96 The Story of the New England Whalers 



the two thus taken, on the grounds of humanity, 

 but their voyages had been ruined and they had 

 no redress. 



Finally (March 22, 1783) the "draft of a pass- 

 port" for the use of Nantucket whalers was re- 

 ported to the American Congress and "agreed 

 to" in such shape that the inhabitants were to be 

 permitted to go whaling with British permits as 

 well. The war, however, was now about at an 

 end, and the measure had little effect upon the 

 fortunes of the whalers. 



To sum up the disasters that befell the people 

 of Nantucket during the War of the Revolution, 

 it appears that out of a fleet that numbered 150 

 vessels of all kinds, owned in the island before 

 the war began, no less than 134 were captured 

 by the enemy, while fifteen others were wrecked. 

 So much for the property losses. Of the 800 

 families that were yet on the island at the end 

 of the war, no less than 202 were the families of 

 widows who had 342 children. With few excep- 

 tions the men of those families had lost their lives 

 in fighting for their country. Over 1200 Nan- 

 tucket men were killed or captured in the course 

 of the War of the Revolution. 



