FAMILY BALiENID^E. 125 



fending her young. It was formerly found in every part of the ocean in large troops ; but since 

 its capture has become an object of commercial enterprise, it has been driven from the shores 

 of Europe and North America, and is now pursued on the coasts of Africa, in the Indian ocean 

 and the Arctic seas. From the structure of its jaws, and the smallness of its throat, it can 

 only feed on the smaller oceanic animals, such as medusae or sea-jellies, shrimps, crabs, and 

 some minute mollusca. These would at first appear to be insufficient for such huge monsters ; 

 but when we examine the waters to which they resort, and which are termed their feeding 

 grounds, our wonder ceases. Off the coast of Brazil, I have passed over hundreds of miles 

 where these minute animals were so numerous as to discolor the water, giving it the appear- 

 ance of wheat scattered over a reddish sand-bank. These are termed by the whalers the Brazil 

 banks, and thither they have resorted of late years in pursuit of the whale. Scoresby has 

 estimated, that in similar places in the Arctic seas, twenty-three quadrillions of such animalculae 

 are distributed over a surface of two square miles. 



The whale fishery in this country, as in others, has been pursued with various success, and 

 is even now subject to frequent fluctuations. The first vessel constructed expressly for this 

 fishery, was a small sloop built at Nantucket in 1690. She was merely intended for cruising 

 along shore. In 1715, the number of similar sloops was but fifteen; and from this period it 

 went on increasing up to the war of the Revolution, when it was utterly destroyed by the 

 English. 



In 1799, we employed 26 vessels, of 5055 tons. 



1800, " 17 " 2814 " 



1801, " 15 " 2349 " 



1802, " 20 " 3201 " 



Of this last number, only one was fitted out from this State. It appears also that the business 

 fell off very much from 1790 in the succeeding ten years, as may be seen by the following 

 tables : 



1791, we exported 134,595 galls, sperm oil; 1802, we exported 28,470 galls, sperm oil; 

 447,323 galls, whale oil; 379,976 galls, whale oil; 



82,400 lbs. sperm candles; 135,637 lbs. sperm candles; 



124,829 lbs. whalebone. 80,334 lbs. whalebone. 



The Right Whale was formerly captured in great numbers from sloops and whale-boats, 

 along our whole coast, chiefly from February to May, although they appeared occasionally at 

 all seasons of the year. Along the southern coast of Long Island, whale boats are still kept 

 in readiness ; and upon the appearance of a whale, the people in the vicinity quickly assemble, 

 and are soon in pursuit of the animal. The whale fishery, which includes not only this 

 species, but also the Sperm Whale, is pursued in its various branches with great success, 

 either by associations or by individuals. Every person employed is a shareholder, and of 

 course this presents an additional motive for exertion. From a record kept at New-Bedford, 

 which we have inserted below, it appears that the whole number of vessels employed in the 



