A Long Period of Depression 109 



such as Cedar boards (commonly called boat 

 boards), of which they have none in England, a 

 large quantity of cooper's stuff for casks, &c. 

 Neither does it stop here. The house of Rotch 

 have been endeavoring to engage an acquaintance 

 of mine to go to Bermudas to superintend the 

 business at that place. . . . One of the company 

 is now at Kennebeck, contracting with some 

 persons for an annual supply of hoops, staves, 

 and other lumber necessary for the business." 

 In consequence of Coffin's letter, Massachusetts 

 forbade the exportation of the materials that Rotch 

 was taking. 



The depression which drove Rotch and his 

 associates from Nantucket was by no means 

 ended when Rotch returned to America. The 

 weakness of the American republic and the dis- 

 ordered conditions in Europe due to the French 

 Revolution bore heavily upon the American 

 whalers. Pirates and piratical privateers swarmed 

 from the ports of the West Indies. Some of the 

 whalers were captured and others were driven 

 from the sea by the danger of capture. The good 

 fighting done by the little American navy in the 



