60 The Story of the New England Whalers 



How did it happen, then, that anybody went 

 in search of whales ? Why did not all Nantucket 

 men forsake whaling for the cod fishery or 

 cargo carrying ? For one thing, habit held them 

 from it. The men of Massachusetts Bay, living 

 within easy reach of populous fishing banks, had 

 developed the cod-fishing habit; the Nantucket 

 men, living near the whale-feeding grounds, had 

 developed the whaling habit. Further than that, 

 the income of the whaler was not as bad as the 

 figures make it seem, for there is no statement of 

 the length of time passed at sea in securing the 

 3200 worth of oil and bone. At most the captain 

 was afloat for three or four cruises in the course of 

 a year, and a cruise lasted for six or eight weeks. 

 The Nantucket men were yet farmers as well as 

 whalers; they spent much time caring for land 

 and flocks. The average yearly whaling income 

 of a captain was usually earned within six months, 

 at most, passed at sea. 



Of course, even with these facts in view, the 

 whaling income on the average was so far below 

 that of the other seafaring men that one must 

 look still farther to understand the matter. Any 



