56 The Story of the New England Whalers 



needed in building larger vessels. Timber prod- 

 ucts were important items in the exports, and, 

 in time, finished ships. So the colonists became 

 ship owners and merchants trading to many for- 

 eign parts. 



The profits on the early voyages varied greatly. 

 Weeden notes that a cargo brought from Bermuda, 

 in 1636, by Thomas May hew, returned a profit 

 of "twenty od pounds." John Winter of Rich- 

 mond Island, Maine, in 1639, sent pipe staves cost- 

 ing 6 141. 3^/. to England, and realized 26 \"js. 

 on the venture. A schooner that went to Nova 

 Scotia to trade for furs secured a cargo valued at 

 1000. John Hull, a notable merchant of Massa- 

 chusetts, wrote that the profit in the passage of 

 a ship from London "may be neer 100." 



The slave trade was often particularly profitable. 

 In 1696, for instance, the brigantine Seaflower 

 brought forty-seven negroes from Africa to Rhode 

 Island, which sold for from 30 to 35 each. In 

 1727 a prime slave, fresh from Africa, would bring 

 as high as 80 at Salem. Of course the cost of 

 slaves on the African coast varied. A few gallons 

 of rum or "ten shillings in English goods" often 



