WHALERS AND WHALING. 



Whalers are not paid wages as on ordinary vessels. From the Cap- 

 tain down, each man has his "lay," which means a certain percent- 

 age of the amount of oil and whale bone taken during the voyage. 

 The Captain's lay, for instance, is generally about one barrel of oil 

 to every fourteen taken. The first mate's lay is about one in twenty- 

 four, the second mate's one in thirty, and so on, according to rank, 

 the figures varying with the state of the market and the size of the 

 ship. Of course the men are not paid actual oil and whale bone, 

 but in the amount of money represented by their share of the cargo. 

 The average Whaler has a crew of about thirty men, selected 

 with the greatest care, for on their skill and endurance, the success 

 of the voyage depends. The Captain must be a man of long expe- 

 rience and tried ability, with a little knowledge of medicine and sur- 

 gery thrown in, so that he may care for the poor fellows who have 

 a leg or an arm torn off, and their bodies horribly lacerated by the 



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