TIIIO WHALE FISHERY. 233 



:hc schooner Union. tiii.L'L' Inns. Most of the. schooner and .smaller vessels of Hie other classes 

 were employed in the Atlantic Ocean whaling, while the largest and best equipped vessels were 

 sent to the I'aeilic and the Arctic Oceans. 



The tyi>ical \vhalerin the southern fleet may bo a little old fashioned, and perhaps a trifle 

 more rusty and greasy when on a cruise, than her sister ships in the merchant service, and becom- 

 ing well saturated in oil she lives to a green, old age, unless some fatal talisman finds a place 

 aboard of her. She is heavily built, full bodied, with bluff bows, and high square stern, and 

 designed more for seaworthiness and carrying capacity than for speed or graceful lines; couse 

 quently we do not find in this fishery the graceful type of the modern fishing vessel peculiar to the 

 Gloucester fleet. Some of the whaling schooners have the old poop deck and an after house tor 

 tbe officers, but the tendency has been for many years to supersede the former by a flush deck, 

 and to place the quarters of tbe officers below. The steam whaler, however, possesses all of the 

 advantages and improvements that have been applied by modern science to naval architecture. 

 The old whale ships frequently cruised in unfamiliar waters and visited unknown and hostile 

 shores; they therefore adopted the plau of painting their sides to resemble the ports of men- 

 of-war, to give them a formidable appearance and intimidate the natives, by whom the crews 

 were sometimes attacked. This custom is also adhered to at the present time, but it is confined to 

 the old ships. 



The vessels composing the present fleet may roughly be divided into two classes the sailing 

 craft and steamers. The former, embracing vessels of all types except the sloop, are employed in 

 the southern fishery, and the latter exclusively in the Arctic fishery. At the iuceptiou of open-sea 

 whaling, sloops, such as were used at that time in the coasting trade, were principally relied upon; 

 brigs and schooners were subsequently introduced, and these three types were mainly depended 

 upon until deep-sea whaling began; at which time l.irger vessels were needed, and although ships 

 and barks were employed, the former were more popular. At present there is not a sloop in the 

 whaling fleet ; brigs and schooners are employed principally in the Atlantic fishery and in the 

 Hudson Bay region, ships and barks in the Southern Pacific, and steam barks in the Arctic 

 regions on the western side of the continent. 



The Atlantic fishery was formerly prosecuted with the smaller class of vessels known as "plum 

 pud'ners,'' which made short voyages called >< plum-pudding voyages," leaving their ports in early 

 spring, and returning, if possible, before the September gales " came on to blow ;" but in some 

 instances the cruises were more extended. The crews therefore had fresh provisions and an abun- 

 dant supply of plum pudding, or plum duff; a kind of dish though sometimes made of "Nantucket 

 raisins," that is, dried apples, has always been relished by seafaring men. Hence we have the 

 origin of the term plum-pudding fleet."* As the fishery increased in magnitude and importance, 

 and the green pastures of the vast feeding ground of the sperm whale in the Pacific were disclosed 

 to the whalemen, the ' plum pud'uers " of New Bedford gave way to larger vessels, principally ships 

 This change brought a system of discipline in the whaling fleet. The master became a commander, 

 and occupied his cabin and state-room in the after part of the ship; the mates and boat-steerers 

 also lived aft, and were not allowed to mingle familiarly with the foremast hands ; the latter bunked 

 and messed in the forecastle and were not tolerated socially on the quarter deck, and the former 

 name of the fleet was transfer; ed to i.he schooners of Proviucetowu, which are still sometimes called 

 ' plum pud'ners," though the term is now becoming obsolete. 



' 1 liavu been told that iu tbe old Province itowii fleet the iren had an abuudance of duff and plenty of raisins, or 

 mliiT dried fruit; but the New Bedford owners lor sanitary reasons prohibited fruit, but sanctioned the nse of phiiu 

 duff ; and tor this reason the term was applied to the Provincetown fleet. 



