BEARINGS 13 



perative premium upon clever and skillful handling that rap- 

 idly eliminated the unfit and the timid. 



The dangers and vicissitudes of whaling were appallingly 

 numerous. In addition to the risks of storm, shoal, and reef, 

 common to all seafarers, there were many hazards peculiar to 

 whalers alone. Long absences in unfrequented waters, far 

 from the regular lanes of commerce; enforced contacts with 

 strange peoples in new lands; liability to fire from the flames 

 under the try-pots, as well as from the boiling contents; ice 

 and cold In the Arctic or Antarctic; and the countless dangers of 

 the chase Itself, — each of these categories of mischance took its 

 toll of life and property. 



Accidents to the men in the boats were both frequent and 

 severe. A "stove boat," smashed into bits by a blow of the 

 flukes or the jaws of a whale too closely pursued, was a com- 

 monplace. Sometimes the six occupants were rescued, un- 

 hurt; sometimes only two or three survived, badly Injured; 

 and sometimes all were lost. Now and again a flying loop of 

 a foul line snatched a man out of his boat and dragged him 

 under water with the ease and speed of a malevolent magician. 

 A boat's crew, losing sight of the mother ship during the twi- 

 light hours of a long and absorbing chase, might be discovered 

 the next morning, after a night of terror; or the frail craft 

 might go down with all hands; or. In a few extreme cases, two 

 or three survivors might be picked up weeks later, having 

 drifted hundreds of miles on the open sea and having been 

 driven to subsist on the flesh and blood of their dead comrades. 



But even if a whaling voyage proceeded without untoward 

 incidents, the lot of the crew was not enviable. Both nature 

 and man combined to create a situation which, at its best, was 

 hard, and at its worst represented perhaps the lowest condition 

 to which free American labor has ever fallen. The very 

 nature of the industry made It impossible to escape from 

 cramped and inadequate living quarters, a small variety of 

 staple foods, drab discomforts, maddening monotony, long 

 hours of gruelling and dangerous work, repeated exposure to 

 hazards in many forms, and a rigid discipline. 



Some generous owners and just and kindly masters did 



