Comparative view of the fisheries of Massachusetts, exclusive of the whale fisheries :

PRODUCE of Fisheries of Massachusetts and other States, in 1840. Smoked or Dried Fish.-United States, 773,947 quintals; Massachusetts, 389,715 quintals; Maine, 279,156 quintals; New Hampshire, 28,257 quintals; Rhode Island, 4034 quintals.

Pickled Fish.-United States, 472,359 barrels ; Massachusetts, 124,755 barrels ; North Carolina, 73,350 barrels; Maryland, 71,293 barrels; Maine, 54,071 barrels.

Spermaceti Oil.-United States, 4,764,708 gallons; Massachusetts, 3,630,972 gallons; Rhode Island, 487,268 gallons; New York, 400,251 gallons; Connecticut, 183,207 gallons.

Whale and other Fish Oil.- United States, 7,536,778 gallons; Massachusetts, 3,364,725 gallons; Connecticut, 1,909,047 gallons; New York, 1,269,541 gallons; Rhode Island, 633,860 gallons.

Value of Whalebone, &c.-United States, 1,153,234 dollars; Massachusetts, 442,974 dollars; New York, 344,665 dollars; Connecticut, 157,572 dollars; New Jersey, 74,000 dollars.

Hands employed.-United States, 36,584; Massachusetts, 16,000; Maryland, 7814; Maine, 3610; Connecticut, 2215.

Capital invested.-United States, 16,429,620 dollars; Massachusetts, 11,725,850 dollars; Connecticut, 1,301,640 dollars; Rhode Island, 1,077,157 dollars; New York, 949,250 dollars.

Comparative tonnage of vessels employed in the fisheries, and in the foreign and coasting trade of the United States, in 1841.

tons.

Registered vessels employed in foreign trade, for the year 1841. 945,803 42-95ths

Enrolled and Licensed Vessels.

The enrolled vessels employed in coasting trade, for the year 1841
Licensed vessels under twenty tons, employed in coasting trade.

Fishing Vessels.

Enrolled vessels employed in cod fishery

mackarel fishery

Licensed vessels under twenty tons, employed in cod fishery

The registered and enrolled tonnage employed in the whale fishery, during the year 1841, was

Aggregate amount of the tonnage of the United States, on the
30th of September, 1841, was stated at
Of enrolled and licensed tonnage employed in the coasting trade,
amounting to 1,076,036 18-95ths, as above stated, there were
employed in steam navigation.

1,076,036 18-95ths

31,031 70-95ths

60,556 05-95ths

11,321 13-95ths

5,995 79-95ths

157,405 17-95ths

2,130,744 37-95ths

174,342 44-95ths

583

CHAPTER IX.

WHALE FISHERY OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE Norwegians were accustomed at an early period to capture whales. But they only did so, as they now do in the Orkney and Shetland islands, when whales arrived casually on the coast or in the bays. The Biscayans were the first people who pursued the whale fishery as a regular business. They carried it on with energy, perseverance, and success, from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. The voyages of the Dutch and English to the Northern Ocean, for the purpose of discovering a passage to India discovered multitudes of whales in those seas, which led the Dutch and English to enter upon the northern whale fishery. During the middle of the seventeenth century, houses were established upon the northern coast of Spitzbergen, and provided with tanks, boilers, and all other necessary apparatus for the purpose of boiling the blubber, and preparing the bone for market. A town with shops and taverns arose in consequence. The town disappeared with the whale fishery. The Dutch whale fishery was in its most prosperous state during the year 1680, when it employed about 260 ships, and 14,000 sailors. The English whale fishery was carried on by an exclusive company, like that of Holland; and in 1725 the South Sea Company embarked in the whale fishery, and prosecuted it with vigour for about eight years, and then abandoned it, with considerable loss. The French and some other nations embarked in the pursuit with great success.

It is recorded in the second volume of the "Philosophical Transactions," in a letter from Mr. Richard Norwood, who resided at the Bermudas, "that the whale fishery had been carried on in the bays of those islands for two or three years. A year or two afterwards, the whale fishery was proposed by a Mr. Richard Stafford, who remarks that he had killed several black whales himself. I have been,' says he, 'at the Bahama islands, and there have seen of this same sort of whale (the spermaceti) dead on the shore, with sperma all over their bodies! Myself and about twenty others have agreed to try whether we can master and kill them, for I never could hear of any of that sort that was killed by any man, such is their fierceness and swiftness.' One such whale,' said he, would be worth many hundred pounds.' New Providence, in the Bahamas, became soon afterwards distinguished as a whale fishing station. Before the English colonists killed whales in America, "the Indians upon the shores of North America were accustomed to adventure out from the coast in their canoes, and pierce them with their lances, or other instruments of the same kind, which were fastened to blocks of wood by strings. These blocks were thrown overboard the moment

* See Philosophical Transactions, vol. iii.

that the instruments penetrated the body, and the attacks thus made appear to have been renewed the moment the whale showed himself on the surface, so that these monsters were finally worried to death. The attacks thus made by these imperfect instruments seem, however, to have been generally directed upon the young ones near the shores, that were towed to the coast, and the fat taken off from only one side, as they possessed no knowledge which would enable them to turn over the animal. It is obvious that the larger sort of whales must have effectually resisted the attacks of the savages with such rude weapons, and the demand for the oil, which, upon the northern part of the continent, they were accustomed to use as food, was but limited.”*

The New England, or American whale fishery, was commenced in the island of Nantucket. It was colonised by an adventurous and hardy race of settlers from other parts of Massachusetts. The origin and progress of the New England whale fishery is related as follows, in the Merchants' Magazine:

"It appears that one of the species called 'scragg' was descried in the harbour of the infant colony, where it remained spouting and gambolling around the shore for three days. Measures were soon adopted by the settlers, who were the original purchasers of the island, for its capture. An harpoon, rude in its form, was invented and wrought; and, after a severe contest, the monster was taken. The success of this adventure induced the people of that place to commence the enterprise of taking whales as a regular business, these animals being at that time very numerous around the coast; and, as early as 1672, we find the inhabitants entering into a formal contract with James Lopar, in which he engages to carry on the 'whale citching' jointly with the town, for two years, on their giving to him ten acres of land in some convenient place, with commonage for two cows, and twenty sheep, and one horse, together with the necessary wood and water. The town were, by this contract, bound to carry on two-thirds of the business, and himself the other third. This company was to have the monopoly of the trade, and no other company was permitted to engage in the traffic, unless they should tender to this first organised body a portion of its shares. It was also provided, that whosoever kill any whale of the company or companies aforesaid, they are to pay to the town, for every such whale, five shillings.' John Savage, a hardy New England man, was also procured to settle upon the island in the capacity of a cooper, upon nearly the same terms which had been made by the proprietors of the town with Lopar. We may suppose that the profits of this crude frame of enterprise were small, but they were at least sufficient to induce the prosecution of this species of traffic.

Meanwhile, the people of Cape Cod had reached considerable proficiency in this branch of enterprise, and their success induced the fishermen of Nantucket to adopt more vigorous and systematic measures for its prosecution. Accordingly, we find the inhabitants employing Ichabod Padduck, as early as 1690, to instruct them respecting the best manner of taking the whale, and extracting the oil. The whaling expeditions from that port were then carried on in boats from the shore, and the white colonists derived important aid from the Indians, who manifested extraordinary aptness for the fishery of all kinds, and, being placed in responsible stations as boat-steerers and headsmen, they soon became experienced and valuable whalemen. These boats, in search of their game, often ventured even out of sight of the land during the pleasant days of winter, and performed feats which are scarcely exceeded in our own day. After the whale had been killed, he was towed ashore, and an instrument, termed a 'crab,' and which was similar to a capstan, was used to heave off' the blubber as fast as it was cut. This blubber was then placed upon carts, and conveyed to 'try-houses,' situated near their dwellings, where the oil was boiled out, and prepared for market. For the purpose of enabling the fishermen to descry whales at a distance, a high spar was erected upon the shore, with cleats affixed to the top, where the whaleman,

* Hunt's Magazine.

No

with his spy-glass, could be securely lodged, and command a broad view of the ocean. sensible diminution of the whales upon the coast appears to have existed from the first thirty years of the fishery, although eighty-six were taken near the shore during the year 1726, and eleven were sometimes towed to the land in one day.

"We are informed that the first spermaceti whale, known to the inhabitants, was found dead and ashore upon the south-western part of the island; and here arose several conflicting claims to the right of property in this dead monster; the Indians claiming it by right of finding; the whites, on the ground of their ownership of the island; and the officer of the crown seizing it by virtue of the well-known principle of the laws of England, giving to the king certain property which is discovered to have no visible owner, and, in discussing which, Mr. Justice Blackstone, if we remember right, specially designates a stranded whale. The matter was, however, at length adjusted, and the white men who first found it were permitted to hold the property, the whale having been previously divested of his teeth.

"To Christopher Hussey, a Nantucket whaleman, belongs the honour of capturing the first spermaceti whale, and his feat was performed during the year 1712, so far as can be ascertained. This man, while cruising near the shore for right whales,' the species which had been the principal kind captured by the Nantucket whalemen, was blown off from the shore, and falling in with a scool of that species, he succeeded in capturing one and towing him into port. This event gave a new impulse to the whale fishery upon the ocean, for vessels of thirty tons were soon built for the purpose of extending this traffic. These vessels were fitted out for cruises of about six weeks, and carried a few hogsheads capable of containing the blubber of only one whale, which, after they had captured, they returned home, when the owners took the blubber and prepared the oil for market, despatching the ship upon another voyage. The boiling was done in try-houses, which were erected near the landing, and the outfits and apparatus were placed in warehouses, situated near the same place. The substitution of vessels for boats constituted a new epoch in the expeditions of these Nantucket whalemen, as the whales were expected to be diminished; and, in 1715, the number of vessels engaged in the whaling business from this port was six, all of them sloops of from thirty to forty tons burden, and producing 1100l., amounting in our currency to 4888 dollars, 88 cents.

"Such was the germ of the whale fishery in this country, and circumstances transpired which were calculated to extend its operations. Larger vessels were soon introduced as motive for the business increased, and the enlargement of their number of course required an additional number of men, so that the island could not furnish the force to man their ships. This deficiency was, however, supplied by seamen from Long island, as well as various parts of Cape Cod. But the consumption of oil did not increase with the augmentation of the number of the ships and the quantity of oil which was obtained. Indeed, the domestic sale was frequently dull, and the whale fishermen began to look to a foreign market. Boston at this time, furnished the chief depôt for the oil of the Nantucket whalemen, and it was customary for the merchants of that city to order large quantities of whale oil from Nantucket, and to export it to England in their own vessels, from which traffic they derived a considerable profit, the oil of the island having obtained a very high reputation in Europe. This fact aroused the people of Nantucket to their true interest, and they immediately adopted measures to export the products of the fishery themselves, and accordingly to reap the profits. But although the prospects of success appeared bright, they moved with great caution in this matter, knowing that the failure of their enterprise would be attended with disastrous consequences. Accordingly, about the year 1745, a small vessel was loaded and despatched to Europe with a cargo of oil. The expedition was successful, and their shipments to England and other foreign ports were increased. This new field of enterprise was attended with a double advantage, for while they secured large profits on these voyages, it was found that the articles in the foreign ports to which their ships were consigned, consisting of iron, hardware, hemp, and sail cloth, were precisely of the kind which they wanted for the trade, and, being purchased at a cheap rate, they were admirably adapted to their return cargoes.

“ But in the year 1755, the loss of several fine ships, with their crews, by the perils of the sea, or by capture-for it is well known that we were then at war with France4 F

VOL. II.

threw a temporary blight over the traffic, although it continued to increase. The ships were enlarged in size, from thirty to 100 tons burden and more, as whales had become scarce upon their own ranging grounds near the shore, and larger vessels were required to advance further into the ocean. A number of the larger class of vessels was despatched to Davis's straits and the Western islands, being provided with complete outfits, and, while a few made great voyages, others came home clean,' from the ignorance that then prevailed respecting the courses of the winds, the proper feeding-ground of the whales, and of all those other facts which could only be acquired by experience. Whaling continued to be the main occupation of the inhabitants of that island, while the attempts which were made to carry on this pursuit in other parts of the country, appear to have failed.

"Another fact tended to diminish the profits of the whale fishery at that time. The English government, discovering that oil was far preferable to other light, being better adapted to common use, and less expensive, became anxious to increase that branch of commerce from her own ports, and, in consequence, granted a large bounty to this species of industry. By that means it was much enlarged, and London soon became an important whaling port. The necessary consequence of this measure was to cut off Nantucket from a considerable portion of its foreign market; yet the American whale trade was not sensibly diminished, as its consumption was enlarged in various parts of the world, and even the exportation to England continued to be carried on. As new coasts were explored, the field of the whale fishery became enlarged, and the American whale fishermen adventured widely into the ocean for their favourite game. The places at which the whale fishery commenced, and the periods when it was begun, prior to our revolution, we have in the subjoined table, which is believed to be accurate :—

"At Davis's straits, in the year 1746.

"The Island of Disco, in the mouth of Baffin's bay, in the year 1751.
"Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the year 1761.

"Coast of Guinea, in the year 1763.

"Western islands, in the

year 1765.

"Eastward of the Banks of Newfoundland, in the year 1765.

"Coast of Brazil, in the

year 1774.

"Besides these places, whaling voyages were carried on to a considerable extent, although for a shorter period, upon the Grand Banks, Cape Verd islands, numerous points of the West Indies, the Bay of Mexico, the Carribean sea, the coast of the Spanish Main, and various other parts of the sea. The amount of enterprise invested in the traffic at different periods, and the profits of the voyages at this early stage of the fishery, may, perhaps, be interesting at the present time, exhibiting as they do the progress of the trade in this country.

THE Number of American Ships employed, and Oil produced from the Catch, for Ten

"It appears, also, that the price of whale oil in England was, in 1742, 187. 138. per ton; in 1743, 147. 8s. per ton; in 1744, 10l. per ton; and in 1753, 217. per ton.

"From the year 1771 to 1775, the whale fishery increased to a most important extent, and the hardy islanders of New England, who formed the whaling companies, were mechanics, who manufactured the cordage, the casks, the sails, the iron and wood work of the ships, and even built the ships for the whale fishery. According to Mr. Pitkin, Massachusetts alone, during that space of time, employed annually 183 vessels, of 13,820 tons

* See History of Nantucket, by Obed Macy.