208 



MABINE MA3niALS OF THE N0RTH-WE8TEBN COAST. 



Macy's Eistorij of NantucM, "the whaling business increased to an extent hitherto 

 unparalleled. In 1770 there were a little more than one hundred vessels engaged, 

 and in 1775 the number exceeded one hundred and fifty, some of them large 

 brigs." The following table briefly exhibits the state of the fishery from 1771 to 

 1775 (showing the annual average), which at that period was prosecuted chiefly 

 from Massachusetts, although Sag Harbor had three sloops cruising for whales in 

 high northern latitudes as early as 1760:* 



Ports from wliich the equipDients 

 were made. 



Nantucket 



Wellfleet 



Dartmouth 



Lynn 



Martha's Vineyard 



Barnstable 



Boston 



Falmouth, Barnstable Co 

 Swanzey 



Total 



Tonnage. 



10,200 



1,000 



2,000 



120 



700 



14,020 



Seamen 

 employed. 



2,025 



420 



1,040 



28 



156 



26 



260 



52 



52 



4,059 



Barrels of 



Sperm Oil 



taken. 



26,000 



2,250 



7,200 



200 



900 



240 



1,800 



400 



400 



39,390 



Barrels of 



Whale Oil 



taken. 



4,000 



2,250 



1,400 



100 



300 



600 



8,650 



The first voyage made across the equinoctial line into the South Atlantic was 

 by the brig Amazon, of Fantucket, under the command of Uriah Bunker, who 

 returned with a "full ship" April 19th, 1775. f 



■whales, according to their peculiar species ; and 

 this previous knowledge is of the utmost conse- 

 quence. When these boats are arrived at a 

 reasonable distance, one of them rests on its 

 oars, and stands off, as a witness of the ap- 

 proaching engagement ; near the bows of the 

 other the harpooner stands up, and on him 

 principally depends the success of the enter- 

 prise. He wears a jacket closely buttoned, and 

 round his head a handkerchief tightly bound ; 

 in his hands he holds the dreadful weapon, 

 made of the best steel, marked sometimes with 

 the name of their town, and sometimes with 

 that of their vessel ; to the shaft of which the 



* Thompson's History of Long Island, vol. i, 



end of a cord of due strength, coiled up with 

 the utmost care in the middle of the boat, is 

 firmly tied ; the other end is fastened to the 

 bottom of the boat. Thus prepared, they row 

 in profound silence, leaving the whole conduct 

 of the enterprise to the harpooner and to the 

 steersman, attentively following their directions. 

 When the former judges himself to be near 

 enough to the whale, that is, at the distance 

 of about fifteen feet, he bids them stoj) ; per- 

 haps she has a calf, whose safety attracts all 

 the attention of the dam, which is a favorable 

 circumstance ; perhaps she is of a dangerous 

 species, and it is safest to retire, though their 



p. 349. f Sanford's Letters. 



