Tales of Whalers in the Civil War 389 



her under officers had seen from the first that 

 resistance was hopeless, and when loading the guns 

 had omitted to put percussion caps on the nipples. 

 Captain Young aimed his gun at the Confeder- 

 ates, but when he pulled the trigger the weapon 

 was not discharged. To this statement Starbuck 

 adds: 



"His inhuman captors, who were unable to 

 appreciate bravery, put him in irons in the top- 

 gallant-forecastle, and robbed him of his money, 

 his watch, and even his shirt studs." 



One might doubt Starbuck's statement but for 

 the character that Hunt, quoted above (he was 

 an acting master on the Shenandoah}, gives 

 Waddell. He says (pp. 262-263) that after 

 the cruiser reached Liverpool, Captain Waddell 

 deliberately swindled the Shenandoah's crew out 

 of a large sum of money that had been placed in 

 his hands by the Confederate agent for their use. 



A brief, picturesque Civil War story of the 

 whalers is that told of the Stone Fleet. An 

 early move of the Federal authorities for the 

 restoration of the Union was the blockading of 

 the Confederate ports. Exactly 185 harbor and 



