*Mr. Tulloch afterwards furnished the following statement:-
Men on s.s. 'Arctic,' of Dundee, voyage to seal and whale fishing
in 1867.
Amount of wages and oil-money, £411 14 6
Amount of cash paid Shetland portion of
crew-35 men, 318 14 6
Amount of goods sold, £93 0 0
Average earnings, £11 15 3 ,, cash, 9 2 1 ,, goods, 2 13 1
Men on s.s. 'Narwhal's' voyage to seal and whale fishing in 1869-M'Lennan, master. Amount of wages and oil-money, etc.,. £303 15 2 Amount of cash paid Shetland portion of crew-19 men, 255 11 6 Amount of goods sold, £48 3 8
Average earnings, £15 19 9 ,, cash, 13 9 0 ,, goods, 2 10 9
Men on s.s. 'Erik,' of London, voyage to seal fishing in 1869-Robert Jones, master. Amount of wages and oil-money, etc., £365 10 10 Amount of cash paid Shetland portion of crew-25 men, 326 4 4 Amount of goods sold, 39 6 6 Average earnings, £14 12 5 ,, cash, 13 1 0 ,, goods, 1 11 5
Lerwick, January 29, 1872, GEORGE REID TAIT, examined.
14,509. You were for a number of years engaged as an agent in Lerwick for whaling vessels?-I was.
14,510. How many ships had you generally?-I have had as high as eighteen in one year.
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14,511. For these, I suppose, you would sometimes employ 100 or 200 men?-Fully that; perhaps about 250 men.