ioo The Story of the New England Whalers 



As already noted, the War of the Revolution, 

 together with unusual misfortunes in storms, 

 had destroyed 149 out of 150 ships that were 

 owned at Nantucket before the war began. The 

 Buzzard's Bay and other whaling fleets had suf- 

 fered almost as severely. The American people 

 had waged a defensive war, for the enemy had 

 come to the American coasts to do the fighting, 

 and the raids alongshore that were thus made 

 inevitable had wiped out ships, warehouses, the 

 outfits stored therein, and the try-works. To add 

 to the other misfortunes of the whalers, the market 

 for whale products was almost ruined. Having 

 no whale oil, the people of America had turned 

 to substitutes, such as tallow candles. Even the 

 lighthouses were in some cases compelled to use 

 substitutes. It is likely that no other industry of 

 the country suffered as much through the war 

 as that of the whalers. 



When the European market was closed to them 

 the American whalemen found their oil, which 

 cost them not far from $120 a ton to secure, 

 selling for $85. Thereupon the Nantucket men 

 applied to the Massachusetts legislature for a 



