382 The Story of the New England Whalers 



Yankee build and rig. . . . Upon being boarded 

 she proved to be the Weathergauge^ a whaler of 

 Provincetown. . . . We now landed the crew of 

 the Weather gauge in their own boats, with the 

 usual store of provisions and traps, and burned 

 her. Two days elapsed now without a capture. 

 On the third day the welcome cry of 'Sail ho!' 

 again rang from the masthead, and on making 

 sail in the direction indicated by the lookout, we 

 soon discovered the chase was a whaler. And in 

 an hour or two more we were alongside of the 

 American whaling brig Altamaha, from New Bed- 

 ford, five months out. The Altamaha had had 

 but little success, and was comparatively empty. 

 She did not make so beautiful a bonfire, therefore, 

 as the other whalers had done." 



As one chase was very much like another, it 

 will suffice to say here that the next whaler taken 

 was the Benjamin Tucker, of New Bedford, with 

 340 barrels of oil on board. She was fired at 10 

 o'clock in the morning. The schooner Courser, 

 of Provincetown, was the next victim. She was 

 burned in the forenoon, also, after which the 

 crews of the three ships last mentioned were sent 



