A Long Period of Depression 115 



away sandbars which brought fame to the cele- 

 brated engineers who deepened the water at the 

 mouth of the Mississippi, and gave to Charles- 

 ton, South Carolina, a new, deep, and permanent 

 channel to its harbor. 



The modest petition of the Nantucket whalers 

 was considered by a committee of Congress. 

 The committee reported that they reflected "with 

 great pleasure on the enterprise and skill with 

 which the inhabitants of Nantucket have pursued 

 the whale fishery; affording an admirable example 

 of zeal and industry to all nations of the earth," 

 and then resolved, "That the inhabitants of the 

 island and town of Nantucket . . . have leave 

 to withdraw the said petition." 



In 1806 the whalers came once more to Congress 

 for relief. They pointed out the disadvantages un- 

 der which they labored because of the necessity 

 of taking their ships to other ports to discharge the 

 oil into lighters, and then said : 



"Add to this the collectors of the customs 

 charge the fees of office in each collection district, 

 although the ships have no foreign goods on 

 board, so that whaling vessels are almost always 

 compelled to pay double custom house expenses." 



