20 A History of the American Whale Fishery. 
never wonder that the body of Jonah could be in the 
belly of a whale.’ 
It is evident from these facts that there was an abund- 
ant source of a profitable whale fishery, while Thatcher’s 
statement indicates that among the first colonists there 
were men, at least well acquainted with, if not actually 
experienced in, whaling. It is quite generally accepted 
that along with the idea of religious freedom one of the 
main purposes in the settlement of Massachusetts was 
the founding of a fishing colony. The right to fish 
without restriction of any kind was’one of the important 
provisions of the royal charter. The first emigrants to 
the Bermudas, about fifty in number, were sent out in 
1612. Richard Moore, a ship’s carpenter, was the first 
governor, and the instructions given to him specified 
various sources of wealth which might be derived from 
the colony. Among these sources ambergris and whale 
oil were included as important. The history of American 
whaling, therefore, may be said to begin almost with 
the settlement of the New England colonies, though 
several decades elapsed before it appears to have become 
a regular or at all important pursuit. It is quite prob- 
able, however, that some attempts at whaling were made 
before the time of any recorded account now available. 
Most of the early references to whales and whaling in 
the Massachusetts colonies, now available, occur in the 
legislative records. The subject of drift whales appears 
to have attracted a good deal of attention in both the 
Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay colonies, for there 
are numerous instances of orders relating to their owner- 
ship and disposal. Thus, according to Freeman,‘ the 
town of Eastham, in 1662, voted that a part of every 
whale cast ashore should be appropriated for the support 
of the ministry. But almost without exception these 
early references speak only of drift whales, thus making 
‘Sabine: Fisheries of the American Seas, p. 42. 
* Freeman: History of Cape Cod, II, p. 362. 
