262 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



Prior to the introduction of steam there was a 

 marked decline in the Arctic whale fishery as shown 

 in the statistical returns from 1830 onwards. 

 Towards the end of the sailing days it was only the 

 Norwegians who took part in it to any extent. The 

 English and Scottish fishery gradually declined. In 

 1831 the greater part of the English fleet (nineteen 

 vessels) was lost in the ice in Melville Bay. The 

 harbours taking part in the whaling trade declined 

 until practically only Dundee and Peterhead were 

 left. In 1 830 there were ninety-one Scottish whalers 

 hailing from thirteen ports; in 1857 tne number had 

 declined to sixty from seven ports, and in 1868 to 

 thirty vessels from six ports, and of this thirty Peter- 

 head and Dundee claimed twelve each. The 

 Dundee vessels at this time were steamers which 

 visited the Greenland coasts for seals, and subse- 

 quently went round into Davis Strait for the whale 

 fishery. Dundee's interest in this fishery persisted 

 beyond that of other Scottish towns since her chief 

 industry, the jute manufacture, required the whale 

 and seal oil, so that the town's two main industries 

 were in a sense interdependent. Dundee's require- 

 ments at this time (circa 1858) were two thousand two 

 hundred tons of oil annually. 



In 1868 the Scottish whaling fleet consisted of four 

 steamers and eight sailing ships from Peterhead, the 

 former of two hundred to two hundred and ninety- 

 five tons, the latter from one hundred and thirty to 

 three hundred and eighty tons ; two sailing vessels 

 of two hundred and ninety-two and two hundred 



