HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHALE FISHERY. 



57 



were seized, while watering at Hispauiola, by a French frigate, carried 

 into Port-au-Priuce and there condemned.* 



In 1774 a report came by the way of Fayal that a small American 

 whaling brig was lying in the harbor of Rio Janeiro with only her cap- 

 tain and three men on board. It appears that, putting in there tor 

 refreshmentSjt in the summer of 1773, a portion of her crew were, "by 

 fair or foul means," induced to ship on a Portuguese snow | for a three 

 months' whaling voyage. The snow was provided with harpoons and 

 other vvhaling craft, miide after the English models, and was cruising 

 for sperm whales, a business altogether new to the Portuguese, who had 

 been, hitherto, ignorant of any but the right whale, and had never ven- 

 tured even in the pursuit of them out of sight of land. The brig still 

 lay there in October, 1773, waiting the return of her raen.§ 



In 1774 the whale-fishery in the colonies must have been in the full 

 tide of success. There were probably fitted out annually at this time 

 no less than 300 vessels of various kinds, with an aggregate burden of 

 nearly 33,000 tons, and employing directly about 4,700 men, and indi- 

 rectly an immensely greater number. Despite the depredations of 

 French and Spanish privateers the fishery continued to flourish. The 

 annual production from 1771 to 1775 was probably at least 45,000 bar- 

 rels of spermaceti oil, and 8,500 barrels of right whale oil, and of bone 

 nearly or quite 75,000 pounds. || In the various seaport towns from 



* Boston Nows-Letter. 



t Some vessels never dropped anchor in a port from the day they sailed until their 

 return ; but scurvy was very apt to manifest itself where a crew was so long deprived 

 of fresh pi'ovisions. 



t "A snow is a vessel equipped with two masts resembling the main ard foremast of 

 a ship, and a third small mast, shaft the mainmast, carrying a trysail. These vessels 

 were much used in the merchant service at the time of the Revolution." (Lossing's 

 Field Book, ii, p. 846, note.) 



§ Boston News-Letter. 



\\ State of the whale-fishery in Massachusetts, 1771 to 1775. 



These statistics are from Jelferson's report, and were gathered for him by governor 

 of Massacliusetts. 



