206 MR. T. SOUTHWELL ON THE ARCTIC WHALE-FISHERY. 
occurred, and early in the present [nineteenth] century the 
Whale-fishery from Yarmouth was abandoned.” I have no 
means either of confirming or confuting the above statement, 
but am inclined to think that it must be an over-estimate as 
to the number of vessels out from Yarmouth in 1801, more 
especially as only 64 ships are recorded as having been fitted 
out from British ports in that year ; the decline of the fishery 
probably coincided with the decrease in the amount of the 
bounty which was at its maximum of 40s. per ton in 1781, 
and after a gradual reduction was finally abolished in 1820, 
this and the lessened consumption of Whale oil by the intro- 
duction of gas lighting about that time, probably brought 
about the decay and final virtual abandonment of the Whale 
fishery from the English ports. 
The following are the names of the Yarmouth whaling vessels 
I have met with : Elizabeth and Mary, Three Brothers, 
Prince William, Trelawney, Hunter, Argus, Yarmouth, 
Norfolk, Alexander, and Charming Polly. With regard to 
the vessel named the “ Yarmouth,” more than once mentioned 
above, an interesting fact was communicated to Mr. Patterson 
by a gentleman named Mitchell, who stated that the old 
vessel was sent to Australia in 1853, and he distinctly remem- 
bered her being beached at St. Kilda, near Melbourne, and 
converted into a bathing hut, the area in front being fenced in 
to keep out the sharks, and that he had frequently used the 
hulk for that purpose. 
The ‘‘oil houses ” used for refining the blubber were 
situated at the south end of the town near the present Trinity 
Wharf, and I believe are still in existence, although used for 
other purposes. 
The same absence of continuous and authentic records 
also unfortunately applies to the port of Lynn, which was 
probably engaged in the Whale-fishery quite as early as 
Yarmouth; but in answer to my enquiries I learn that the 
log-books of the vessels have been destroyed, and so far as 
is known no official records of the voyages exist, Sir Hamon 
le Strange, of Hunstanton, writing of a Sperm Whale cast 
ashore on his manor in 1626, says he was assisted in its cutting 
