98 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



for sperm whales, and tliey cruised in the vicinity of the Seychelle Isl- 

 ands, and off' the mouth of the Eed Sea. Indeed, such was the vigor 

 with which the new haunts were sought for that one adventurous cap- 

 tain even invaded the Red Sea itself in the pursuit of his occupation.* 



In the year 1835 commenced that period of whaling which might be 

 termed its Golden Age, for during the next decade the whale-fishery 

 assumed its greatest importance and reached the zenith of its commer- 

 cial value. In this year (1835) the ship Ganges of Nantucket, Barzillai 

 T. Folger, master, took the first right whale ever taken on the Kodiah 

 ground. This was the commencement of this fishery on the northwest 

 coast. From this period the fleet rapidly augmented in size to the year 

 1840, when there belonged to the various ports of the United States 678 

 ships and barks, 35 brigs, and 22 schooners, with an aggregate capacity 

 of 233,189 tons, and valued at $21,()75,000.t 



In 1843, the first bow-head whales taken in the North Pacific were 

 captured on the coast of Kamschatka by the ships Hercules, Captaiu 

 Eicketson, and Janus, Captain Turner, both of New Bedford.| 



In 1848, Captain Eoyce, in the. bark Superior, of Sag Harbor, passed 

 through Behring's Straits, and performed a good season's work. Being 

 the first whaler in those seas he found the whales comparatively tame 

 and easy to strike. In this high latitude,§ at the season of his whaling 



the savages on the next ship's crew that falls into their power." And this atrocious 

 treatment of the unoffending South Sea Islanders was by no means limited to English 

 captains. Many seamen were eventually to be found upon these various Pacific islands 

 who had deserted or been discharged from their ships. Some of then), scoundrels 

 under any circumstances, became leaders of the natives in their attacts upon trading 

 and whaling vessels ; some of them became iufluential men upon the islands, both by 

 means of their superior civilization and through marriage with dusky maidens — 

 daughters of the chief men of the islanders. One of the most marked cases of this latter 

 kind was that of David Whippey, who left a Nantucket whaling-vessel while at the 

 Feejee Islands, about the year 1839, and, making himself friendly and useful to the 

 chiefs, soon became a most important man among them. According to the custom 

 there he acquired several wives, (albeit he is said to have left one behind him in Nan- 

 tucket,) and became father of a numerous family. He was appointed one of the 

 United States vice-consuls, and for many years was of great service to our Govern- 

 ment. 

 * The ship Columbus. (Scammon's Marine Mammalia, p. 212.) 

 tThe foreign whaling-fleet at this time numbered 230 vessels. (Scammon, 213.) 

 t Scammon, p. 213. Davis says (p. 388) the value of the "bow-head" whale was 

 not at first recognized. According to his account Capt. George A. Covill, of New 

 Bedford, first learned their value, and his discovery was somewhat accidental. For 

 lack of sperm whales they struck one of this species in the Ochotsk, and killed him 

 with but little trouble. Before cutting in they judged he would make about seventy 

 barrels of oil, but to their surprise he turned out one hundred and fifty, with bone 

 in proportion. There is some question as to this priority of Captain Covill's. Capt. 

 J. H. Swift credits the French ship Asia with being the first, and Captain Royce ad- 

 vances the same claim for the American ship Huntsville. (See Scammon, note, p. GO.) 



^The following extract from the log of the Saratoga, of New Bedford, Capt. Harding, 

 will serve to show to how high a northerly point whaling was pushed : "September 1, 

 1851, latitude 71° 40' N., longitude 150° 40' W.; 71 N., the depth of water was G fathoms. 



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