CURRENTS AND WHALING. 531 



by being kept cruising so as to reach the various ports at the proper 

 seasons. In this way they might be the means of relieving many of 

 our countrymen from distressing situations, and of restoring them to 

 their homes in safety. A knowledge among the whaling-fleet that 

 their interests were watched over, even if they made no calls for aid, 

 would give security, and protect them from impositions, as well as 

 prevent them from practising fraud, or committing aggressions on the 

 natives of the islands they visit. Such aggressions invariably lead 

 to retaliations on the part of the chiefs, which they inflict upon the 

 first unsuspecting vessel that anchors in their ports. The capture of 

 vessels, and the massacre of their whole crews, have frequently been 

 owing to this cause. 



It would also be the means of securing the owners against losses ; 

 for it scarcely need be stated, that in the event of accidents, that would 

 be deemed elsewhere of a trivial nature, condemnation frequently 

 ensues, and a total sacrifice of the property. This is not to be ascribed 

 to any want of vigilance, or to connivance on the part of our consuls 

 or the public authorities ; but it arises from the desire on the part of 

 whole communities to derive profit out of accident. A visit of a 

 man-of-war, or the feeling that one was or would be at hand to afford 

 succour, and relieve distress, would have a tendency to remove these 

 evils. 



The difficulties to which the whaling fleet is exposed are often 

 aggravated by the position of our consuls; for if engaged in trade, as 

 they almost always are, they lose that influence and standing with 

 the authorities, which they otherwise would have, whether civilized 

 or savage, as well as with their own countrymen. 



The whole system is wrong : those appointed to such situations 

 should not be suffered to engage in trade, but should receive a salary 

 adequate to their support. This would place them in a situation to 

 assert our rights ; prevent the difficulties now of daily occurrence ; 

 and enable the consuls to maintain the high standing they ought to 

 hold in foreign ports. 



The crews of whale-ships are much more prone to scurvy than I 

 had any idea of: during our stay at Oahu, several ships arrived, more 

 or less affected with this horrible disorder, which arose from various 

 causes ; my inquiries satisfied me it was in most cases to be imputed 

 to the long period passed at sea, aggravated by the despondency aris- 

 ing from want of success. In one case in particular, the captain had 

 stopped at some islands for fruit and provisions, of which he had 



