8o The Story of the New England Whalers 



fits were not likely to be as eager in the chase 

 of a whale as those that had to get whales or 

 nothing. 



In 1765 the northern whalers ran foul of the 

 authorities appointed by the Crown for the govern- 

 ment of Newfoundland and the Labrador coast. 

 A company had been chartered in London to 

 carry on whaling, cod-fishing, and trading with the 

 Indians on the coasts of Labrador. At the insti- 

 gation of this company, Governor Hugh Palliser, 

 of Newfoundland, issued a set of rules for the 

 conduct of the colonial vessels coming to the 

 coast. They were not "to fish for any other 

 than Whales on this coast." When a whale 

 was stripped of its blubber, the captors were to 

 tow the "lean" at least three leagues out to sea 

 because, as it was believed, the floating of a car- 

 cass alongshore drove away the cod. All fishing 

 on the Newfoundland coasts was prohibited, 

 and the trade with the Indians was restricted. 



To enforce the obnoxious rules the sloop-of- 

 war Zephyr, Captain John Hamilton, was sent 

 cruising alongshore. She boarded the colonial 

 vessels she met and confiscated their catch of 



