78 DAYS IN THE OPEN 



written." In those days whales were frequently 

 cast upon the beach by severe storms, and whale 

 cutters were appointed to insure a fair division of 

 the spoil. Now the whaling industry is a thing of 

 the past. One of the pathetic sights of the village 

 is an old whaling vessel tied to the pier and slowly 

 rotting away. It is many a year since the last of 

 these vessels sailed from port, but if we are for- 

 tunate enough to meet one of the retired captains 

 and can induce him to tell us something of his 

 experiences, we shall come quite near enough to 

 the hardships and privations of those heroic days. 

 Do you see that man going along Water Street? 

 He sailed a whaling vessel for forty years, and 

 one of his voyages lasted six years lacking ten 

 days. 



You can take your choice between visiting the 

 old burial ground on " Tower Hill " or going out 

 for a sail. Take the sail? I thought so. Of 

 course, there are brown old head-stones with quaint 

 epitaphs up there on the hill, but who that is in 

 possession of his senses would pass up the chance 

 to go sailing in a Cape Cod catboat on such a day 

 as this? 



Here we are on board the " Quickstep," one of 

 the smartest boats on the coast, with a captain who 

 knows the sea as a native New Yorker knows 

 Broadway. While we are dropping down the bay 

 before the light wind, you may like to hear of the 

 gale when this same boat and captain were blown 



