Samuel Mulford, Alongshore Whaler 3 



tant source of income to the first settlers on Mas- 

 sachusetts Bay, the prospectors who came to Long 

 Island to spy out the land looked away across the 

 surf, as well as at the soil in the clearings the 

 Indians had made; and seeing the familiar spout 

 of the right whale out at sea confirmed them in 

 the good opinion of the locality which an inspec- 

 tion of the soil had already given them. More- 

 over they learned from the Indians that "drift 

 whales," namely, those that had died from natural 

 causes, were often to be found on the beach. 



It is manifest from the records that the whale 

 fishery was prosecuted on Long Island almost 

 from the first day the settlers arrived. In March, 

 1644, the settlers divided themselves into four 

 wards of eleven persons each to attend to the 

 drift whales cast ashore, and it was voted that, 

 when such a whale was found, " Every inhabitant, 

 with his child or servant that is above sixteen 

 years of age," should share equally in the products, 

 save only as two men who were appointed to cut 

 up the carcass were to have two shares each. 



The active work of hunting live whales was 

 carried on at the Long Island settlement after a 



