S6 WHALING 



In 1781, in answer to one of numerous petitions sent to the 

 British commanders from time to time by the people, Rear 

 Admiral Robert Digby issued twenty-four permits according to 

 which the Nantucket vessel named within each was allowed 

 to go on whaling voyages unmolested by His Majesty's ships 

 and vessels of war, as well as by all privateers and letters of 

 marque. Seventeen Nantucket vessels sailed with these per- 

 mits in 1781. Of these, fourteen made successful voyages, one 

 was burned, in defiance of her papers, and two were taken as 

 prizes to New York. The next year twenty-four vessels sailed, 

 of which twenty-one succeeded in their voyages. One the 

 British took to New York, in defiance of her papers; two the 

 Yankees took to Salem and Boston, because of their papers. 

 These two the courts released, for the plight of Nantucket was 

 well known, and in 1783 the American Congress agreed that the 

 Islanders should be allowed to go whaling unmolested by Con- 

 tinental vessels, notwithstanding their British papers. 



When the war ended, the once vigorous, firmly rooted in- 

 dustry, was — except for the struggling Nantucket branch, which 

 persisted feebly — quite dead. 



