FORECASTLE AND CABIN 67 



crease the profits of the ship-master or owners." ^* This be- 

 lief can only be strengthened, too, by occasional entries in 

 certain crew-account books which are still extant j for here 

 and there, occurring at rare intervals, are individual accounts 

 which, instead of being balanced and closed, are terminated 

 with the single word "left." The records of the ship Mont- 

 realy of New Bedford, afford a case in point. During the 

 course of her third whaling voyage, 1 857-1 862, this vessel 

 "left" no less than five members of her crewj and the evidence 

 seems to imply clearly that in these instances the ship deserted 

 the men, rather than vice versa! 



This practice of desertion, if it involved losses for the own- 

 ers and disciplinary problems for the officers, was indeed a des- 

 perate measure for the seamen. Its mere attempt constituted 

 a violation of the legally enforceable contract which was em- 

 bodied in the agreement to ship for an entire voyage, and 

 rendered a violator liable to pursuit and capture by the police 

 forces of the United States and of most friendly nations. 

 The deserter was thus placed upon the same footing as a com- 

 mon outlaw. If recaptured, he was automatically returned to 

 his vessel, where the mates took care to make his lot even 

 worse than before. If, on the other hand, he was successful 

 in making his escape, often after taking desperate chances and 

 undergoing severe hardships, other dangers and difficulties 

 surrounded him as if by magic. 



As long as his vessel was in the harbor he was compelled to 

 remain in hiding or to take to the open country. The former 

 carried with it a constant fear of betrayal: the latter presented 

 possibilities of fever, disease, lack of food and water, and du- 

 bious association with hostile savages. And even if he con- 

 trived to elude capture until after the departure of his ship- 

 mates, there was still the pressing problem of a future means 

 of livelihood. With both his earnings and personal effects 

 confiscated by the owners of the vessel which he had just left, 

 this was not a matter to be taken lightly. In the out-of-the- 

 way South Sea ports most often visited by whalemen there 

 was only the choice between shipping on another whaler or 



^* Wilkes, Charles, "Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition," 

 V, p. 498. 



