Below are pages 177 to 180 from Matthew Fontaine Maury's Explanations and Sailing Directions to Accompany the Wind and Current Charts (Washington: C. Alexander, Printer; 1851).

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The Whale Chart.

In 1847, materials sufficient having been collected from the log books of whalers for an investigation into the habits and places of resort of the whale, Lt. Wm. L. Herndon commenced the construction of this "whale chart" for the whole ocean excepting the North Atlantic.

The object of these charts was to show at a glance, where this fish had been most hunted; -- when, in what years, and in what months it bad been most frequently found -- whether in shoals, as stragglers; -- and whether sperm or right. They are numbered letter F of the series.

Lieut. Herndon was interrupted in these highly interesting investigations, by orders for sea service. He had proceeded far enough however with the charts to develop some of the first fruits, which, it might be expected, are concealed in a field so abundant with treasures as this may be well supposed to be. But these orders deprived me of the assistance of a most valuable officer, and greatly delayed the work.

The plan of conducting these investigations is by spaces of 5' square, and the observations are so entered as to show at a glance the number of days for each month spent in each square ; the number of days in which whales--and whether they are sperm or right-have been seen ; also, the years in which whales of either kind were seen, and the years in which they were not seen, in any given square.

As observation after observation in such an immense field was recorded day after day, with the most; untiring industry, and as the oft-repeated process finally began to express a meaning, I was surprised to find the lines for entering the right whale were blanks, through certain districts of the ocean, from one side of the chart to the other. Finally it was discovered that the torrid zone is to this animal forbidden ground, and that it is physically as impossible for him to cross the equator as it would be to cross a sea of flame. In short. that there is a belt from two to three thousand miles in breadth, and reaching from one side of the ocean to the other, in which the right whales are never found.

Hence the discovery that the fish called the right whale in the Northern hemisphere is riot the fish which goes by this name in the Southern : that the right whale of Behring's Straits and the whales of Baffin's Bay are probably the same animal ; and if so, that there is at times at least, an open water communication through the polar regions between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans : for this animal not being able to endure the warm waters of the equator, could not pass from one ocean to the other unless by way of the Arctic regions.

The investigations connected with these animals have also pointed out to us the great currents of warm water which keep up the ocean circulation of the Pacific-it might be said of the globe ; for as we study their habits, these dumb creatures teach us by their instincts that there are continuous currents in the sea between places the most remote.

With the aid of what the whales have taught us, in connection with what we have learned from other sources, we can now almost prove the existence of a continuous current of water from the borders of the Red sea into the English Channel. The current, which has its genesis partly in the Red sea, and partly in the Indian ocean and its contiguous bays, is bifurcated off the African coast by a cold current from the South. And were it possible to throw into the Red sea two bottles properly marked and labelled, which would not be drifted out of the current, but which would separate at the forks of the stream, these two bottles would, or might pass, one around Cape Horn, the other around the Cape of Good Hope ; and, meeting again in the tropical regions of the Atlantic ocean, it would, theoretically, be possible for them to drift into the Caribbean sea;-thence through the Gulf of Mexico ;-and by the Gulf Stream out again into the Atlantic ocean ; and by its waters to be cast up together on the shores of the British Islands, as the drift of the Gulf Stream is often east.

There is an under current from the Red sea, and the course of the supposed bottles would be with that under current out into the Gulf of Aden ; thence, rising to the surface in the Arabian sea -- an immense cauldron without any escape, as from our Gulf of Mexico, for its heated waters to the North, they would be drifted to the South in the currents from this sea' arrived near the Cape of Good Hope, this current is bifurcated by a cold one from the South going to replace the waters which it has conveyed from the North.

Here the bottles would separate, one following the Lagullas current around the Cape of Good Hope into the Atlantic.

The other taking the other branch of the stream, would be drifted to the southward of New Holland, and be carried into the Antarctic regions near Victoria land. Here the current being cooled down and deflected, it would commence its flow towards the North in the ice-bearing current which flows into the Atlantic around Cape Horn,-the icebergs of which I have encountered in latitude 37° South. Bottles that have been thrown overboard off Cape Horn, have been picked up on the shores of Ireland.

However, without pursuing just now this system of currents pointed out by the bottles and the whales, I propose at another time a still further investigation and account of these beautiful and interesting facts which the Whale Charts are developing.

After Lieut. Herndon was called away, the investigations for these charts were continued by Lieut. Leigh for a short time. His duties were soon changed, and I remained without force to resume the work, till late in 1850, when Lieut. Fleming reported for duty. He was set to work upon the "Whale Charts," but before he had made much progress with them, lie was detached and ordered on other duty. Passed Midshipman Jackson has it now in hand, and it is hoped that with the great interest he takes in the subject, with the zeal and industry which lie brings to bear upon it, the Whale Charts will soon be ready for the press.

They will show in what parts of the ocean the whales "use" in each month, and the knowledge cannot fail to prove of great importance to the whaling interests of the country,-an interest which keeps in continual occupation a fleet of 600 sail, manned by 15,000 American seamen-and which fishes up annually from the depths of the ocean, property, the real value of which far exceeds that of the gold mines of California.

Plate IV exhibits an extract from the Whale Chart.

The object of this chart is to show where the whalemen have hunted, and where they have found their game; consequently, this chart when completed, will enable us to designate those parts of the ocean where the whales a' use," and those parts where they never go-and to tell where in each month this animal is most likely to be found.

The three horizontal lines, Plate IX, marked D. R. S., in the middle column, repeated from parallel to parallel, stand: D. for days ; H. and S. for the number of days, each, in which whales, right and sperm, have been seen. The days of search are expressed in figures ; the days on which whales are seen are expressed by the system of "fives and tallies," as already explained with regard to the winds.

It will be observed, that frown 60° North, to 60° South, between the meridians of 125° and 130° W., right whales, except in one instance, have never been reported by any of the vessels whose Logs have been examined. That sperm whales, except a straggler or two, have never been seen between these meridians, below 5° S.; between which parallels and the equator they are most abundant. That they are seen between 35° and 50° N., between the equator and 100 N., but not between 100 and 35° N. ; and the inference is drawn from the fact of their appearing so frequently between the parallels of 35° and 50° N., that warm water is found there.

The investigations for this chart are so conducted as to show the years in which the whales have been searched for, and seen in the various districts of the ocean. These results are the embodied experience of several hundred whalemen as to the best fishing grounds.

A chart, incomplete and imperfect it is true, but of some value to the whaling interest nevertheless, be.. cause it gives the results as far as they have been obtained, is in press, and will be speedily published. In the mean time, the work for one, more complete, is carried on with vigor.

Besides the practical advantages which it is conjectured will inure to the whaling interest from these investigations, much information of a highly interesting character will probably be elicited by them for the naturalist and geologist.

Scenes and information how interesting so ever to the world at large they may be, yet by often recurring, lose their novelty to classes; they become familiar, cease to strike, and are at best apt to be thought not worth speaking or writing about. This is particularly the case with regard to the whalemen and their calling.

With the view of reminding them how little is known by the world generally, with regard to the habits of the whale, it may be remarked that the information conveyed in the communications from them, which are now published, and which information has been obtained from them by accident or chance as it were, will be read with much interest by men of science.

The gentlemen who were kind enough to furnish this information, had, I am sure, no idea of its publication ; but I hope they will excuse the liberty for the sake of the motive. These papers will, it is hoped, be the means of calling forth much additional information of a kindred nature. Letters from Whalemen.

[Below is a portion of Plate IX]

View the Whale Chart Print