WHALE FISHERY OF NEW ENGLAND 35 



of whaleship captains. Over four hundred islands in the Pacific were 

 discovered and named by American whalemen, and the history of New 

 Zealand is closely connected with the visits of New England whalers. 

 Australia, too, was opened to the world by the whalemen. 



It was to a certain extent due to the testimony of Captain Bryant, 

 a whale captain of Mattapoisett, that Alaska was purchased by the 

 United States government. That there was a northwest passage was 

 also discovered by American whalemen in this way : the date and name 

 of a ship were always marked on its harpoons, and in several instances 

 whales were captured in the Pacific by ships that were known to have 

 been cruising not long before in the Atlantic. It was Captain Timothy 

 Folger, of Nantucket, who charted the Gulf Stream at the request of 

 Benjamin Franklin, to whom he was related, and this drawing was 

 engraved on an old chart and preserved in London. In this way Eng- 

 lish mariners discovered how to avoid the swift current and thereby 

 gain much time. Our seamen in the early days were not very kindly 

 treated by the Japanese, but, finally, several whalemen secured their 

 good will by teaching them English. This encouraged the American 

 government to send out Commodore Perry's expedition, which suc- 

 ceeded in making our first treaty with Japan, thus opening that country 

 to Western civilization. 



It was difficult to make discoveries ahead of our whalemen. In 1834 

 two Russian discovery ships approached a forlorn little island in the 

 Antarctic Ocean and the commander was about to take possession in 

 the name of his Czar. There was a dense fog at the time, but when 

 it cleared away they were very much surprised and vexed to see a little 

 Connecticut ship at anchor between their two vessels. The name of 

 this whaler was the "Hero" of Stonington, captained by Nathaniel B. 

 Palmer, who was only twenty -one years of age and was just return- 

 ing from his discovery of the Antarctic Continent. The Russian com- 

 mander was so impressed by the achievement of this youthful captain 

 that he cheerfully acquiesced in naming the place Palmer's Land. 

 This name has since been changed to Graham Land. It is an undis- 

 puted fact that the whalers prepared the way for the missionaries. 



ABOARD A "BLUBBER HUNTER" 



Nothing can be more romantic than to be attending a clam-bake on 

 Mishaum Point or Barney's Joy and to see a whaleship, or "blubber 

 hunter" as she is often termed, round the point and start to sea. It 

 is with quite different feelings that one peers down into her forecastle, 

 which is often referred to as the Black Hole of Calcutta. This room, 

 which is the home of thirty to forty men for three or four years, is 

 reached by a perpendicular ladder through a small hatchway, which 

 is the only means of ventilation. The bunks are in tiers and are about 

 the size of a coffin, so narrow that it has often been said that one has 

 to get out of them in order to turn over. A small table in the centre 

 of this "hole" and the seamen's chests lashed to the floor comprise 



