FORECASTLE AND CABIN 53 



and who gazed with critical appreciation upon the graceful 

 lines and spick-and-span equipment of a "smart" vessel; and 

 an occasional young man who had shipped for reasons of health 

 or "education." 



Three of the most bizarre and outlandish of these many 

 elements comprised the South Sea Islanders, the "beach- 

 combers," and the Portuguese. Of the many picturesque na- 

 tives of the South Seas, the Sandwich Islanders were both most 

 numerous and most desirable. They were commonly de- 

 scribed as docile, good-natured, trustworthy, loyal, and mod- 

 erately intelligent hands, and were universally conceded to be 

 expert swimmers and boatmen. In 1844 it was estimated 

 that there were from five to six hundred of these Kanakas on 

 American whalers. At that time they were not allowed to 

 embark without a license from the governor of the island 

 to which they belonged; and each captain who shipped a native 

 was expected to return him to the island within three years, 

 if still alive, or to forfeit a bond of two hundred dollars. 

 Though specific evidence is lacking, it is to be suspected that 

 these regulations were honored more in the breach than in the 

 observance. 



Another type of recruit sometimes offered by the South 

 Seas was the "beach-comber," "shoaler," or "seasoner," — a 

 degenerate white man who had deserted or been cast adrift 

 and who settled down into a lazy, licentious, and profligate 

 life with the natives. When driven by dire need or prompted 

 by the sheer monotony of his life, he would sometimes seek 

 a berth on a whaler. Though he was usually the least satis- 

 factory of hands, emergency requirements often caused a 

 whaling master to hire him for a season or for a cruise between 

 certain specified ports. 



The Portuguese were usually shipped at the Azores and 

 Cape Verde Islands, where the outward-bound whalers stopped 

 in order to round out their crew-lists. Gradually, however, 

 the better and steadier hands drifted into New Bedford and 

 settled in a section of the city known as Fayal, in memory of 

 the main port of the Azores. These men readily adapted 

 themselves to life aboard a whaler, and soon established a 



