lued at twenty-one millions of dollars; while
the foreign fleet consisted of only two hundred and thirty vessels of
various kinds. From the off-shore fishing as practised in the early days
of the industry, voyages had extended to all parts of the Atlantic, and
before the opening of the nineteenth century a considerable fleet was
cruising in the Pacific Ocean. By 1820 these voyages had extended to
Japan, and in 1836 they reached what is known as the Kodiak Grounds. In
1848 the wonderful field in the Arctic, by way of Behring's Strait, was
discovered by bark "Superior." Three years later two hundred and fifty
vessels took advantage of the "Superior's" discovery and entered the
same grounds. The largest catch in these grounds was in 1852, when two
hundred and seventy-eight vessels got three hundred and seventy-three
thousand, four hundred and fifty barrels of oil. Since then there has
been a very great decline; the Arctic fleet of 1876 consisting of only
twenty vessels, which caught five thousand, two hundred and fifty
barrels of oil. The fleet of 1885 consisted of forty-one vessels, more
than half hailing from New Bedford; but four of the fleet were lost.

[Illustration: PUBLIC LIBRARY.]

Seven years before the wonderful catch of 1852, disasters and other
reverses had caused many serious failures, and from that date really
begins the decline in whaling, which was rapid after 1860. But meantime
San Francisco had worked into the business. For years vessels had fitted
out from the Sandwich Islands, returning home only about once in five
years. But there were many abuses and disadvantages in this; hence San
Francisco as it grew in importance became the head-quarters for fitting,
and one ship after another was transferred from the New Bedford fleet to
that of San Francisco, until now she is next to New Bedford in the
whaling business. It is doubtful if the fleet sailing from Buzzard's Bay
twenty-five years hence is half the size of the fleet of to-day; for
vessels that are lost, sold, or broken up are seldom replaced. The
astonishing decline in this industry is shown by the fact that three
hundred and eleven whaling vessels were owned in New Bedford in 1855.
Thirty years later, in 1885, only one hundred and thirty-five such
vessels were owned in the whole United States, eighty-six of which
hailed from New Bedford, twenty from San Francisco, and the rest from
Provincetown, New London, Edgartown, Boston, Stonington, and Marion.