24 WHALING AND PISHING. 



Passing by the boarding houses, we come to the 

 wharves, along which, fronting the water side, 

 are the warehouses and counting rooms of vari- 

 DUS ship owners and dealers in oil, bone, and 

 spermaceti. These are scattered along, without 

 regular connection, the scene varied here and 

 there by a blacksmith's or cooper's shop, which 

 two branches of industry seem to be in a pecu- 

 liarly nourishing condition hereabouts. 



Looking down to the water now, we see a fe^ 

 straggling wharves, between which lie numerous 

 vessels in various states of readiness and unreadi- 

 ness for departure on their long voyages. 



Here lies a huge hull, careened over on the flat, 

 her exposed side and bottom being thoroughly 

 resheathed and new coppered, dozens of men 

 crawling all over her vast bilge, sawing, fitting, 

 and hammering. Yonder is an old hulk, whose 

 topsides have been torn away, to make room for 

 new ones, by which means she will become almost 

 as strong as a new vessel. Here, at the wharf, is 

 a craft in a more forward state; her masts are 

 now being put in, and as we are looking at her, a 

 general shout proclaims that the main -mast has 

 just been stepped. And a little farther on we 

 see a rusty -looking old tub, just being converted 

 into a saucy clipper by the aid of a plentiful ap- 

 plication of paint. 



All is life, and wherever the eye rests the scene 

 is one of ceaseless activity. Yet there appears 

 none of the hurrying, bustle, and in particular. 



