AT SEA: ON THE WHALING GROUNDS 177 



ravenous appetites j and the short and broken hours of sleep 

 were barely sufficient to prevent utter collapse. 



On the other hand, when no whales were sighted for weeks 

 or months in succession, the very tedium and monotony of the 

 enforced idleness became almost insufferable. The scanty 

 stock of reading matter was soon exhausted j the entire reper- 

 tory of songs and yarns was known to allj the mending gave 

 outj card playing was forbidden or waned in interest j scrim- 

 shawing could not be pursued interminably j and even sleep 

 could not be courted both night and day. As a result of such 

 an existence most of the men permitted themselves to sink 

 into a state of tedious and quarrelsome boredom, in which the 

 mind atrophied while the body performed mechanically those 

 functions which were demanded of it. The log-books of 

 hundreds of voyages furnish ample evidence of the unvary- 

 ing sameness and ennui of these long periods of inaction. 

 Such evidence commonly assumes the form of the meager, 

 automaton-made entries extending over page after pagej but 

 occasionally it is embodied in direct statement. 



An unusually interesting and illuminating record is that of 

 the whaleship Acushnet. The first mate of this vessel, in 

 keeping the log during a voyage which began in July, 1845, 

 exhibited a quaint combination of ennui, cynicism, humor, and 

 pained resignation which is both revealing and delightful. 

 Thus on Sunday, October 26, 1845, he wrote: "Your humble 

 servant employed in kiling time." On the following Friday 

 the wind was "from Oh! I don't know where or about the 

 same place the whales are I guess and thats where the Devill 

 can't find them." The entry for Tuesday, December 16, 

 1845, contained this remark: "Busy Doing nothing — noth- 

 ing to do it with." On Friday, January 23, 1846, he was 

 "Doing nothing special. Dull as you please." One week 

 later they were "Cruising for the Lord knows what. Oil I 

 believe though." On Wednesday, February 4, 1846, it was 

 the "Same old Story. Calculated to see whales made a miss- 

 callculation." And on the Fourth of July of the same year 

 he was "Employed Eating & Drinking, fretting, Playing Back- 

 gammon & sleeping Mending a pair of pants." ^^ 



^8 This log-book, a part of the Daniel B. Fearing Collection, is now in the 



