Introduction

In 1844, Algemeen Handelsblad, one of the leading newspapers in the Netherlands, enthusiastically reviewed the prospectus compiled earlier that year by Brandligt and Marselis to generate interest in South Seas whaling. In the article, the reviewer stated that

From these lines it is evident that the anonymous author of the article wanted the audience to focus on the certainties in the text. The ‘great probability’ of an ‘equitable profit’ in the South Seas whale fishery was presented as of secondary importance.

This chapter will deal with this very question: did these men follow the advice given in the newspaper article? How profitable did nineteenth-century Dutch whaling and sealing turn out to be for entrepreneurs? In order to come to grips with this issue, the elements connected with profitability – costs and revenues – will be the focus of the discussion.

Maritime trade – as trade in general – is stimulated by several fundamental factors related to input and output. On the input side factors include manpower, the skills to build the ships to pursue one's goals, and expenditure to realise these goals and the associated revenues. To explain developments in Dutch whaling in the nineteenth century, focus must be placed on both the ecological situation (the numbers of whales and seals, for instance) and on at least four economic factors – labour, technological know-how, costs, and revenues. Labour and technological know-how, in this case meaning the state of the art with respect to shipbuilding, was discussed in previous chapters. The remaining two elements – costs and revenues – require more attention as they are the two cornerstones of calculations regarding profitability and will receive more detailed discussion here.