Having now described a Greenland ship, it is time to detail the proceedings on board of her, from putting to sea to her arrival on the coast of Spitzbergen. When all necessary conditions have been fulfilled, and the ship cleared out at the custom-house, the first opportunity is embraced for putting to sea. This is generally accomplished in the course of the month of March, or at least before the tenth of April. The crew of a whale-ship usually consists of forty to fifty men, comprising several classes of officers, such as harpooners, boat-steerers, line-managers, carpenters, coopers, etc., together with fore-mast men, landmen, and apprentices. As a stimulus to the crew in the fishery, every individual, from the master down to the boys, besides his monthly pay, receives a gratuity for every size fish caught during the voyage, or a certain sum for every tun of oil which the cargo produces. Masters and harpooners, in place of monthly wages, receive a small sum in advance before sailing, and if they procure no cargo whatever, they receive nothing more for their voyage; but in the event of a successful fishing, their advantages are considerable. The master usually receives three guineas for each size fish, and as much for striking a size whale or discovering a dead one, together with ten shillings to twenty shillings per tun on oil, and commonly a thirtieth, a twenty-fifth, or a twentieth of the value of the cargo besides. He also has about £5 per month for his attendance on the ship while he remains on shore. Each harpooner has usually 6s. per tun on oil, together with half a guinea for every size fish he may strike during the voyage. In addition to which the chief-mate, who is generally also harpooner, has commonly two guineas per month when at sea, and a guinea for each size fish. The specksioneer, or chief-harpooner, has also half a guinea per fish, and sometimes a trifle per tun of oil additional; and the second-mate, and other officers who serve in a compound capacity, have some additional monthly wages. Boat-steerers, line-managers, and fore-mast-men, commonly receive about 1s. 6d. per tun each, besides their monthly pay, and landmen either a trifle per tun on oil, or a few shillings for each size fish.
From the difference in the wages paid in different ports, it is not easy to say what is the amount received by each class of officers belonging to the whale-ships. In the general, however, it may be understood that, on a ship with 200 tuns of oil, which is esteemed an excellent cargo, the chief-mate receives about £95 for his voyage, a harpooner about £70, and a common sailor, or foremast-man, about £25. including advance money and monthly pay. As the master’s wages depend as much on the value of the cargo as upon its quantity, it is difficult to give an opinion as to the amount; generally speaking, however, with a cargo of 200 tuns of oil, he will receive about £250 or £300, when his pay is according to the lowest scale; and perhaps £500 or £600, or upwards, when he is paid after the highest rate.
In time of war, the manning of the whale-ships at the ports where they were respectively fitted out being sometimes impracticable, and always a matter of difficulty, it was usual for the owners and masters of such ships to avail themselves of the privileges allowed by act of parliament of completing their crews in Shetland and Orkney. These islands were, therefore, the frequent resort of most of the fishermen; those bound for Spitzbergen commonly put into Shetland, and those for Davis’s Strait into Orkney. But in the present time of peace, also, several ships, in consequence of the higher wages demanded by the English seamen, have availed themselves of a late extension of the act for permitting a certain amount of extra men to be taken on board in Shetland or Orkney, during the continuance of the bounty system.
In Shetland, it is usual for the fishermen to trim their ships, and complete their ballast, by filling most of their empty casks with water, where it has not previously been done, to replenish their fresh water, to lay in stocks of eggs, fish, fowls, sea-sand, etc., to divest the ships of all elevated lumber and gaudy appendages to the masts and rigging, by way of preparing them for enduring the Polar storms with greater safety and convenience, and lastly, to fix a “crow’s nest” or “hurricane house,” on the mast of each ship, and prepare a passage to it as safe and convenient as possible.
The “crow’s nest” is an apparatus placed on the main top-mast, or top-gallant mast-head, as a kind of watch-tower for the use of the master or officer of the watch in the fishing-seas, for sheltering him from the wind, when engaged in piloting the ship through crowded ice, or for obtaining a more extensive view of the sea around when looking out for whales. When sailing among much drift-ice, as seen from the deck, it seems at a small distance impervious, although it may happen that scarcely any two pieces are connected; but from the mast-head, the relative position of almost every piece may be distinctly seen, and an opinion may be formed by the experienced observer of the probable and actual movements of such pieces as the ship is required to pass. This is an object of the greatest importance, because the varied movements of the different pieces occasion such an alteration in the channel pursued, that, were it not for a constant, attentive, and judicious watch by the master or an able officer, a ship would not pass through any crowded collection of drift-ice without the imminent risk of being stove.
In difficult situations, a master’s presence at the mast-head is sometimes required for many hours in succession, when the temperature of the air is from 10° to 20° below the freezing point, or more. It is therefore necessary for the preservation of his health, as well as for his comfort, that he should be sheltered from the piercing gale. A piece of canvas tied round the head of the main top-mast, and heel of the top-gallant mast, extending only from the cap to the cross-trees, or at best, a canvas stretched round the base of the top-gallant rigging, but open on the after-part, was the most complete contrivance of a crow’s nest, until a few years ago my father invented an apparatus, having the appearance of a rostrum, which afforded an admirable defence against the wind. This contrivance, from the comfortable shelter it affords to the navigator, having come into very general use, it may not be improper to describe it more particularly.
The one most approved by the inventor is about four and a half feet in length, and two and a half in diameter. The form is cylindrical, open above and close below. It is composed of laths of wood, placed in a perpendicular position, round the exterior edge of a strong wooden hoop, forming the top, and round a plane of mahogany or other wood which forms the bottom, and the whole circumference of the cylinder is covered with canvas or leather. The entrance is by a trap-hatch at the bottom. It is fixed on the very summit of the main top-gallant mast, from whence the prospect on every side is unimpeded. On the after-side is a seat, with a place beneath for a flag. In other parts are receptacles for a speaking-trumpet, telescope, and occasionally for a rifle-piece, with utensils for loading. For the more effectual shelter of the observer, when in an erect posture, a movable screen is applied to the top on the windward side, which increases the height so much as effectually to shield his head. When the ship is tacked, nothing more is necessary for retaining the complete shelter than shifting the screen to the opposite side, which is done in an instant.
The Greenland ships usually leave Shetland towards the end of March, or the beginning of April. From thence, if their view be to avail themselves of the benefit of the seal-fishery, they steer to the northward, on the meridian, or a little to the westward, and commonly make the ice in the latitude of 70° to 72° north. But if the month of April be much advanced before they leave Shetland, they generally steer for the whaling-stations on a course to the east of north, with the view of falling into that remarkable indentation of the Polar ice, lying in 5° or 10° east longitude, which I have denominated the “Whale-Fishers’ Bight.” It used to be the practice to remain on sealing-stations until the beginning of May, and not to enter the ice until about the middle of the month; but of late it has become usual to push into the ice at a much earlier period, though the practice is neither without its dangers nor disadvantages. If a barrier of ice prevents the fisher from reaching the usual fishing-station, he sometimes perseveres in search of whales on the southward margin of the ice, but more generally endeavours to push through it into an opening, which is usually formed on the west side of Spitzbergen, in the month of May, where he seldom fails of meeting with the objects of his search. It is a common remark, that the more difficulty there is attending the passage through the ice, the better is the fishery when that passage is accomplished. In close seasons, very few ships pass the barrier before the middle or end of May. Those which first succeed immediately proceed along the edge of the western ice to the latitude of 78° or 79°, until they meet with whales. But in open seasons, the most recommendable plan is to sail direct to the latitude of 80°, when it can be accomplished at a very early period, where large whales are generally at this season to be found.
It is not yet ascertained what is the earliest period of the year in which it is possible to fish for whales. The danger attending the navigation amidst massive drift-ice, in the obscurity of night, is the most formidable objection against attempting the fishery before the middle of the month of April, when the sun, having entered the northern tropic, begins to enlighten the Polar regions throughout the twenty-four hours. Some ships have sailed to the northward of the 78th degree of latitude, before the close of the month of March; but I am not acquainted with a single instance where the hardy fishers have, at this season, derived any compensation for the extraordinary dangers to which they were exposed. In the course of the month of April, on certain occasions, considerable progress has been made in the fishery, notwithstanding the frequency of storms. At the first stage of the business, in open seas, the whales are usually found in most abundance on the borders of the ice, near Hackluyt’s Headland, in the latitude of 80°. A degree or two further south they are sometimes seen, though not in much plenty; but in the 76th degree they sometimes occur in such numbers, as to present a tolerable prospect of success in assailing them.
Some rare instances have occurred wherein they have been seen on the edge of the ice, extending from Cherie Island to Point Look-out, in the early part of the season. Grown fish are frequently found at the edge, or a little within the edge, of the loose ice, in the 79th degree of north latitude, in the month of May; and small whales, of different ages, at fields, and sometimes in bays of the ice, in the 80th degree. Usually the fish are most plentiful in June, and, on some occasions, they are met with in every degree of latitude from 75° to 80°. In this month, the large whales are found in every variety of situation; sometimes in open water, at others in the loose ice, or at the edges of fields and floes, near the main impervious body of ice, extending towards the coast of West Greenland. The smaller animals of the species are, at the same time, found further to the south than in the spring, at floes, fields, or even among loose ice, but most plentifully about fields or floes, at the border of the main western ice, in the latitude of 78° or 78½°. In July, the fishery generally terminates, sometimes at the beginning of the month, at others, though more rarely, it continues throughout the greater part of it. Few small fish are seen at this season.