TIII-: \\II.\LK KISIIKIIY. 69 



to the requirements of (lie adventurers, became, famous places of resort for American \vhale ships. 



The principal ones were Talralmano and Valparaiso, in Chili, and Payta, Callao, and Tumhe/, in "* 



Peru. At these places usually could be obtained any needed recruits, and the picturesque scenery, 



blended with those sunny climes, together with the charms of the beautiful women, made their 



periodical visits to the coast peculiarly atlractivc, and wrought an entire temporary change from 



the lifeou -blue water/ The abrujn and lofty group of islands, the Galapagos, which extend into 



both latitudes from the equator, and the little island of Cocos, situated in the rainy region ou the 



border of I'anaina Hay, were frequently visited, and became more familiar to the whalemen, in 



many instances, than their Atlantic homes. Every rugged mountain and verdant valley of the 



former were Ira versed in hunting the galapago. or 'elephant terrapin,' which furnished them with 



ample supply of the most delicious meat, and the latter was resorted to for fresh water, which 



was dipped from cascades flowing out of their natural icservoir beyond the wooded bluffs. And 



upon the rocks about the beach of Chatham Bay, rudely chiseled, are the records of those pioneer 



\\lialc fishers, with the dates of the visits of transient vessels, from the pigmy shallops of Drake's 



time to the magnificent national ships of the present century."* 



SPERM WHALING AT NEW ZEALAND AND THE OFFSHORE GROUND. The sperm-whale 

 lislicry at Xcw Zea'and began about the year ISO:.', and in LS03, according to Beale, " many vessels 

 were plowing the Cliiua Seas, about the Molucca Islands, in search of the sperm whale."t In 

 isist ('apt. George Gardner, in the ship Globe, of Nantucket, discovered the famous "offshore 

 ground " that was soon visited by scores of sperm whalers. In speaking of this discovery Scammon 

 says: "The love of adventure tempted the whalers to turn their prows even from the sunny shores 

 of Peru, and, with flowing sheets, they coursed over the Pacific until, in latitude 5 to 10 south 

 and longitude 105 to 11'.") west, the objects of pursuit were found in countless numbers, whose 

 huge forms blackened the ^avcs and whose spoutiugs clouded the air as far as the eye could dis- 

 cern." 



THE JAPAN GROUND. The next important sperm-whale ground to be discovered was the 

 Japan Ground. The honor of opening this profitable whaling ground is claimed by both Ameri- 

 cans and Englishmen. According to 8tarbuck, "having received word from Captain Winship, 

 of Brighton, Mass., who had friends at Nantucket, that on a recent voyage from China to the 

 Sandwich Islands he had seen large numbers of sperm whales on that coast, Capt. Joseph Allen, 

 in the ship Mars, was dispatched there." The Mars sailed from Nantucket October 2C, 1819, arriv- 

 ing home March 10, 1822, with 2,41'.") barrels of sperm oil, and within two or three years a licet of 

 thirty sail of vessels were crui.Miigou the new ground. By 1835 there were cruising in the North 

 1'acilic, between the coasts of New Albion ou the east and the Japan Islands on the west, near a 

 hundred ships. || one-third English, and the others Americans. 



The first English whaling vessel to visit the ne\v lield was the ship Syren, of .7)00 tons burden, 

 commanded by Capt. Frederick Cotlin, of Nantucket, and carrying a crew of thirty-six seamen. 

 "The Syren,'' says Beale. sailed from England on the 3d of August, 1819, and arrived off the 

 coast of Japan on the r>th of April, 1821), where she fell in with immense numbers of the sperma- 

 ceti whale, which her crew gave chase to with excellent success; for they returned to their native 

 land ou the 21st of April, 1822, after an absence of about two years and eight months, during 

 which time they had by their industry, courage, and perseverance, gathered from the confines of 

 the North Pacific Ocean no less than the enormous quantity of 34'i tons [2,708 barrels] of sperm 



..MM.IX: op. ait., |.|p. -,MO, -,>11. tliEALi:: up. cit.. ]>. \ \\<. 



} Prnrrrilm.i;- Ainrri,:iii Ant ,i| 11:11 i:i n Society, X<>. 57, ]>. '".'. $Kepon.U. S. Fish Commission, ISTiVTC, p. 96. 



|| MACY: ili>i. N.-nitucket, p. 224. 



