Nantucket in the War of the Revolution 89 



some of the Nantucket men "occupied them- 

 selves in the common and inferior work of catch- 

 ing cod and mackerel in the nearer waters. The 

 scarcity and high prices of salt took away the 

 profit here. They tried making salt from the 

 Atlantic sea water, but the fogs around their 

 island gave them a too infrequent sunlight. As 

 the war developed, West India produce became 

 dear, and the whalemen engaged in this com- 

 merce." 



The fact that Nantucket men thought the 

 fishing for cod and mackerel common and in- 

 ferior work and the West India trade something 

 worth consideration only when war had brought 

 them to the verge of starvation, is illuminating. 



A graphic scene in Moby Dick is that where 

 Captain Ahab calls all hands aft and questions 

 them as to their duty when a whale is seen. They 

 reply that, first of all, they are to "sing out," and 

 then at the word they are to "lower away." 



"And what tune do you pull to ?" asked the captain, 

 and they replied with a shout, "A dead whale or a stove 

 boat!" 



Men who had pulled to that tune took kindly 



