APPENDIX A 



A Consular Report on Whalers and the Whaling System ^ 



Consulate of the United States 

 Paita, September ist, 1858. 



Honorable John Appleton, 



Assistant Secretary of State, 

 Washington. 

 Sir, 



I have the honor to submit to the Department a report on Whalers and 

 the Whaling System as pursued and carried on from several ports in the United 

 States — and I hope, although I shall be compelled to go somewhat into de- 

 tails, the tediousness therefrom will be compensated for by the information 

 contained. 



I feel confident that there is no branch of trade or enterprise entered 

 into in the United States in which so large a capital is invested, that is so 



1 This interesting and authoritative report was found amongst the original 

 manuscript Consular Letters of the Department of State. Reference to these 

 documents, which are preserved in the State Department Library at Washing- 

 ton, is by port and year; and in this case both means of identification are given 

 in the heading of the report itself. In spite of its length the letter, including 

 two appended tables, is reproduced in full. Paita was an admirable spot in 

 which to observe the conditions of whaling life; for it was the favorite recruit- 

 ing port for the hundreds of whalers which visited the great Off-Shore Grounds. 

 A later consul, writing on December 8, 1863, said of it: "It has only been of 

 special value, heretofore, to the whaling fleet of New England, as a periodical 

 resort for giving liberty to seamen after long and tedious cruises at sea, for 

 seeking medical and surgical relief, and for refreshing with vegetables, espe- 

 cially the onion, their most valuable antiscorbutic, which is only grown in the 

 interior of this part of the coast." And when he wrote this report Consul 

 Ringgold, characterized as "an educated and a kind hearted gentleman" even 

 by his rather critical and suspicious successor, had had five years of intimate 

 contact with the situation which he described. Unfortunately the proposed 

 report on the "ill treatment of Seamen and its causes," mentioned in the last 

 paragraph, was never called for; but in a later despatch of June i6, i860, the 

 same consul described a "frequent practice" which was causing him much offi- 

 cial annoyance. In order to escape the payment of three months' wages to 

 discharged seamen, as required by law, many whaling masters formed the habit 

 of lying off and on instead of coming to anchor in the harbor. In this way 

 they avoided the necessity of submitting the ship's papers to the consul, and 

 were free to discharge or to leave men on their own terms. Then, upon touch- 

 ing at another port some time later, these hands would be reported as deserters, 

 and certificates of desertion taken out for them. In this manner the whaling 

 captains not only saved the advance wages, but also secured legal permission 

 to confiscate the earned but unpaid lays of their victims ! And these victims, 

 left ashore in a penniless condition, were usually forced to apply to the consul 

 for assistance. 



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