FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
53 
There are 9 whaleboats, of which a certain number are kept ready 
and fully equipped for immediate use, the others being held in reserve 
to supply the place of a u stove boat,” to assist in towing dead whales 
to shore, or to render any other necessary service. 
\j The season is from November to the middle of March, after which 
date the whales have generally left the coast on their annual migration 
north.* The species taken here is usually the gray whale; the hump- 
back or “ summer whale” is rarely captured, and the same may be said 
of the right whale. The best success is usually met with in the early 
part of the season, when the whales are going south, for in the late 
winter and spring, when returning, they keep farther off shore, and the 
prevailing northerly winds and rough sea often prevent their successful 
pursuit. Besides, as they are then in poor condition, there is not the 
same inducement to hunt them. X 
Organization of whaling camp , methods , etc . — Captain Scammon writes 
as follows : 
The organization of each party is nearly on the same plan as that of the whale 
ship’s officers and crew, all being paid a certain share, or lay, which corresponds to 
the position or individual services rendered by each member. A “whaling com- 
pany,” as it is termed, consists of one captain, one mate, a cooper, two boat-steerers, 
and eleven men ; from these, two whaleboats are provided with crews of six men 
each, leaving four men on shore to take their turn at the lookout station to watch for 
whales and to tend to boiling out the blubber when a whale is caught. The stock 
of the company consists of boats, whaling implements, and whaling gear, which is 
divided into sixteen equal shares, and the “ lay ” of each member is the same. The 
captain and mate, however, are paid a bonus of $200 or $300 for the term of the engage- 
ment, which is 1 year, and they are also exempt from all expenses of the company. 
The cruising limits of the local whalers extend from near the shore line to 10 miles 
at sea. At dawn of day the boats may be seen careening under a press of sail, or 
propelled over the undulating ground swell by the long, measured strokes of oars, 
until they reach the usual whaling ground, where the day is passed plying to and fro, 
unless the objects of pursuit are met with. * * * Generally whales are first 
seen from the boat, but occasionally they are discovered by the man on watch at the 
station, who signals to the boats by means of a flag elevated upon a pole with which 
he runs toward the quarter where the whales are seen ; or a series of signals is made 
from a tall flagstaff. 
The cetaceous animals frequenting the coast, having been so long and constantly 
pursued, are exceedingly shy and difficult to approach, and were it not for the utility 
of Greener’s gun the coast fishery would be abandoned, it being now next to impos- 
sible to strike with the “ hand harpoon.” At the present time (1874) if the whale can 
be approached within 30 yards it is considered to be within reach of the gun har- 
poon. When the gunner fires, if he hits the game, the next effort is to haul up near to 
shoot a bomb lance into a vital part, which, if it explodes, completes the capture; 
but if the first bomb fails, the second or third one does the fatal work. The prize is 
then towed to the station, and, if it be night, it is secured to one of the buoys placed 
^ * Alexander states that “ December, January, and February are the months in 
which whales frequent this locality; sometimes, however, a few are seen as late as 
the middle of March. These months are called the “ down-run ” season ; the “up-run ” 
is of short duration, which, as a rule, lasts from 4 to 6 weeks. Whales when migrating 
north are poor, but on their return south are invariably fat ?tud contain about 50 per 
cent, more oil than when on their northern passage.” 
