oil was steadily and increasingly in 

 request as an illuminant for sperm candles and 

 whale oil lamps. In fact, it was not until the dis- 

 covery of petroleum in 1859 that there was any 

 serious ri^al to whale oil in this respect. This 

 discovery, however, sealed the fate of American 

 whaling. The struggle between the two oils was 

 short and sharp. Kerosene came rapidly in 



