14 NIMROD OF THE SEA; OR, 



transplanted in America, struck deep root, and brought 

 forth a rich harvest from the sea. 



The first recorded agreement concerning the capture of 

 whales in America commences in this wise : 



" Y e 5th day of ye 4th month, 1672. James Loper doth 

 ingage to carry a design of whale-catching on the island 

 of Nantucket. That is to say, James ingages to be a third 

 in all respects, and some of the Town ingages on the other 

 two-thirds in like manner, etc." 



Behold in the wonderful history of American whaling 

 how great a flame this little spark kindled. The practical 

 mother -wit, or gumption, which characterized the early 

 American found expression in this first adventure in this 

 most perilous profession. In this agreement we find that 

 subdivision in interest, that co-operation of capital, skill, 

 labor, and courage which ultimately secured a prosperous 

 career to the Americans, made them masters in the busi- 

 ness, and drove the men and ships of all other nations from 

 the whale-fishery. 



Just two centuries from the date of the above contract, 

 or about " ye 5th day of ye 4th month," 1872, ray good angel 

 wrote to me, saying : " Overhaul your journal of a whaling 

 voyage to the Pacific, and give us a history of American 

 Whaling by pen and pencil. Fling yourself into the work ; 

 write of that strange life as you saw it from the forecastle 

 and the mast-head, from the boats and the quarter-deck.* 

 Put into it all the poetry and rapture, the danger and the 

 deviltry, the enjoyment and the suffering, with all the his- 

 tory you have in your memory or have access to. To be 

 statistical and tedious is a felony ; but history can be made 

 as charming as romance, without losing any of its value." 

 Such were my directions, and, sailing by that chart, I open 

 the old oil-stained pages of my journal, and therein find 

 that on the llth day of ye loth month, 18, I, Bill Seaman, 



