INTRODUCTION. 



Without attempting tlie ambitious task of presenting a 

 comprehensive sketch of the origin, rise, and fall of whale- 

 fishing as a whole, it seems necessary to give a brief out- 

 line of that portion of the subject bearing upon the theme 

 of the present book before plunging into the first chapter. 



This preliminary is the more needed for the reason 

 alluded to in the Preface — the want of knowledge of the 

 subject that is apparent everywhere. The Greenland 

 whale fishery has been so popularized that most people 

 know something about it ; the sperm whale fishery still 

 awaits its Scoresby and a like train of imitators and 

 borrowers. 



Cachalots, or sperm whales, must have been captured 

 on the coasts of Europe in a desultory way from a very 

 early date, by the incidental allusions to the prime pro- 

 ducts spermaceti and ambergris which are found in so 

 many ancient writers. Shakespeare's reference — " The 

 sovereign'st thing on earth was parmaceti for an inward 

 bruise " — will be familiar to most people, as well as Mil- 

 ton's mention of the delicacies at Satan's feast — " Gris- 

 amber steamed " — not to carry quotation any further. 



But in the year 1690 the brave and hardy fishermen 

 of the north-east coasts of North America established 



