Early Days on Nantucket 49 



and his men would bend to their oars at the 

 word. 



Thereupon safety was found in aggressive 

 courage. Having killed the whale, the "slick" 

 (the oil that oozed from the carcass) smoothed the 

 sea so that they rode out the gale in safety. Then 

 they towed their prize to the beach the first of 

 the kind ever killed by Nantucket whalers. 



Most interesting is a picture of Nantucket life 

 at that time. Every family had a home, a log 

 house with a thatched roof, or at best a roof of 

 shingles that were held in place with long poles. 

 They all owned sheep, cattle, and hogs that 

 ranged the common pastures, and they cut their 

 fuel in the common forest; but they raised their 

 corn and wheat on lands which each owned in- 

 dividually. In connection with the fuel it was 

 noted in the annals that the poorest among them 

 warmed himself at a better fire than the lords of 

 England could afford. And that they should have 

 drawn such a comparison is a memorable fact be- 

 cause it shows that Young America was looking 

 up. 



Their farms not only afforded food, but cloth- 



