248 FOLLOW THE WHALE 



route annually. Their operations in the Pacific slowly extended up 

 the west coast of South America, where sperm whales are fairly 

 plentiful close to shore in April and May. The Chileans were already 

 engaged in the business and the Americans appear to have learned 

 a great deal from them. By the end of the war, American ships had 

 pushed north of the coast of what is now Ecuador, where sperms 

 are still abundant until the end of September. In 1818, the first 

 Americans ventured out into the open Pacific, due west along the 

 equator, fishing for the first time through areas that were to become 

 known later as the famous "Galapagos," "OflFshore," and "On-the- 

 Line" grounds. Within two years from that time, moreover, they 

 had crossed the Pacific entirely and were not only working the 

 Christmas, Phoenix, and Gilbert Island grounds, but had even turned 

 north and reached the Japan Grounds in latitude 30° N. Thus, the 

 major routes of expansion were already laid by the time the ship- 

 builders of New England got the new fleet of whalers off the stocks, 

 and as soon as these were fitted out, they sailed directly to the 

 Pacific. And the fleet continued to grow, the number of vessels 

 rising from 203 in 1829 to 421 in 1835 when what is popularly 

 known as the "golden age" of American whaUng really began. This 

 was an extraordinary affair that might well have changed the course 

 of history but, for reasons that may appear historically most unusual, 

 it did not do so. 



Although it created a number of fortunes at home and carried 

 Americans all over the globe, it left practically no lasting impres- 

 sion upon either this country or the world. Despite every economic 

 advantage, the industry remained throughout its history a neat little 

 home-grown affair, and despite the most incredible exploits of those 

 who sailed the ships to almost every island and into every port in 

 the world, the American whaleman remained a home boy to the end. 

 Americans still had more than enough to do exploring, opening up, 

 and settling their own home front to be bothered with founding a 

 world-wide empire or colonizing distant lands. They went out to get 

 the oil to light the lamps of Boston and, when they got home with 

 a load, as often as not they went back to the farm, trekked West, 

 or went digging for some much-needed minerals. Thus, when a 

 series of disruptive events hit the industry in rapid succession, and 

 the prime necessity for whale oil was eliminated, the whalemen just 



