120 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



were half-way between the officers, whose quarters were aft 

 in the cabin, and the foremast hands, who were housed forward 

 in the forecastle. Roughly, their position was analogous to 

 that of petty officers in the navy or of non-commissioned officers 

 in the army. 



The cooper, as his name implies, devoted himself mainly 

 to the task of making and keeping in repair the casks in which 

 the oil was stowed. In an industry in which leakage was so 

 costly, his function was extremely important. The ship- 

 keeper took charge of the vessel and manoeuvred it, with the 

 aid of a few other hands, while the boats were down in pur- 

 suit of whales. Many whalers, however, did not carry a 

 special ship-keeper. In such cases either the captain remained 

 aboard or some regular member of the crew, usually the cooper, 

 directed the movements of the vessel while the boats were 

 away. The steward acted as the personal servant of the cap- 

 tain, waited on the officers' table, and was in charge of the 

 officers' and boatsteerers' provisions. The carpenter, black- 

 smith, and cook performed the duties which their names sug- 

 gest. Most whalers also carried one or two boys who were, 

 after a fashion, whalemen's apprentices. 



There remained only the main body of foremast hands, 

 differentiated ordinarily into seamen and green hands. At 

 first the former were assigned to the work requiring previous 

 experience, and the latter were entrusted only with the simpler 

 routine jobs. But as the voyage wore on and the green hands 

 improved through repetition and observation the functions of 

 the two were gradually merged. When pursuing whales the 

 foremast hands, four in a boat and with their backs turned 

 to the game, did the rowings in transforming the carcasses into 

 oil and whalebone they again performed the more laborious 

 tasks; while the duties which fell to them in the ordinary 

 routine of shipboard life were legion. 



The relationship between officers and men was far from 

 wholesome. Impressed with the necessity of maintaining dis- 

 cipline through their own efforts, the captain and mates were 

 commonly domineering and autocratic, often bullying and un- 

 reasonable, and upon occasion brutal and cruel. The combina- 

 tion of unhampered authority and serious responsibility, to- 



