AT SEA: ON PASSAGE 125 



Fortunately such cruel and abusive treatment was not uni- 

 versal. There were many officers, of course, who were both 

 whalemen and gentlemen, and who were able to hold the 

 respect and confidence of their crews and to maintain a high 

 standard of discipline and efficiency without resorting to brutal 

 and blustering tactics. Such officers conducted the affairs of 

 their vessels in a spirit of firm but just paternalism. They 

 made some attempt, at least, to carry out the advice of a well- 

 known whaling owner, who said in a letter of instructions to 

 one of his captains: "Spare not precept and admonition, and 

 bring us home men, better and happier than when they left 

 us." ^ It was one of the great tragedies of whaling, how- 

 ever, that in an overwhelming number of instances the exact 

 opposite occurred. For as a rule men returned from a voyage 

 not better and happier, but penniless, broken and diseased in 

 body, and corrupted in mind and spirit. 



The living quarters on board a whaler were arranged to 

 effect a rigid separation of officers and men. The former oc- 

 cupied the cabin, situated in the extreme after part of the 

 vessel J while the latter lived forward, in a space known as the 

 forecastle. Between the two, but somewhat nearer the stern 

 than the bow, was the steerage, reserved for the boatsteerers, 

 the cooper, and the steward. There was thus a regular grada- 

 tion of rank from one end of a whaler to the other. 



Conditions in the cabin were usually adequate, if not wholly 

 commendable. The captain occupied a large stateroom on 

 the starboard side, with a bed so swung that the rocking of the 

 vessel was counteracted. His quarters were large enough to 

 be shared with his wife if she chose to accompany him. A 

 few hardy and courageous wives did make one or more voy- 

 ages with their husbands j but in general the whaling masters 

 sailed alone. The mates had smaller staterooms, with ordi- 

 nary bunks, just forward of the captain^s quarters. 



* Manuscript Letter-Book of Charles W. Morgan, 4 Mo. 1830 to 9 Mo. 1833, 

 now in the New Bedford Public Library. TTiis sentence is taken from a letter 

 of instructions written by Mr. Morgan to George B. W^orth, who was about 

 to undertake a voyage as master of the ship Magnolia. The letter is dated 

 I Mo. I, 1831. The importance of the Quaker element in the whaling industry, 

 especially in New Bedford, is interestingly reflected in the fact that most whal- 

 ing manuscripts and documents followed the Quaker custom of referring to the 

 months by number instead of by name. 



