WHALE FISHERY OF NEW ENGLAND 



31 



when he took a local pilot on board somewhere in the Pacific to con- 

 duct his vessel into port. He asked the navigator if he were sure of 

 his course, and received a prompt and decisive answer in the affirma- 

 tive. Presently, to the disgust of the captain, the vessel touched. The 

 next question put to the pilot was whether or not he could swim, and 

 finding that he could, Captain Fish ordered his crew to throw him over- 

 board. This was done, and, the distance being short, the swimmer made 

 the land, and the captain himself took his vessel in the rest of the way. 



Captain Fish was an excellent story teller, and another yarn has been 

 handed down in connection with one of his trips. The voyage had been 



New Bedford fifty years ago (1808). (This print is dated 1858.) 



very unsuccessful, and as he was looking over his chart he tossed his 

 dividers down in a disgruntled manner, and by accident they chanced 

 to stick in the chart. He then conceived the novel idea of sailing to 

 the very place where his instrument happened to land, and curiously 

 enough he was rewarded by a very large catch. 



Once when one of his whaleboats had been overturned by a fighting 

 whale he hurried to the assistance of the crew, who were struggling in 

 the water, and to his amazement found two of them squabbling over the 

 ownership of a pair of old shoes, instead of thinking about saving their 

 lives. It is a curious fact that he never learned to swim, and often 

 saved his life when capsized by grabbing some floating debris. His 

 nerve and courage were remarkable, and it is related that even on his 

 death-bed he told the doctor an amusing story. 



This picture of New Bedford in 1808 is most interesting. The oil 

 market shed on the right-hand side of the street was built in 1795 by 



