-CURRENTS AND WHALING. 493 



generally recruit in the bay of Talcahuana, or in the port of Payta, in 

 Pern, 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 neigh- 

 bourhood 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 capture ; but if 

 we consider the numbers that continue to be yearly taken, there will, 

 I think, be no reason to suppose that any great decrease has occurred. 

 On an average, it requires fifty whales to fill a ship, and it would 

 therefore take about five thousand whales annually, to supply the 

 quantity of oil that is imported. This would appear but a small pro- 

 portionate number, if these animals were as prolific as our herds on 

 shore, when it is considered that they have a feeding-ground of twenty 

 millions of square miles. 



The number of right whales captured is to the spermaceti in the 

 proportion of about two to one. The former are principally found on 

 the coasts, in the bays, and even in the harbours, and are far more 

 numerous than the sperm whale. They are pursued to the greatest 

 advantage in small vessels. They frequent the coast of Chili during 

 the summer season, from October to March, and are to be found on the 

 northwest coast of America and that of California, during the northern 



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