Daily American telegraph., 1852-08-16
AMERICAN TELEGRAPH.
THE WHALE FISHERY, AND, AMERICAN COMMERCE.
IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

THE WHALE FISHERY, AND AMERICAN COMMERCE
IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
SPEECH OF VIM. III. SEWARD,
In The Senate Of ttc United States, July 20, 1852.
[ooNauDEDl
Mr. President, have tried to win the favor
of the Senate toward the National whale
fishery for a purpose The whales have found
a new retreat in the Seas of Ochotsk and
Anadir, south of Bhering Straits, and in that
part Of the Arctic Ocean lying north of them.
In l848 Captain Roys, in the whale ship Su-
perior, passed through those seas and through
the straits, Drawing the perils of an unknown
way and an inhospitable climate. He filed
his ship in few weeks, and the news of his
success went abroad. In ls49, feet of l54
sail went up to this new fishing ground in
1850, fleet Of l44; and in 1851, fleet OF
l45. The vessels are manned with 80 persons
each; and their value, including that of the
average annual cargoes procured there, is
equal to nine millions---and thus exq(Hds by
near two millions the highest annual import
from China. But these fleets are beset by not
only such dangers of their calling as custom
arily occur on well.explored fishing grounds,
but also by the multiplied dangers Of ship
wreck resulting from the want Of accurate to.
biographical knowledge--the only charts Of
those seas being imperfect and unsatisfactory
While many and dsplorable losses were sus-
tanned by the fleets Of ls49-'5O, we have al
ready information of the loss Of eleven vessels
one-thirteenth part Of the whole fleet of 1851,
many of which disasters might have been
avoided had thero been charts, accurately in
dicating the shoals and hoadlands, and also
places of sheltered anchorage near them.
These facts are represented to us by the mer-
chants ship-owners and underwriters, and are
confirmed by Lieutenant Maury, who presides
in this department Of science in the navy as
well as in the labors and studies of the Ma
tional Observatory. Wc want, then, not boun.
ties nor protection, nor even an accurate sur.
vey, but simply an exploration and rcconnois-
sance Of those seas which have so recently be-
come the theatre OF profitable adventure and
brave achievement of our whale hunters. This
service can be performed by officers and crews
now belonging to the navy, in two or three yes
sells which already belong or may be added to it
and would continue at most only throughout
two or three years. Happily the measure in.
wolves nothing new, untried, or uncommon
To say nothing of our recent search for the
lamented Sir John Franklin nor of our great
exploring expedition under Captain Wilkes
coast survey of the Atlantic shore Charts
light houses, and beacons, show the pilot his
way, not over that ocean and among its islands
but along all our rivers and.even upon our in.
land lakes. The absence of similar guides and
beacons in the waters now in question results
from tho fact, that the Pacific coast has but re
Gently fallen under our sway and Bhering'
Straits and the seas they connect have not unit
now been frequently navgated by the seamen o
any nation, Certainly somebody must do thi
service. But who viii The wbalers cannot
No foreign nation will for none is interested
The constitutional power and rcsponsibilit,
rest with the Federal Government md it;
means are adequate
California is near this fishing ground Hen
enterprising citizens arc already engaged in
this pursuit, and henceierwsrd the whale
hunters Of Nantucket must compete with new
rivals possessing the advantage Of nearness to
the scenes of their labors California, there.
fore, Joins Massachusetts in this reasonable de-
mand.
Mr. President, the small exploring fleet
thus proposed would be obliged to quit the
Northern seas carly in September and could
not return to them until the succeeding June
propose that it should spend that long sea OF
in performing q service not dissimilar under
milder skies, in that part OF the Pacific Occar
and its adjoining seas, which is usually travers
ed by vessels sailing from New York and SaI
Francisco to China and the Indies Remember
sir, if you please that not only has no AsiatiC
prince, merchant or navigator, ever explored
this one Of oil the oceans. the broadest and
most crowded and crowned with islands, but
that they have forbidden that exploration by
European navigators, who have performed
whatever has been done at the peril and often
at the cost OF, imprisonment and death. We
have made no accurate survey, for we have
only Just now arrived and taken our stand on
the Pacific coast. We are new on that ocean
nav, we are only as of yesterday upon this con,
tinent; and yet maps and charts are as neces
sary to the seafaring man on that ocean as on any
other; and just as necessary on every ocean as
monuments and guides are to him who trav
erses deserts Of unimpressible sand or wastes Of
trackless snow.
Lieutenant Maury informs us that every nav
igator Of those waters is painfully impressed
with sense Of surrounding dangers-they ex
ist, and yet the only charts that have been
made fail 10 indicate in what forms or in what
places they will appear. So imperfect is oui
Typographical information, that large island
called Ousima, supposed to be thickly inhab
tied and highly cultivated lies in the fair way
to China, and yet no vessel has ever touched
or gone around it. 1t would repay teu-fold the
cost Of the whole exploration il We should fine
on that island a good harbor and a friendly
peoples Horsberghs charts OF these passage,
are the best But thesc are of old dates, ant
although they have been corrected from tim,
to time, yet they arc very imperfect The shoals
in the China soa, the sea of Japan, and the
straits of Casper, arc represented TO us by nav
igators as being formed Of coral, a mixture O
animal and vegetable organization, and there
fore increasing rapidly in magnitude as they
approach near TO the surface Of the waters. Il
is particularly necessary to explore and not,
the shoals and islands lying between the coas