24 A History of the American Whale Fishery. 
until 1795. It is true that as early as 1652 ‘‘whale 
cutters’? were appointed at Martha’s Vineyard,” and 
that other orders dealing with the ownership and dis- 
posal of whales appear occasionally from that time on, 
but there does not seem to have been any regular busi- 
ness of whaling before the end of the century. 
With the Nantucket colony the conditions were quite 
‘different. To quote from Macy,” the historian of the 
island, the first whaling expedition in Nantucket “was 
undertaken by some of the original purchasers of the 
island; the circumstances of which are handed down 
by tradition, and are as follows: A whale of the kind 
called ‘scragg’ came into the harbor and continued there 
three days. This excited the curiosity of the people and 
led them to devise measures to prevent his return out 
of the harbor. They accordingly invented and caused 
to be wrought for them a harpoon with which they 
attacked and killed the whale. This first success 
encouraged them to undertake whaling as a permanent 
business, whales being at that time numerous in the 
vicinity of the shores.” 
The date of this first venture is not known, but by 
1672 the inhabitants of the island regarded whaling as 
sufficiently important to warrant the making of a pro- 
posal to one James Loper to carry on a regular whaling 
business from that place. As an inducement to carry - 
on whaling in all seasons for two years he was to receive 
ten acres of land, enough common pasturage for three 
cows, twenty sheep, one horse, and all the wood and 
water he needed for his use. At the same time a similar 
offer was made to a cooper if he would ply his trade in 
the island. It is said that the latter accepted the pro- 
posal while the former did not, hence the benefit to the 
whale fishery was not marked.” 
at Starbuck, p78. 
% Macy: History of Nantucket, p. 28. 
1° Macy, p. 42. 
