| PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 885
23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
Bas Company (Norwegian):
Floating factory
Steam whalers
Whales caught
Barrels of oil
Mossamedes.
2
Sailing ship "Alonso.'
33
3 in number.
612 8,000.
Companhia da Pesca da Baleia (Portuguese) :—
Factory on shore.
Steam whalers
Whales caught
Barrels of oil
ניי
2 in number.
180 5,000.
This company was badly managed, and should under ordinary circumstances
have produced 15,000 barrels.
Port Alexander.
Hvalfanger A/S Vinking
Floating factory
Steam whalers
Whales caught
$.S.
"Ambra."
3 in number. 500
13,500.
Barrels of oil
There is also a factory on shore.
Southern Whaling and Sealing Company (British):
A thoroughly up-to-date steamer. Can make both oil and
Floating factory
guano on board.
Steam whalers
Whales caught
Barrels of oil
8.8.
Restitution."
3 in number. 360
12,500.
This company worked only up to the 11th October, and then left for South
Georgia to finish the season.
Great Fish Bay (Bahia dos Tigres).
Haugesund Whaling Company (Haugesunds, Norway):
Floating factory
Steam whalers
Whales caught
8.8. "Augvald."
4 in number.
330
12,000.
Barrels of oil
There is also a factory on shore.
Kastor Whaling Company (Tonsberg,
Floating factory
Norway) :-
8.8. Benguela."
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7. At Port Alexander it was observed that the whales when on their way north were fatter and in better condition than on their return, while at Elephant Bay the opposite was stated to be the case; and at this place it was also noted that 50% more whales passed south than did north, and it was suggested that a possible explanation of this might be that some whales pass up the east coast of South America and cross over to the coast of Africa in the region of the Equator.
8. All the companies have been killing both bulls and cows on the northward and southward runs, the result being that less calves are born and a great number of those which are born die when their mothers are killed.
9. His Excellency the Governor-General of Angola informed me that he proposed making some restrictions with regard to the killing of cows next year.
10. Although all the whaling companies recognize the killing of cows to be a cut-throat policy, no one company is able to stop it on account of the competition which exists with the remainder.
11. None of the companies have this year done so well as they anticipated. Of the six companies at Libreville and Cape Lopez four will not be able to cover expenses and will show a loss, one will balance, and the other will show a fair profit. The price of whale oil in the European markets is £18 to £19 per ton, which is a decrease of £6 per ton on last year.
12. The best localities for whaling would appear to be Elephant Bay, At Libreville and Cape Lopez the climate and Mossamedes, and Port Alexander. heat are a great hindrance to the white men working, and at Great Fish Bay (Bahia dos Tigres) the strong winds which prevail in the afternoons often prevent the whalers from going out.
13. All the companies in Angola will return next year, but I have no informa- tion as to the intentions of the companies at Libreville and Cape Lopez.
14. The order referred to in the note at the end of my report dated 1st December, 1912, as to the prohibiting of whaling within three miles from the coast of Angola, has not been issued.
H.M.S. "Dwarf,"
1st December, 1913.
29140
No. 2.
F. E. K. STRONG, Commander and Senior Naval Officer
West Coast of Africa.
THE
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS AT THE THIRD MEETING OF THE INTERDEPARTMENTAL WHALING COMMITTEE, HELD AT COLONIAL OFFICE, AT 2 P.M., ON THE 23RD JANUARY, 1914.
PRESENT:
Mr. MAURICE (in the chair).
Mr. LAMB.
Mr. BAKER.
Mr. HOLT.
Steam whalers
Whales caught
Barrels of oil
There is also a factory on shore.
3 in number. 315 11,000.
2. The companies at Libreville and Cape Lopez commence work in June and finish in the middle of October. The remainder work from June till the middle of November.
3. There are altogether forty-one small steam whalers employed killing whales between Cape Lopez and Great Fish Bay (Bahia dos Tigres), and an approximate estimate of the total number killed for the year 1913 is 6,350, compared with 4,250 last year.
4. The total number of steamers working on the coast from Cape Lopez to Capetown has been estimated at 93, so that it can be calculated the enormous number of whales that have been killed altogether.
The
5. A great number less carcases are thrown away this year than last. only companies which do not use all the products obtained from the whales are those
at Libreville and Cape Lopez and the Bas Company at Elephant Bay.
6. It has been calculated that about 30% less whales passed along the coast this year than last.
Mr. VERNON,
Mr. LESLIE.
Mr. WILLIAMS (Secretary).
Mr. DARNLEY was not able to be present.
THE Committee proceeded at once to hear the evidence of Mr. S. T. Burfield
and Mr. D. G. Lillie, the minutes of which are printed in Miscellaneous No. 298.
On the withdrawal of the witnesses, the question was discussed of giving pub. licity to the objects of the Committee by a notification in the Press, in view of the possibility that
interested in whaling, either from the scientific or the com- persons mercial standpoint, might by this means be induced to volunteer information. Mr. Maurice observed that much of such information would, no doubt, be of little value, but it would not be necessary for every would-be informant to be called as a witness. They could, in the first instance, be invited to communicate their views in writing to the Secretary.
It was decided that the question should be referred in the first place to the Colonial Office, and that the Foreign Office also should be consulted as to the pro- priety of making any reference in the Press notification to the prospective Inter- national Conference while it was not yet certain whether it would materialize.
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