THE WHALEMAN ASHORE 99 



to $1832.72 — an average of $70.49 per man.® Four months 

 later the bark Minerva sailed out of New Bedford with eigh- 

 teen men whose outfits were valued at $1289.08, or an average 

 of $71.62 per head.^*^ Boatsteerers and mates were likely to 

 be somewhat more extravagant in their tastes. The former 

 often spent from $100 to $200 on an outfit j while the latter 

 occasionally exceeded even $200 by a generous margin. But 

 such figures were exceptional, and were confined to the dandies 

 of the business or to those who had lost everything through 

 shipwreck or other trick of fate. 



What items were included in the outfits sold to the ordinary 

 foremast hands? The following list of articles, given to one 

 man for an even $100, was representative: a cheap white pine 

 sea-chest, or "donkey," containing even cheaper, shoddy cloth- 

 ing 5 one dozen needles j a hank of linen thread j two spools of 

 sewing cotton j a shaving outfit j a knife and forkj two combs j 

 eleven extra buttons j a tin spoon and a tin plate 5 a quart dip- 

 per j one sheath knife and beltj two bars of yellow soap and a 

 box of oil soap J one pair of the cheapest blankets j and a striped 

 bed-tick and a pillow, both scantily filled with hay.^^ Un- 

 fortunately this writer did not itemize his articles of clothing 

 with the same meticulous care. But many other accounts in- 

 dicate that they included, in most instances, one or two jackets, 

 a Guernsey frock, an oil suit, and a motley assortment of heavy 

 and light trousers, shirts, and underwear, together with several 

 pairs of shoes and socks. 



The number, quality, and price of these articles varied with 

 the ignorance, need, or gullibility of the purchaser and with 

 the shrewdness, rapacity, or dishonesty of the seller. In most 

 cases, however, the outfits were exceedingly scanty (in view of 

 the length of the voyage for which they were intended), shame- 

 lessly inferior in quality, and extortionate in price. At times 

 the prices were only twenty to thirty per cent above the going 



^ Figures taken from an original manuscript account-book of Charles W. 

 Morgan, labeled "Bill Payable, 1834-37," which is now in the New Bedford 

 Public Library. 



10 From a manuscript Day Book of Charles R. Tucker, covering the period 

 from 4th Month i, 1836, to 6th Month 30, 1837. This volume is also in the 

 New Bedford Public Library. 



11 Beane, J. F., "From Forecastle to Cabin," p. 14. This was in the sixties. 



