THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, 73 
A history of New London, Connecticut, written by Frances M. Caulkins, the 
first edition of which appeared in 1852, has a chapter devoted to the whale fishery 
from that port.’ It treats chiefly of the period subsequent to the Revolution, and 
gives names of vessels, number of barrels of oil obtained, the grounds visited, and 
other details. In a foot-note to page 638 of the edition of 1895 is the following: 
“The following memorandum implies that such whaling trips [in boats] were 
not unusual: January 13th, 1717-18. ‘Comfort Davis hath hired my whaleboat 
to go awhaling to Fisher’s Island, till the 20th of next month, to pay twenty shil- 
lings for her hire, and if he stays longer, thirty shillings. If she be lost, and they 
get nothing, he is to pay me £3, but if they get a fish, £3-10s.’” | Hempstead. | 
On page 639, is another important note, as follows: 
“ We have no statistics to show that the whale fishery was ever carried on except 
in this small way, from any part of the Connecticut coast, before the Revolutionary 
War.—Foot-note: In June, 1850, a whale 35 feet long, was captured in Peconic 
Bay, near Greenport.” 
The records of the New London County Historical Society contain an article 
by C. A. Williams on whaling at New London. This is an important essay, begin- 
ning with a brief chronological history of the whale fishery, especially from 1718 
onward ; then follows an account of the conditions under which the New London 
fishery was conducted, the methods employed, the regions visited, etc.; then a 
journal of Capt. James Davis of the ship Chelsea in a whaling voyage to the 
Pacific in 1831; incidents and accidents of the fishery; number of vessels 
employed, profits, ete. The article has as an appendix a letter from Wm. H. Allen 
to C. A. Williams, containing miscellaneous information relative to whales and 
whaling, kinds of whales pursued, size, yield of oil, whalebone, ete.* 
O’Callaghan’s Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New 
York, 14 volumes, contain a large number of important records regarding the whale 
fishery which was carried on on the south coast of Long Island for a century, 
beginning about 1652. These consist chiefly of licenses to carry on the fishery, 
orders of the court in disputes concerning “drift whales,” the employment of 
Indians in the fishery, ete., but there are also many references to the number and 
size of whales captured, the seasons for whaling, and other matters of interest in 
the present connection. The following are among the more important : 
A letter from Samuel Maverick to Colonel Nicholls, dated from New York, 
July 5, 1669, contains the following: 
at On ye East end of Long Island there was 12 or 13 whales taken 
before ye end of March, and what since wee heare not; here are dayly some seen 
in the very harbour, sometimes within Nutt Island. Out of the Pinnace the other 
* CAULKINS, Frances M., History of New London, Connecticut, from 1612 to 1860, 1895, pp. 
638-647. 
*Wituiams, C. A., Early Whaling Industry of New London. Records and Papers of the New 
London County Hist. Soc., pt. 1, vol. 2, 1895, pp. 3-22. 
