CHAPTER X 



THE GROWTH ALONG THE COAST 



A geographical review of the New England fisheries from 

 1818 to 1866 covers a wider range than has been considered 

 previously, due in part to the extension of the fisheries 

 into places already established, in part to the opening of 

 new territory and the consequent development of the 

 natural resources of those regions. In many places the rec- 

 ords are few, leaving some doubt as to whether the fishing 

 .industry of a particular place was spasmodically pursued 

 in connection with another industry, or whether only un- 

 usual cases of prosperous seasons raise the industry for a 

 time to a place of importance great enough to receive men- 

 tion in local records and newspapers. In the case of many 

 towns where the fisheries were carried on extensively for 

 a number of years the accounts of the industry are so 

 scattering that an attempt to place them in a connected 

 narrative would be a hopeless task. 



The fisheries of Maine and Massachusetts receive greater 

 consideration than other New England states. The fish- 

 ing interests of Connecticut and Rhode Island were largely 

 inshore. However, the whale fishery was carried on with 

 considerable vigor from New London. The town early be- 

 came interested in the fur-seal and sea-elephant fisheries in 

 Antarctic waters. Vessels from here were the first Ameri- 

 can sealers to visit Desolation Island and Heard 's Island in 

 the South Indian Ocean, and large cargoes of sea-elephant 

 oil were obtained annually from these islands for many 

 years. The sealing fleet of New London in 1853 numbered 



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