CURRENTS AND WHALING. 523 



tudes are, however, found to be the most frequented bj the whale. 

 Along these parallels they proceed as far as the coast of South Ame- 

 rica, so as to arrive there in the course of the month of September, 

 after passing part of the time to the westward of the islands of Juan 

 Fernandez and Massafuera. 



Other vessels reach the Society Islands in June, and thence pass 

 to the westward, in order to meet the season off the Samoan and 

 Feejee Groups ; thence again without the tropics to the south, either 

 on the " middle ground," between New Holland and New Zealand, 

 or to a higher south latitude, and again meet the season off New 

 Zealand at the end of summer or in March. Those that reach the 

 coast of Chili generally recruit in the bay of Talcahuana, or in the 

 port of Payta, in Peru, and are ready to take up the season on the 

 " off-shore ground" in November. 



Vessels leaving the United States in the beginning of summer, 

 would do better to take the route round Cape Horn, reaching Chili 

 or Peru in time to recruit before the month of November, at which 

 time they repair to the " off-shore ground," where they remain for one, 

 two, or three months; thence pass to the Marquesas Islands and to 

 the westward of them, and thence to the west, along the equator, 

 as far as the Mulgrave Islands and the coast of Japan. Returning, 

 they proceed to the Northwest Coast of America, California, and finally 

 reach the Sandwich Islands to recruit by the months of October or 

 November. Other vessels pass directly from the "off-shore ground" 

 to the neighbourhood of the Sandwich Islands, where they spend the 

 months of February, March, and a part of April ; they then proceed 

 to the latitude of 30°, and continue their cruising on each side of that 

 parallel between the meridians of 145° and 165° W., until October, 

 when they repair to the Hawaiian Islands to recruit. 



It will readily be seen that there is ample room for a vast fleet to 

 operate in these numerous and extensive spaces, without the vessels 

 interfering with each other, and many more might be advantageously 

 employed. An opinion has indeed gained ground within a few years 

 that the whales are diminishing in numbers ; but this surmise, as far 

 as I have learned from the numerous inquiries, does not appear to be 

 well founded. 



They have indeed become wilder, or as some of the whalers 

 express it, "more scary," and, in consequence, not so easy to cap- 

 ture ; but if we consider the numbers that continue to be yearly 

 taken, there will, I think, be no reason to suppose that any great 



