148 



3IARINE MAM3IALS OF THE NOETH-WESTERN COAST. 



that there were left on the island at least five hundred thousand seals. Subse- 

 quentl}^, there were taken from the island but little short of one million skins. 



The seal fishery was extensively prosecuted for many years by our countrymen. 

 The sealing fleet on the coast of Chile alone, in 1801, amounted to thirty vessels, 

 many of which were ships of the larger class, and nearly all were under the Amer- 

 ican flag. Up to the present day, American vessels are the pioneers in the most 

 remote and unexplored regions, wherever the migratory animals are to be found in 

 sufficient numbers to induce that class of our seamen who are fond of a sportsman's 

 life, in addition to that of sea- faring, to embark in the enterprise. 



In the midst of the Crimean War, an enterprising firm in New London, Con- 

 necticut, fitted out a clipper bark, which was officered and manned expressly for a 



edge Captain Whetten had of the manner of doing 

 business with these people, and the great assist- 

 ance he could afford, being conversant in all 

 their intricate trade, and in the purchasing of 

 silks and other articles for the New York mar- 

 ket, as our homeward cargo, were certainly such 

 arguments as were well calculated to inci'ease 

 the confidence of success in the contemjjlated 

 voyage. This was an opportunity not to be left 

 unimproved ; and to one natui'ally possessed of 

 an ambitious and aspiring mind, with a strong 

 attachment to a seaman's profession, increased 

 as it had been, since my first visit to the South 

 Seas, by a p)erusal of the voyages of such cir- 

 cumnavigators as Drake, Byron, Anson, Bougan- 

 ville, Cook, and others, the hope of being able 

 to add some new discoveries to the knowledge 

 already in the possession of man relating to 

 those seas, and the no less flattering hope of 

 realizing a fortune should the enterprise be well 

 conducted and successful in its termination, were 

 svifficient to bind me to exert myself in bringing 

 about this desired voyage. Every view was en- 

 couraging ; but funds were necessary, and to 

 raise these without delay, I applied to that up- 

 right and liberal merchant, Mr. Elias Nexsen, 

 with whom also to consult and advise upon the 

 best means of securing the early fitting -out and 

 sailing of the enterprise. To the information 

 and encouragement given by Captain "Whetten, 



was added my own strong confidence in its 

 practicability, and the flattering results that such 

 an adventure held forth. The plan met with 

 his entire approval, and after some conversation 

 with Captain Whetten, on 'Change that day, in 

 the afternoon of the same he made the offer of 

 his brig, the Betsey, then in port. She was 

 New York built, a little short of one hundred 

 tons, and an excellent vessel of her class. ' If 

 she will answer,' said he, 'I will ptit her into 

 the business, and at whatever price, upon a mi- 

 nute inspection, her value shall be ascertained 

 to be, I will take the one -half in the adventure 

 of the vessel, and her outfits.' I was unable," 

 adds the captain, "to take more than one -eighth 

 myself, but the remaining three were, by the 

 evening of the same day, taken by other friends, 

 and thus the whole amount required to insm^e 

 the sailing of the vessel was made up. An in- 

 ventory was taken, agreeably to the understand- 

 ing at the commencement, by which the value 

 of the vessel was ascertained, and made satis- 

 factory to all concerned. In less than a month 

 from the time the enterprise was first enter- 

 tained, the Betsey sailed from New York, to stop 

 at New Haven (the native place of Mr. Caleb 

 Brintnall, the first officer, a great disciplinarian), 

 and afterward at Stonington, to obtain and com- 

 plete her comxilement of men, in all twenty- 

 seven ; for it had been concluded to be the 



