46 ADDRESS. 



Besides all these, large quantities of beans, corn, peas, potatoes, 

 &c. are required in outfits. 



Now, to what conclusion are we led by all these results ? That 

 the whale fishery is a local interest, carried on for the benefit of an 

 exclusive few? Far from it. These fisheries reach the interest 

 of every class of citizens in our country ; their prosperity or adver- 

 sity becomes that of our whole people. The owners of woodland, 

 the axemen, the teamsters, the ship carpenters, coppersmith, black- 

 smith, manufacturers of cotton, rope makers, riggers, sail makers, 

 cultivators of hemp, as well as the grazier and agriculturist all 

 have an interest in this branch of national enterprise. Besides, it 

 is the safest ocean business that can be pursued; for it brings 

 home no new diseases to destroy our population, no vices con- 

 tracted in old and corrupt communities to poison our morals ! 



Surely, then, it is the bounden duty of the government to afford 

 every facility to the merchant in these commercial enterprises, and 

 to furnish him with adequate protection. This is a course dictated 

 not only by a sound policy, but by every motive of humanity. The 

 oft told stones of mariners shipwrecked in the South Seas are no 

 fictions. Would to Heaven that they were ! To enter into par- 

 ticulars of these disasters, would serve only to weaken the picture, 

 since our limits will not allow of extended details ; yet it is hoped 

 that a few facts, briefly stated, will not be without weight, when 

 considered in connexion with this subject. 



The ship Oldham was taken by the natives of Wallis's Island, 

 and her crew murdered. Previous to this, the American brig 

 Chinchilla, engaged in taking biche-le-mer at the same place, 

 experienced the same fate. 



The ship Oeno, of Nantucket, was lost among the Feejee 

 Islands, and the entire crew were supposed to have been put to 

 death. One, however, the cooper of the vessel, escaped, and 

 returned by a subsequent vessel to the United States. Since his 

 arrival, intelligence has been received, which leaves no doubt that 



