56 A History of the American Whale Fishery. 
region so far outranked all others in the magnitude of her 
whaling interests. The great prosperity of the Golden 
Age had grown out of stable economic conditions in a 
time of no important wars either at home or abroad. 
Industrial prosperity had been general. The demands for, 
and consumption of, oils and bone had increased on all 
sides. The European markets were quite largely depen- 
dent on the American supply. Prices were good, and the 
opening of successive whaling regions made successful 
and profitable voyages the rule. All the ports alike 
carried on their operations under these same favorable 
conditions. But New Bedford rapidly outstripped them 
all. 
The New Bedford supremacy could not be due to closer 
proximity to the whaling grounds, for nearly all the 
important grounds were in the Pacific. Nor could it be 
due to priority in the fishery, for Nantucket was sending 
out half a hundred vessels yearly before the first house 
was built in New Bedford. In Nantucket necessity had 
been the mother of the fisheries, for no other means of a 
livelihood was offered. But at New Bedford the necessity 
was no greater than at a hundred other New England 
ports. The harbor was no better than many others 
along the coast. Boston and New York had harbors 
far superior to New Bedford, yet neither was ever a 
great whaling port. The facilities for refining, for manu- 
facture or for communication were no better than at other 
places. No regular maritime commerce was established 
until the trade in whale products developed it, and the 
railroad was not built until nearly 1850. In fact there 
does not seem to be any good reason why New Bedford 
should have been the greatest whaling center any more 
than Boston, or Provincetown, or New London. About 
the only plausible explanation seems to be that it was 
largely due to the proximity to Nantucket. At Nan- 
tucket whaling had sprung up from a natural stimulus 
and met with success. It was quite logical therefore for 
