310 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



little understood except by the immediate persons concerned. Even intel- 

 ligent merchants in other ports, who speculate in the results of a whaling 

 voyage, know little and care less from whence and by what means they are 

 taken. I shall therefore not confine myself to merely giving the number of 

 vessels and men employed the amount of tonnage — average quantity of oil 

 taken etc. etc. but do my utmost to lay before you an exact account of the 

 Whale System — the advancement and improvements introduced into modern 

 whaling in the one hand — the abuses and acts of injustice on the other. 



From after the War of 1 8 1 2 we may date the commencement of Ameri- 

 can Whaling in the Pacific. Commodore Porter in that erratic, yet bold ex- 

 pedition in the Essex, by destroying the English Whale fleet on this side of 

 land, gave the impetus and laid the foundations to a vast trade which the 

 Eastern States with their characteristic energy, and especially Massachusetts, 

 eagerly grasped and from which they have reaped millions of profit. . 



At that period I doubt whether there would have numbered more than ten 

 or twelve American Whalers in this Ocean. But at the Close of the war, 

 English Capitalists on this branch, having either been ruined or fearing to 

 again entrust their vessels so far from home and for so long a time, left the 

 Pacific free — and consequently the American Trader found this immense 

 space entirely at his disposal. 



For many years so successful were the voyages and in comparatively so 

 short a space of time were they performed, that nothing but old condemned 

 merchant vessels, patched up, sometimes newly rigged with the necessary boats 

 and whaling gear were sent to this Coast — but latterly, that is within the 

 last twelve years a great change has taken place and a much superior class of 

 vessels has been constructed. This is owing to the circumstance that whales 

 have either become much more scarce, which some of the most experienced 

 masters affirm — or they have become more knowing, more cautious and 

 wilder — as others equally experienced assert. In all probability a com- 

 bination of these causes would be nearer the truth. The sperm whale is 

 endowed with an extraordinary acuteness of hearing, and the smallest splash 

 of a paddle or an order given in too loud a tone, will be the signal for instant 

 disappearance — and as they are either taught by nature or experience that 

 they can, and vessels cannot go "dead in the wind's eye" — they dart off in 

 that direction and are soon lost to sight. It has been found, therefore that a 

 fast sailing clipper, although she cannot compete with the whale when thor- 

 oughly alarmed, yet when he is seen from aloft she can by quick sailing and 

 proper manoeuvering get more rapidly within lowering distance and thereby 

 have a great advantage over the old tubs that formerly went to sea. Many 

 full and numbers of half clippers have been of late years added to the whal- 

 ing fleet and others are annually being built. As a matter of course new 

 tight and commodious vessels render the labors of the Seamen much less and 

 their comforts much greater. 



There is no more of that everlasting pumping, patching, and caulking — 

 these have been more or less done away with — the men have dry bunks 

 to sleep in — and when not cutting in whales or trying out oil, their work 

 is comparatively light. 



It was also found that the System of bad beef, bad pork and worse biscuit 

 turned out in the end an unprofitable economy. For good men, accustomed 

 to wholesome food at home and shipped at small lays or shares, would desert 

 with the hope of bettering themselves and the master would, consequently, 



