iDANGERS OF THE FISHERY. — ANECDOTES. 355 



and of preventing breakers in the main ocean, was 

 sometimes resorted to by the ancient whalc-fishers 

 for their preservation when overtaken by storms at 

 sea. It was not unusual, I believe, a century ago, 

 for every whale-boat to carry along with it a keg of 

 oil, for this very purpose; which oil being slowly 

 poured overboard in a storm, afforded a sort of de- 

 fence to the boat as it drifted to leeward. The 

 height of the waves, it is true, is not affected by 

 the action of the oil, but as it intercepts the at- 

 traction w'hich dry air possesses for water, it pre- 

 vents the immediate action of the v/ind, quells the 

 ruffled surface of the waves, and in a great degree 

 prevents the tendency to breakers, which consti- 

 tutes the principal danger in a stonn. 



Danger of long Exposure to inclement JVinds. 

 — The whale-fishers being well defended against 

 the cold by suitable clothing, seldom suffer much 

 from it. INIany instances, indeed, occur, in which 

 the sailors have their faces, feet or hands, partially 

 frozen, and a few instances where the seeds of 

 disorders are sown, which sometimes occasion pre- 

 mature death ; but, on the whole, calamitous cir- 

 cumstances of this nature do not often happen. I 

 have witnessed several instances of the pernicious 

 effects of severe cold, but nothing so remarkable ae 

 to be worthy of communication. Those events re- 

 sulting from shipwrecks in the Polar regions, have 



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