PREFACE ix 



backbone of the work, containing the bulk of whatever con- 

 tribution these researches may have to offer. But to present 

 this material without considering the remainder of the industry 

 seemed like tearing a passage from its context, or presenting a 

 play without stage settings. Parts I and III, therefore, are in- 

 tended to provide the scenery against which the action in Part 

 II takes place. They do not pretend to form an adequate his- 

 tory of American whaling: rather do they provide the main 

 elements of an absorbing story of economic development and 

 devolution for those who have neither time nor inclination 

 to delve into much fugitive historical material. The footnotes 

 are road-signs for those who care to read themj the appen- 

 dices contain samples of the raw material out of which the 

 book was constructed j and the bibliography may serve as chart 

 and compass to those who wish to explore the less familiar 

 waters of whaling literature. 



It is a privilege to acknowledge my indebtedness to Profes- 

 sors W. Z. Ripley, S. E. Morison, and F. W. Taussig, of Har- 

 vard University, for encouragement and invaluable counsel j 

 to Messrs. George H. Tripp and Frank Wood for ready access 

 to the wealth of material gathered by the New Bedford Free 

 Public Library and by the Old Dartmouth Historical Society j 

 to Mr. George Francis Dow and Mr. Harry Neyland for as- 

 sistance in reproducing certain illustrations; and, most of all, 

 to Helen Fisher Hohman for the discriminating judgment 

 and appraising criticism of a fellow-craftsman. 



Elmo P. Hohman 



Evanston, Illinois 

 June, 1928 



