206 
MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST. 
farther north and south, became whaling -ports. The subjoined table gives the 
number of American vessels annually engaged in the enterprise, with the amount 
and value of oil taken each year from 1762 to 1770, inclusive: 
Tear. 
No. Vessels. 
No. of Barrels. 
Value of Imports. 
17G2. 
78 
9,440 
§102,518 40 
1763.* 
60 
9,238 
100,324 68 
1764. 
72 
11,983 
131,135 38 
1765. 
101 
11,512 
125,020 32 
1766. 
118 
11,969 
129,983 24 
1767. 
108 
16,561 
179,852 46 
1768. 
125 
15,439 
167, 6G7 54 
1769. 
119 
19,140 
462,996 60 
1770. 
125 
14,331 
346,666 89 
906 
119,613 
$1,746,165 51 
About 1774,f the fleet was augmented by still larger vessels, J some of which 
crossed the equator, and obtained full cargoes upon that noted ground called the 
"Brazil Banks," while others cruised around Cape Verde Islands or the West Indies, 
* Scoresby, in bis account of tbe Whale -Fish- 
ery of the British Colonies in America, states that 
there were eighty vessels employed in the Amer- 
ican fisheries during the year 1763. 
f History of Nantucket, p. 233. 
J St. John, in his Letters, published in 1793, 
which have previously been referred to, thus de- 
scribes the mode of whale -fishing at that time: 
' ' The first proprietors of Nantucket, or rath- 
er the first founders of this town, began their 
career of industry with a single whale-boat, with 
which they went to fish for cod ; the small dis- 
tance from their shores at which they caught it, 
enabled them soon to increase their business, 
and those early successes first led them to con- 
ceive that they might likewise catch the whales, 
which hitherto sported undisturbed upon their 
banks. After many trials and several miscar- 
riages, they succeeded : thus they proceeded, 
step by step ; the profits of one successful en- 
terprise helped them to purchase and prepare 
better materials for a more extensive one : as 
these were attended with little costs, their prof- 
its grew greater. 
"The south sides of the island, from east to 
west, were divided into four equal parts ; and 
each part was assigned to a company of six, 
which, though thus separated, still carried on 
their business in common. In the middle of 
this distance they erected a mast, provided with 
a sufficient number of rounds, and near it they 
built a temporary hut, where five of the asso- 
ciates lived, whilst the sixth, from his high sta- 
tion, carefully looked toward the sea, in order 
to observe the spouting of the whales. As soon 
as any were discovered, the sentinel descended, 
the whale-boat was launched, and the company 
went forth in quest of their game. 
"It may appear strange to you that a vessel 
so slender as an American whale-boat, containing 
