xviii FOREWORD. 



found themselves in conflict with royal governors whose 

 restrictions and hampering regulations made the fishery 

 practically impossible to any but British ships. By 1775 

 Parliament was taking the ground that the northern fish- 

 eries, won almost entirely by colonial prowess, were the 

 property of England. A bill passed in that year restricted 

 the trade of New England to British ports, and prohibited 

 the colonies from carrying on any fishery on the Banks 

 or any other part of the North American coast. 



In vain did even Englishmen protest that this was rigor 

 more harsh than that meted out to avowed enemies. In 

 vain was it recalled that among civilized nations at war 

 it was the custom to spare the fishing-craft; "always con- 

 sidering that we wage war with nations, not with private 

 individuals." 



Great Britain could not afford to consider the rules of 

 civilized warfare. She had a double motive in her dealings 

 with the whale fishery. One was to bring the colonies into 

 submission. The other to turn the rich profits of the 

 American whaling industry into British pockets. Hence 

 her treatment of Nantucket, the reading of which is cal- 

 culated to make an American burn to fight the Eevolution 

 all over again. 



When the act forbidding all fishing along the American 

 coasts was passed, hundreds of whaling vessels, out on 

 long cruises, could not be recalled. British cruisers were 

 sent out to capture such luckless ships and their crews 

 were offered the choice of service in the British navy or 

 shipment on British whalers! Great numbers of Nan- 

 tucket whalemen enlisted in the American navy, and 

 many others became privateers, only to fall a prey to 

 British cruisers and merchantmen, for most of them car- 

 ried not more than a single cannon. 



