WHALE FISHERY OF NEW ENGLAND 



OTHER NEW ENGLAND WHALING PORTS 



Rhode Island pursued whales in 1731, Newport and Providence being 

 the two most successful ports. Fifty ships were owned by Connecti- 

 cut and Rhoole Island in 1775. Massachusetts owned over three hun- 

 dred at this time. Rhode Island^was more of a "slave" than a whaling 

 State. New London became a great whaling port in 1846, and was the 

 third in importance in New England. 



The people of Cape Cod began sending ships to sea about 1726, and 

 a few years later a dozen or so vessels were fitted out at Provincetown. 

 Boston claimed twenty whaleships in 1775, and registered from one to 

 eleven vessels almost every year until 1903, since which date no whale- 

 ship has been recorded from this port. Gloucester turned to whaling 

 in 1833. 



The following figures show the different whaling ports in Massachu- 

 setts and the largest number of vessels enrolled in any one year in each. 

 New Bedford, of course, held first place with 329 in 1857, with Nan- 

 tucket 88 in 1843^JioyincelQwn claimed 54 in _1869;. J?airhaven 50 

 in 1848 to 1852C.Edgfrrtown and MattapoTseiFowned 19 each^ Salem 

 had 14 in 1840; ^Boston 11 in 1868; Dartmouth, 10; Plymouth, 9; 

 Falmouth, 8; Wareham, Fall River, and Marion, 7 each; Beverly, 

 Holmes' Hole, Orleans, 5 each; Lynn, 4; Newburyport, 3; Gloucester, 

 Dorchester, and Sandwich, 2 each; and the following claimed 1: 

 Braintree, Hingham, Marblehead, Barnstable, Duxbury, Quincy, 

 Truro, Yarmouth, and Wellfleet. Of the Rhode Island towns Warren 

 owned 25; Newport, 12; Bristol, 10; Providence, 9. Connecticut 

 towns that owned whalers were New London, 70; Stonington, 27; 

 Mystic, 18 ; and a few scattered among half a dozen other places. Ports- 

 mouth, N.H., at one time owned two vessels, and between the years 

 1835 to 1845 Bath, Bucksport, Portland, and Wiscasset in Maine each 

 had one. Massachusetts, however, could claim five-sixths of the total 

 fleet. 



A few words must be said in praise of Samuel Mulford of Long 

 Island. Governor Hunter of New York claimed for his State a share 

 of all whales caught, whereupon Mulford waged war against this act 

 in every possible way. Finally he sailed to London and put his case 

 before the Crown. The people in London were much amused at his 

 country clothes, and the pickpockets in particular became a nuisance 

 to him in the streets. Mulford, however, showed his resourcefulness 

 by sewing fish hooks in his pockets and succeeded in capturing the 

 thief. Another incident shows the ingenuity of the whaleman. The 

 ship "Syren" was attacked by a horde of murderous savages, and the 

 crew of the ship would, doubtless, have been murdered had it not been 

 for a quick stratagem of the mate. He remembered a package of tacks 

 in the cabin and yelled, "Break out the carpet tacks and sow 'em over 

 the deck." The natives, yelling with pain, jumped headlong into the 

 sea, and the ship was saved. 



The world owes many discoveries to the energy and determination 



