216 REPORT — 1859. 



On some Questions relating to the Incidence of Taxation. 

 By J. Pope Hennessy, M.P., F.G.S. 



Statistical Account of the Whale and Seal Fisheries of Greenland and Davis 

 Straits, carried on by Vessels from Peterhead, N.B.,from 1788 to 1858, a 

 period of 7\ years. By Thomas Lawrance. 



The Greenland "Whale Fishery began in 1788 ; a vessel called the ' Robert,' 

 of 169 tons register, sailed from the port in the spring of that year, and continued 

 its solitary voyages until 1801, when it was sold. The ' Hope,' of 240 tons, fol- 

 lowed, and was joined by the 'Enterprise,' of 299 tons, in 1804, and by a vessel 

 called the ' Active,' of 308 tons, in 1810. They continued to increase from year 

 to year ; and in 1821 the whale fishery of Davis Straits was attempted, as well as 

 that of Greenland. In that year the combined fleets consisted of sixteen vessels, 

 of an aggregate tonnage of 4584 tons. The Fishings appear to class themselves 

 into three periods, viz. the whale period of Greenland, from 1788 to 1820 ; the whale 

 period of Davis Straits, from 1821 to 1840 ; and the whale and seal period of both 

 fisheries, from 1841 to 1858, viz. : — 



The total number of complete voyages was 700, and the gross quantity of oil 

 brought home 44,582 imperial tuns, which shows an average of 64 tuns a voyage. 



In the year 1838 the fleet numbered ten ships, and from that time to 1851 the 

 number did not exceed thirteen any season; but in 1851 they rose to twenty- 

 two, in 1853 to twenty-seven, and in 1857 to thirty-one, the largest number which 

 ever sailed from the port. During the period from 1838, the Seal Fishery of 

 Greenland has attracted much attention, and has been sedulously pursued. The 

 largest number of seals caught by the crew of one vessel previous to 1844 was 6130 ; 

 but in that year the 'Plover' brought home 12,300 seal skins, and 135 tuns of oil; 

 and in 1850 the ' Victor ' captured 16,135 seals, which produced 185 tuns of oil. 

 The fishing continued with varied success until 1855, in which year the large 

 number of 131,049 seals were taken : since that season, the fishing has fallen off, 

 and attention has been directed to the capture of whales at Cumberland and Davis 

 Straits. Vessels from Peterhead, Aberdeen, and the United States of America 

 have for some seasons gone out and wintered at Cumberland Straits, where whales 

 are caught in autumn, the latter end of spring, and during summer ; but the risk and 

 expenses attending these voyages, compared with the produce caught, has rendered 

 them as yet unremunerative. The steam-tug ' Jackall ' accompanied the ship 

 ' Traveller ' to Cumberland Straits in 1857, to assist in towing the boats and dead 

 whales to the vessel : both have since been lost there. The same year the iron 

 screw steamer 'Inuit' entered the trade. The owners were sanguine that the 

 application of steam at those fisheries would prove as serviceable and profitable as 

 it had been in other trades, but the experiment did not come up to expectations ; 

 the trial, however, was short ; the vessel was crushed in the ice at the seal fishing 

 of Greenland this spring. The walrus fishing off the coast of Spitzbergen was tried, 

 but failed for want of sufficient success. The whale fishing ofl the coast of Nova 

 Zembla was attempted last year ; but, though unfruitful, another and more vigorous 

 trial is necessary before it can be said that whales are to be foimd, or not, off the 

 shores of that island. 



The total number of A-essels engaged from first to last was 58, of the gross ton- 

 nage of 15,617 tons register, averaging 269 tons each. 504 voyages were made to 

 Greenland, and 214 to Davis Straits, but only 700 voyages homewards, as eighteen 

 vessels were lost at the fisheries. 



The losses, sales, and number of vessels now engaged at the fisheries are as 

 follows : — 



