THE A3IEBICAN WHALE-FISHERY. 



217 



outfit of a first-class whaler, would swell a list too lengthy to be mentioned here/'' 

 But instead of the small boats, pulling four oars each, as did those of the Beavei\ 

 the modern ship lowers four boats with five oars each to pull ; and two or three 

 spare boats are taken on board as a reserve ; and instead of the old style windlass, 

 which was "hove 'round" with handspikes, they now have the patent purchase. 

 The try -works, which in former times smoked the whole ship's company when 

 "boiling- out oil," are now so fitted with portable pipes, as to carry the smoke 

 clear of the decks ; in fact, there is hardly a fixture, or an implement, pertaining 

 to the "outfit," that has not been improved upon, which will be further described 

 in subsec[uent pages. 



History is replete in portraying the toils and hazards of the whaleman ; but 

 very little is said about the merchant who embarks his capital in this branch of 

 industry, which to no little extent is a game -pursuit of chance; and the irksome 

 detail of preparing a whale -ship for sea is only known to those who have had the 

 trial of it. The success of this particular branch of our national commerce may be 

 directly traced back to the persistent efiorts of those sterling business gentlemen, 

 who have been, or still are, the leading merchants of the chief whaling -ports of the 

 United States. And first and pre-eminent among them were the Rotches of Nan- 

 tucket,t and the Russells and Rodmans of New Bedford. Yet there are scores of 



* For a detailed list see Appendix. 



f A reminiscence of Mr. William Eotch, wlio 

 was the great leader in the early days of Amer- 

 ican whaling commerce, may be interesting, as 

 relating to his business career both in England 

 and France. After the Bevolution, Mr. Kotch, 

 found his losses to be very heavy on account of 

 the war, and the Nantucket -men experiencing 

 great ditSculty in prosecuting whaling to any 

 profit, owing to the vexatious restrictions of En- 

 gland relative to the import of oil and whale- 

 bone, induced the distinguished pioneer whaling 

 merchant to visit England, hoping by direct per- 

 sonal communication with the British Grovernment 

 that some arrangement might be brought about to 

 lessen the burdens of himself and his compeers. 

 Accordingly, he, with his son Benjamin, fitted 

 out the ship Maria — which was commanded by 

 one of the favorite captains, William Mooers ; 

 and both father and son sailed from Nantucket, 



Marine Mammals. — 23. 



for London, the 1st of July, 178-5, where they 

 arrived on the 21tli of the same month. Among 

 Mr. Botch's influential friends in London was 

 Eobert Barcla}', and this gentleman introduced 

 him to Henry Beaufoy, a member of Parliament, 

 and that dignitary joresented him to the Chancel- 

 lor of the Exchequer, the great imperial W^illiam 

 Pitt (then about twenty -seven years of age). 

 Mr. Pitt received him with great politeness, and 

 listened attentively to Mr. Botch's remarks, which 

 are reported to have been as follow : 



"'When the war commenced, we declared 

 against taking any part in it, and strenuously 

 adhered to this determination, thus placing our- 

 selves as a neutral island. Nevertheless, you 

 have taken from us two hundred sail of vessels 

 — valued at one million dollars — unjustly and 

 illegally ! Had the war been founded on a gen- 

 eral declaration against America, v:e should have 

 been included, but it was predicated on a rehel- 



