322 



scmwcu. 



LVoL. IX., No. 217 



About one half the tonnage of the fleet, includ- 

 ing most of the smaller vessels, is employed in 

 sperm -whaling, and the other half in right-whal- 

 ing. More than fifty per cent of the sperm-oil is 

 taken in the Atlantic Ocean, and about three- 

 fourths of the whale-oil comes from the Arctic. 



Sperm whales are very widely distributed in 

 temperate and tropical waters. They have been 

 taken as far south as the 50th parallel of latitude 

 in the Atlantic and Pacific, and as far north as 

 latitude 56° 12' in the North Pacific. They are 

 generally taken in deep water, though sometimes 

 captured in the more shallow waters at the edge 

 of the great ocean-banks. They are smaller 

 within thirty degrees north and south of the 

 equator than in higher latitudes. The fishing- 

 grounds for sperm whales are widely separated. 

 In the North Atlantic good sperm-whaling has 

 been found in the Caribbean Sea, in the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and in various places about the West 

 Indies, the Bahamas, and the Azore Islands. 

 Among the most important regions are the 

 ' Charleston ground,' in latitude 29° to 32° north, 

 and longitude 74° to 77° west ; and the ' Hatteras 

 ground,' along the edge of the Gulf Stream, in the 

 latitude of Cape Hatteras. Other resorts are the 

 ' Two forties ' and ' Two thirty-sixes,' situated at 

 the crossings of the 36th and 40th parallels and 

 meridians. There have been important grounds 

 from latitude 48° to 54° north, and longitude 23° 

 to 32° west. 



In the South Atlantic, sperm whales are now 

 taken chiefly along the African coast and between 

 the coast and St. Helena. Very profitable whal- 

 ing was formerly found along the South American 

 coast. 



The South Pacific grounds for sperm whales are 

 off the Chilian coast, extending from latitude 35° 

 to 46° south, and from the coast 200 miles offshore. 

 North of here are the ' Archer ground,' the ' Cal- 

 lao ground,' and other resorts. Throughout the 

 South Pacific there were formerly many other ex- 

 tensive and profitable cruising-grounds ; but they 

 are now nearly all abandoned, not entirely be- 

 cause of the scarcity of whales, but because of 

 the low price of sperm-oil and the great expense 

 attendant upon the long voyages to distant seas. 

 A few vessels still cruise in the vicinity of New 

 Zealand and Australia, and in some seasons make 

 good voyages. 



In the North Pacific, also, sperm whales were 

 formerly taken on various grounds along the coast 

 of Lower CaHfornia, and on the once famous 

 ' Japan ground/ extending across the ocean along 

 the 30th parallel, and especially between latitude 

 25° and 40° north, and longitude 140° to 180° east. 

 For several years no vessels have been fitted for 



sperm-whaling in those waters ; though Arctic ves- 

 sels on their way north, after their spring cruis- 

 ing, have reported these whales in abundance. 



The Indian Ocean was on<;e the scene of an ex- 

 tensive fishery for sperm as well as right whales, 

 but very few vessels have gone there during the 

 last ten years. In 1880 there was no American 

 whaling-vessel in that ocean ; in 1886 two vessels 

 went there, with fair success. Sperm whales 

 were found principally off Port Dauphin, around 

 Madagascar, about Mauritius, Bourbon, and Rod- 

 erique islands, the Amirante group, off Zanzibar, 

 and elsewhere along the African coast to the Red 

 Sea. 



Right whales (Eubalaena) are found as far north 

 as latitude 61° 30' at the mouth of Hudson Strait, 

 and south to the Antarctic Ocean, though they are 

 not common in tropical waters. These are also called 

 'black whales,' to distinguish them from the bow- 

 head or polar whale (Balaena mysticetus), which 

 by English whalers, and often by others, is con- 

 founded with the right whale. The bowhead is 

 an ice whale, found only in Arctic regions, while 

 the other species inhabit temperate waters. 



The principal resorts of the right whale east of 

 America are in the South Atlantic, while in the 

 Pacific they are about equally abundant both 

 north and south of the tropics. These whales 

 were formerly taken along the New England 

 cofist, but they are now only occasionally captured 

 in the North Atlantic. During the winter months 

 whalers find them on the Hatteras ground and in 

 the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, and a few 

 vessels have met with indifferent success in search- 

 ing for them along the west coast of Africa between 

 latitude 15° and 23° north. 



In the South Atlantic they are sought for around 

 the Tristan Islands and along the South American 

 coast, where they were once very abundant. 



The Indian Ocean was once an important right- 

 whaling ground, but is now practically abandoned. 



In the South Pacific, right whales are taken 

 from September to January, off the coast of Chili, 

 on the grounds from latitude 42° to 47° south, and 

 longitude 75° to 80° west, and in the spring farther 

 north and nearer the coast. 



The North Pacific right- whale grounds were 

 once famous, and were cruised over by upwards 

 of two hundred American vessels. The principal 

 resorts were the ' North-west coast ' or ' Kadiak 

 ground,' off the Alaska Peninsula, and in the 

 Japan and Okhotsk seas. After the discovery of 

 the whaling-grounds in the Arctic, the lower lati- 

 tudes were gradually abandoned. A few vessels, 

 however, have within a few years past again re- 

 sorted to the Kadiak, the Okhotsk, and the Japan 

 grounds. 



