Adventures of the Explorers 125 



American sailors had recognized the Gulf Stream, 

 and wide breadths of the South Atlantic had never 

 felt the cut of a keel. Indeed, as already noted, 

 when Burke, in his speech on Conciliation with 

 America (1775), wished to praise in highest terms 

 the bold enterprise of the people of Nantucket, he 

 told how they ventured in their whale ships to the 

 Falkland Islands. 



Terrors that were then very real seem foolish- 

 ness now. As late as 1833 the sloop Fame, 

 Captain Peter Myrick, of Nantucket, sailed 

 (July 27) "in search of whales, sea serpents, &c." 

 For this fishery she carried patent harpoons that 

 were charged with poison, prussic acid. In 

 earlier days than that the superstitions of the sea 

 led the captain of the ship, even the bravest of 

 captains, to go to an astrologer for a horoscope 

 that would tell when the stars were in the right 

 position to bring good luck to the venture. The 

 fateful day having come, the sails were spread, but 

 never before, no matter how well the wind served. 

 The horoscope cleared away the terrors, the 

 imaginary dangers, but real ones remained that 

 tried the soul. 



