52 The Story of the New England Whalers 



and sold to Richard Gardner and his partners of 

 Nantucket four years later. When Hussey brought 

 his sperm whale to the try pot, five sloops of from 

 fifteen to forty tons each were owned on the island, 

 and with visions of the product of the sperm whale 

 that was "esteemed to be worth its weight in silver," 

 the people of the island began to fit out their 

 sloops for whaling cruises of from five to seven 

 weeks' duration; for the sperm whale was to be 

 found only in deep water. Of course the vision 

 of "sperma Coeti," salable at eight shillings an 

 ounce, proved to be a mirage; but beyond the 

 mirage was a solid substance of fine oil and candles 

 worth good money. 



Cash capital was lacking on Nantucket, and 

 throughout New England, for that matter; but 

 these men who had wrung the necessities of life 

 from the sterile land were able, through a union of 

 labor, and in spite of a lack of currency, to embark 

 in a business that not only sent open boats rowing 

 alongshore, but fitted out vessels able to keep the 

 sea for two months at a stretch. 



Out of the partnership system of fitting out 

 whale ships grew the later "lay" system of paying 



