CHAPTER IV. 

 AMERICAN WHALING COMMERCE. 



It has ever been a subject of interest to us to contemplate the advancement 

 of commerce by sea, from the time of the barbarian sailors up to the present cent- 

 ury, when every ocean is teeming with magnificent models of naval architecture, 

 which are the pride of maritime nations. Yet, is there any sea -faring pursuit 

 recorded in history which has displayed a more legitimate, energetic, and intelligent 

 character than the whale-fishery? To be cast upon the ocean, far from land, in 

 an open boat, is considered a perilous situation ; but what may it be regarded, 

 when, in a slight, frail hoy, like the whale-boat, we find the primitive whale- 

 men in the same situation, attacking, with rude weapons, these monsters of the deep 

 upon their own feeding and breeding grounds ? Moreover, these adventurous men 

 were successful in making their captures, and, after patient toil by day and night, 

 brought their colossal prizes over the water to their village shores. With such 

 impetuous daring did they pursue their precarious calling, that but few years elapsed 

 before the whales of value were driven from the borders into mid -ocean, where 

 they were pursued in mere shallops of thirty to fifty tons, into which the crews 

 were crowded ; and when a sufficient number of captures had been made to 

 supply a full fare of blubber, the pigmy vessels returned to the home shores, 

 apparently transformed into a mass of slimy whale -fat, above which peered the 

 weather-worn sails. And, as years passed on, in still larger ships, they pressed 

 forward, contending with every danger incident to the life of a sailor, upon 

 unknown waters and in unhealthy climes, until a voyage around the world became 

 as legitimate in the course of their professional lives, as was the launching of boats 

 through the surf to pursue the game near shore, over a hundred years before. 



As the fishery increased, several of the larger whaling -ports became distin- 

 guished for pursuing some particular branch of this commerce. Nantucket was 

 noted for its sperm whalers, who performed long voyages, maintained excellent 

 discipline, and their ships, being generally confined to the temperate or tropical 

 latitudes during their cruises, were examples of cleanliness and good management. 



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