22 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



across the Atlantic were to offer a serious bid for supremacy. 

 But that challenge, slowly gathering weight after the Revolu- 

 tion, was to be so successful that both Britain and all of her 

 competitors were to be completely eclipsed. In the nine- 

 teenth century the center of gravity of the whaling industry 

 was to shift heavily from Europe to hardy, youthful America. 



