ch. xxi] The British Whale Fishery 189 
The revival of the English whale-fishery was due to 
the fostering care of Sir Robert Walpole's government. 
In 1733 a bonus of 305. per ton was offered to owners of 
whaling ships, increased to 40s. in 1740. Then the 
fishery began to flourish. Previously there were only 
from three to six ships going north, but in 1749 there 
were 40, soon increased to over a hundred from Hull 
and London. In 1787 there were 162 English and 
23 Scottish whalers, and in 1788 there were 255 ships 
going to the Spitsbergen seas and Davis Strait, bringing 
back 5989 tons of oil, 380 tons of whalebone, and 13,386 
skins of seals and bears. It was then considered safe to 
reduce the bounty, the British whale-fishery being estab- 
lished on a firm basis. From 1788 to 1790 London was 
the chief port, Hull being a good second in 1788 with 29 
sail for Spitsbergen, and 7 for Davis Strait. Whitby 
began the whaling business in 1753. Mr Pitt, by an 
Act of Parliament (26 Geo. Ill, c. 41) enumerated the 
conditions constituting a whaling ship, the crew, boats, 
implements, lines, etc., with so many apprentices ac- 
cording to tonnage, to be indentured between the ages 
of 12 and 20. The Act was altered and amended by 
later Acts down to that of 1815 (55 Geo. Ill, c. 32). 
The whalers were vessels of 300 to 400 tons, doubled 
and strengthened with plates of half-inch iron round the 
stem. The working of the sails was arranged so as to 
be done by the fewest men, a bentick boom being fitted 
for the foresail instead of tacks and sheets 1 . The look-out 
had to be many hours at the mast-head, watching the 
ice and looking out for whales. As this duty had often 
to be performed in the intensest cold, the " crow's-nest ** 
was invented to protect the look-out men from the 
weather. The improved top-gallant crow's-nest, used 
since 1807, was invented by Scoresby. It was fixed at 
the head of the main top-gallant mast, with nothing 
above it and consisted of a cylindrical frame 4J feet 
by 2|, covered with painted canvas, open above, and 
closed below with a square hatch which served as 
the entrance. There was a small seat, and places for 
the telescope and other instruments. A screen worked 
1 A bentick boom is a long straight spar to which the clews of the fore- 
sail are secured. 
