THE LAST PHASE OF WHALING 259 



whale fishery in 1873, proves in a remarkable manner 

 how much the introduction of steam power in whaling 

 ships has reduced the risk of navigation in Baffin Bay 

 and Barrow Strait. Markham took a passage in the 

 Arctic of Dundee, a vessel of five hundred tons and 

 seventy horse power. The Dundee fleet this year 

 consisted of ten vessels all equipped with steam 

 power. Seven were ships varying from three hun- 

 dred and fifty-eight to four hundred and thirty-nine 

 tons and from sixty to seventy horse power. Of the 

 seven, six were built for the trade, the seventh being 

 a converted ship. The three barques varied from 

 two hundred and seventy-eight to three hundred and 

 ninety-four tons, and from thirty-six to sixty horse 

 power. All three had been converted into steamers 

 for the whaling trade. Incidentally it may be noted 

 that while Markham describes the Arctic as a ship 

 the illustrations in his book show her to be barque 

 rigged. At any rate she voluntarily entered the ice 

 in Davis Strait until there were some fifty miles of 

 heavy pack ice between her and open water, and then 

 when no more whales were to be found she fought 

 her way by steam power through the ice fields until 

 the open sea was again reached. 



The middle ice, which for over half a century 

 had proved a serious obstacle to the whalers, was 

 easily overcome even by the moderately powered 

 vessels of the Dundee fleet of 1873. The old 

 whaler under sail thought himself lucky in travers- 

 ing it once in three years, with an enormous amount 

 of labour, in from a month to sixty days. The 



