THE ANIMAL LIFH OF TIIF: (I ROUP. 303 



TiiK AViiAiJNG Industry. 



In tlie old whalinij' days vcsstds ono'ai»ed in the Ifadc i-aiii:cd ii|» to I'oiir 

 hundred tons burden, and were often outfitted for a two or llircc years" 

 voyage. Their usual destination being the "south seas," llicy frc(|iictitly 

 utilized Hawaii as a depot station. A whaling vessel )isiiall\- carried six 

 whaleboats. These were about twenty-seven feet in length, with four-foot 

 beam, and were pointed at both ends. 



When a whale was sighted, four boats put oft' at once, each ])eing provided 

 with a pair of two-hundred-fathoni harpoon lines and carrying a crew of six 

 men. "It was the business of the l)oat-steerer to harpoon the whale when it 

 came to the surface to spout. AVhen this was done he changed places with a 

 member of the crew, whose duty was to kill the animal with a lance. When a 

 whale was harpooned, immediately al't(n" the first struggle and when it was 

 lying exhausted from its endeavors to escape, the boat was pulled close along- 

 side, and the headsman began the work of destruction by thrtisting his lance into 

 the vital parts behind the flipper. As soon as the whale was lanced the boats 

 were backed with all possible speed. When first struck the whale frequently 

 'sounded' or descended to immense depths, sometimes taking out nearly all 

 of the eight hundred fathoms of line carried by the four boats. Subsequently, 

 however, when weakened by the loss of blood, it kept on or near the surface, 

 towing after it one or more of the boats. By hauling in the line the boat or 

 boats were pulled up alongside and the monster Anally destroyed, eithei- by 

 darting or thrusting with the lance." 



Whaling as thus carried on was full of dangers, and an occupation calcu- 

 lated to be followed only by the most hardy and ventui'esome ; hundreds of 

 accounts of hairbreadth escapes from death have been chronicled in the 

 pursuit of this business in which, at its height in 1852. no feAver than two 

 hundred and seventy-five American vessel were engaged, in the noitli Pacific 

 alone. The amount of oil taken that year by the fleet exceeded 3.'^7.0()() bar- 

 rels, and more than 5,000,000 pounds of whalebone was secured. 



The Hawaiian Islands were in the center of this trade, and thousands (»f 

 the native Ilawaiians were employed as whalers. The business developed in 

 the ports of the islands furnished the impetus and the foundation for more 

 substantial and diversified trade that has rapidly increased in volume to tiie 

 present, though whaling, on anything like an extensive scale, was pi-actically 

 at an end by 1875. 



As long ago as 1824 the brig Ainoa set out from the islands for a sealing 

 voyage. At different times, but ])ai-ticulail\ in 1859, sealing expeditions have 

 been made among the islands to the west of Kauai. In thai year the (Janibia 

 returned to llonloulu with fifteen hundred skins and two liuiidi'cd and forty 

 barrels of seal oil. This furnishes us with a record of the foi-nier abundance of 

 the seaH" in the Hawaiian group. Of i-ecenf years they have been far from 



^^ Monar/i us scIki u i iishi mli. 



