ii8 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



master and crew. There were, of course, some captains who 

 dealt with their men in a quiet, dignified manner which in- 

 spired genuine respect and esteem. But the master of a vessel 

 at sea wielded such untrammeled authority that he became 

 inevitably a small-scale despot j and in controlling ships, as in 

 governing nations, the men who could exercise supreme au- 

 thority without abusing it were in the minority. 



The work of the first few weeks combined routine, prep- 

 aration, and training. All the regular tasks connected with the 

 working of the vessel had to be carried on unfailingly. There 

 were yards to be squared, sails to be reefed, furled, or shaken 

 out, look-outs to be posted at the mast-heads, the wheel to be 

 manned, decks to be scrubbed," and a multitude of other duties 

 to be performed in endless repetition. There was a constant 

 breaking out of some articles and a reciprocal stowing away of 

 others. Many objects hastily taken aboard just before sail- 

 ing had to be more securely stowed, while all the paraphernalia 

 actually used in whaling had to be made ready for instant ac- 

 tion. To this end the harpoons, lances, spades, and knives 

 were ground to a razor edge, the whale line was coiled very 

 carefully in the tubs, the oars, paddles, and sails were over- 

 hauled, and the boats were conditioned for immediate service. 



On days when the weather was fine and the sea was calm 

 the boats would be lowered and the green hands instructed in 

 the maneuvers and tactics involved in the pursuit and capture 

 of whales. In rough weather the older seamen were engaged 

 in "sailorizing" — a collective term designating those activities 

 requiring dexterity and expert knowledge, such as mending the 

 rigging, patching old sails, or making use of intricate knots. 

 The new hands, meantime, were set to picking oakum and mak- 

 ing spun-yarn — two phrases applied to the double process of 

 picking old rope to pieces and re-twisting the strands into 

 smaller and shorter lengths. The real sailor was of necessity 

 a Jack-of-all-trades, ready to turn his hand at a moment's no- 

 tice to the most widely varied tasks. For a sailing vessel 



2 The work of scrubbing decks was particularly laborious on whalers be- 

 cause the water was drawn up in huge canvas buckets by men stationed at the 

 side. In most merchant vessels the far easier method of rigging a head-pump 

 was employed, 



