WHALING IN THE COLONIES 29 



means of livelihood. Boston and Salem engaged in boat- 

 whaling on a small scale, though for the most part Boston re- 

 mained content to act as a trading factor for the other ports. 

 Cape Cod was represented in the fraternity of whaling vil- 

 lages by Provincetown, Eastham, Chatham, Barnstable, and 

 Yarmouth. Edgartown, as the center of the fishery on Mar- 

 tha's Vineyard, became a town of some importance. The 

 shores of Rhode Island and of Connecticut formed the land 

 base for a growing fleet of small craft j and the inhabitants of 

 the eastern end of Long Island, led by Sag Harbor, Southamp- 

 ton, and Easthampton, developed an unmistakable aptitude for 

 the pursuit of this royal game. Even Williamsburgh, Vir- 

 ginia, far out of the orthodox whaling zone, fitted out a small 

 sloop in 1 75 1 and secured a good catch. And finally, about 

 1755, the town of Dartmouth, which under its later name 

 of New Bedford was to become the greatest whaling port in 

 the world, entered the industry in a manner which was humble 

 enough. Joseph Russell, the founder of the city, was also 

 the originator of its long whaling activity j but after ten years 

 he and two associates owned only four diminutive sloops of 

 about fifty tons each. New Bedford's preeminence in whal- 

 ing, like many another form of success, was a flower of slow 

 growth."'^ 



In spite of its prevailing growth and prosperity, however, 

 pre-Revolutionary whaling had its misfortunes and provincial 

 vexations. During the early years of the century the Long 

 Islanders were greatly troubled by the jealous exactions of the 

 governors of New York, who not only demanded a tax of five 

 per cent on the proceeds of every whale captured, but also im- 

 posed a series of captious regulations in an attempt to divert 

 the trade of the whaling ports from Massachusetts and Con- 

 necticut to New York. The opposition to the governors was 

 led by Samuel Mulford, a picturesque and sturdy figure who 

 finally went directly to London (with the inner linings of his 

 pockets protected against the famed metropolitan pickpockets 

 by means of fishhooks), in order to seek redress. After a 



'' See the early chapters of Ricketson, D., "History of New Bedford," for a 

 detailed account of the beginnings of the town and of its greatest industry. 



