Alexander Starbuck, History of the American Whale Fishery from Its Earliest Inception to the Year 1876 (Washington, 1878)

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title
Alexander Starbuck, History of the American Whale Fishery from Its Earliest Inception to the Year 1876 (Washington, 1878)
type
book
date
1878
url
https://archive.org/details/historyofamerica00star
seen
image
access
public

Printed in the Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for 1875-76: a history of the fishery and a list of every American whaling voyage, with its master, dates and catch. Read 14 Oct 2026 in the Internet Archive's copy.

  • The Hydaspe (pp. 374-375): ship, 313 tons, Francis Post master, Daniel Wood agent; sailed 24 Apr 1841; home 14 Apr 1845 with 850 sperm, 850 whale, 8,000 lbs bone.
  • The Globe (pp. 422-423): ship, 479 tons, Daggett master, George Hussey agent, bound to the N.W. Coast; sailed 13 Sept 1845; home 22 Aug 1850 with 76 sperm, 4,394 whale, 17,200 lbs bone; "Bought from Philadelphia 1845; sent home 13,411 pounds bone."
  • The northern grounds (p. 98): "In 1843, the first bow-head whales taken in the North Pacific were captured on the coast of Kamschatka by the ships Hercules ... and Janus."
  • The gold rush (p. 112): "immediately after the discovery of the gold mines in California, desertions from the ships were numerous and often causeless, generally in such numbers as to seriously cripple the efficiency of the ship."
  • Prices (Table J, p. 660): average prices in 1845, sperm oil 88 cents a gallon, whale oil 33 cents, bone 34 cents a pound; in 1850, $1.20 7/10, 49 1/10 cents and 32 2/5 cents.
  • The colonial grounds: in the spring of 1737 "a dozen vessels were fitting ... from Provincetown for the Davis's Straits whale-fishery," and in July 1738 Benjamin Hamlin of Eastham was killed cutting in a whale taken "in the Straits" (p. 32). From 1750 to 1784 "the colonial Davis Strait fishery seems to have been quite abandoned, and the vessels cruised mostly to the eastward of the Grand Banks, along the edge of the Gulf Stream and in the vicinity of the Bahamas" (p. 36). "In 1761 the fishery of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Straits of Bellisle was opened to our whalemen, and they speedily availed themselves of its wealth" (p. 38). Wellfleet is among the colonial whaling ports (p. 58).
  1. ---
  2. title: "Alexander Starbuck, History of the American Whale Fishery from Its Earliest Inception to the Year 1876 (Washington, 1878)"
  3. type: book
  4. date: "1878"
  5. url: "https://archive.org/details/historyofamerica00star"
  6. seen: image
  7. access: public
  8. ---
  10. Printed in the Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for 1875-76: a history of the
  11. fishery and a list of every American whaling voyage, with its master, dates and catch. Read 14 Oct 2026
  12. in the Internet Archive's copy.
  14. - The Hydaspe (pp. 374-375): ship, 313 tons, Francis Post master, Daniel Wood agent; sailed 24 Apr
  15. 1841; home 14 Apr 1845 with 850 sperm, 850 whale, 8,000 lbs bone.
  16. - The Globe (pp. 422-423): ship, 479 tons, Daggett master, George Hussey agent, bound to the N.W.
  17. Coast; sailed 13 Sept 1845; home 22 Aug 1850 with 76 sperm, 4,394 whale, 17,200 lbs bone; "Bought
  18. from Philadelphia 1845; sent home 13,411 pounds bone."
  19. - The northern grounds (p. 98): "In 1843, the first bow-head whales taken in the North Pacific were
  20. captured on the coast of Kamschatka by the ships Hercules ... and Janus."
  21. - The gold rush (p. 112): "immediately after the discovery of the gold mines in California, desertions
  22. from the ships were numerous and often causeless, generally in such numbers as to seriously cripple
  23. the efficiency of the ship."
  24. - Prices (Table J, p. 660): average prices in 1845, sperm oil 88 cents a gallon, whale oil 33 cents,
  25. bone 34 cents a pound; in 1850, $1.20 7/10, 49 1/10 cents and 32 2/5 cents.
  26. - The colonial grounds: in the spring of 1737 "a dozen vessels were fitting ... from Provincetown for
  27. the Davis's Straits whale-fishery," and in July 1738 Benjamin Hamlin of Eastham was killed cutting
  28. in a whale taken "in the Straits" (p. 32). From 1750 to 1784 "the colonial Davis Strait fishery seems
  29. to have been quite abandoned, and the vessels cruised mostly to the eastward of the Grand Banks,
  30. along the edge of the Gulf Stream and in the vicinity of the Bahamas" (p. 36). "In 1761 the fishery
  31. of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Straits of Bellisle was opened to our whalemen, and they
  32. speedily availed themselves of its wealth" (p. 38). Wellfleet is among the colonial whaling ports
  33. (p. 58).
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