The Ocean.--The Seaman's Home.--Confidence of the Mariner in
his Ship.--Shipwreck.--Moral and religious Claims of Seamen.
--The Spirit of the Age.--Interest in the Mariners' Meeting.
--Seaport Places.--Sudden Intelligence.--Seamen remembered
elsewhere.--Ships supplied with Books.--Bible and Tract
Societies.--Good seed sown.--Field for Usefulness.--The
American Seaman.--Concert of Prayer.--All interested.--The
most important Reform for Seamen.
Whatever pertains to seamen in their adventures, explorations,
privations, and disasters, never fails to be of interest to all classes
in the community.
The ocean is a vast and mysterious world in itself; a world of mighty
waters, grand, sublime; an image of eternity, a scene of wonders and
terrors, which no mortal tongue can adequately describe. Man, with his
frail bark, borne on its ever restless and heaving bosom, is but a mere
particle on the surface of the boundless expanse.
Those, however, whose "home is on the deep," inured both to its smiles
and frowns, are familiar with this mode of life, and thus become daily
conversant with its varied phases around them.
With a good ship, firm deck beneath his feet, well manned, plenty of
sea room, the experienced mariner fears but little the rising wind or
the surging main.
"A storm at sea" which would appall perhaps the heart of a landsman,
and lead him to abandon all hope of safety, and that the noble
vessel would be utterly incapable of contending with the frightful
odds against her, is, to the seaman, who looks calmly on the same
scene, only as an ordinary episode in ocean experience; indeed, in
some respects, a gale of wind is far preferable to a calm. With what
confidence and energy the navigator gives his orders, and is quickly
obeyed; soon the faithful ship is trimmed to meet the storm; and true
to her native instinct, former antecedents, and original design, she
parts the crested billow, and bounds over the waves as a "thing of
life"!
The destruction of a dwelling, either by fire or by a tornado, and
the inmates flying from threatened death, is a sad calamity; and the
occurrence of such an event enlists the sympathies of all who hear of
it. But sadder by far is the wreck of a ship at sea, or when cast away
upon some remote or hostile shore.
Alas! how frequently it is true, that with the foundering ship, the
breaking up of the sailor's home, his house, his refuge, his all, upon
the deep, a number of the crew, and sometimes all on board, find a
watery grave!
The sufferings incident, in many cases, to shipwrecked mariners, both
upon the sea and upon the land, have furnished the most affecting
themes of prose and poetry; and their recital uniformly touches an
answering chord in every sensitive heart.
We feel that it is due to all classes of seamen, to whom we are so much
indebted as the carriers of the products of all climes upon the world's
great highway, and by whom we are provided both with the necessaries,
and even luxuries, of life,--it is due to them, that their religious
wants especially, should claim a share of our attention and interest.
The time was when this class of our fellowmen were thought but little
of, and cared less about, in so far as it concerned their religious
welfare; but with the progressive spirit of the age in which we now
live, the lover of his country, the philanthropist and Christian,
cherish a generous solicitude in their behalf. During the meetings
of our religious anniversaries, there is no gathering, perhaps, that
awakens more general interest than that pertaining to seamen. This
fact, in connection with what is being done in the cause of seamen,
both at home and abroad, is sufficient to prove that there is a
growing, and, we trust, an increasing desire to promote the religious
good of the sons of the ocean.
In seaport places, it would be natural to suppose that both the
temporal and spiritual welfare of seamen would occupy a prominent
place in the minds of the people generally. This is to some extent
true. In such localities, especially, one discovers that the trains of
thought, general conversation, domestic arrangements, family anxieties,
prospects for years to come, all, or nearly all, are shaped and
controlled by the leading idea of "_business in great waters_."
This presiding spirit, as it may be justly termed, pervades every
department of life. We meet it at every turn, and are reminded,
wherever we go, that we live in a seafaring community. We find this
fact verified in public resorts for trade, in the family circle, in
the prayer and conference meeting, in the sanctuary, in the chamber of
sickness, in the house of mourning, and we read the memorials of it
upon the tombstone in the silent repositories of the dead.
There is another feature to a seaport place, and especially to a
whaling community, which it would be proper just to mention, and that
is, the suddenness with which sad intelligence from absent friends
falls upon the ears of those at home.
Many have had painful experience in these particulars. Wives, parents,
and relatives have been as suddenly reminded of the decease of those
near and dear to them, as would be the change of noonday into the
darkness of midnight.
How many hearts have been made to bleed in anguish! how many earthly
prospects, hitherto bright, have suddenly become shaded and overcast at
such an announcement! Indeed, they shortly expected to hear that those
abroad were in health and prosperity; or soon to embrace them on the
homeward arrival of the ship; but alas! some mysterious contingency in
providence supervened, and terminated their earthly voyage.
Broad oceans, remote seas, distant islands, and foreign ports are
consecrated to the memory of seamen, as their last resting places
on earth. Indeed, such localities are of impressive and affecting
significance, illustrating at once both the nature of the employment
and daring adventures of whalemen. But interest for the sailor may not
be wholly confined to seaport places. Nor is it. Wherever intelligence
reaches, or the public print finds its way through the various avenues
of society, or wherever works pertaining to seamen are scattered
abroad, even to the farthest limits of civilization, there the sailor
will be remembered, and the recorded experience of his ocean life will
be read again and again with thrilling emotions. But this is not all.
There are hundreds of young men, from inland country towns, and from
every part of the United States, whose home is now on the ocean wave,
and exposed to the dangers and perils of the deep. It is, therefore,
reasonable to suppose, that many a father's and mother's heart follows
in affection, hope, and imagination, the absent son upon the unknown
waste of waters, or into distant lands; or the wife, anxiously looking
for favorable intelligence, offers daily prayer for the successful and
speedy return of her husband. Thus, in these respects, those living in
the country share in a mutual sympathy with those on the seaboard.
In those places, especially, where large numbers of seamen usually
congregate, Bethel services on the Sabbath are means of securing to
them a great amount of moral and religious instruction. Besides,
colporteur seamen become an efficient instrumentality in directing many
a weather-beaten mariner to the house of God, and to the Saviour of
sinners.
When whale ships are about to leave our port for a cruise of two,
three, or four years, it is the purpose of the friends of seamen
connected with the several religious denominations in seaport towns,
to place on board of such vessels copies of the Word of God, moral and
religious books, the Family Library, tracts, &c. We believe this is
the usual practice in other whaling ports;[E] but to what extent this
arrangement is generally carried out we are unable to say.
We acknowledge with gratitude the repeated donations of Bibles and
Testaments both from the American and Foreign Bible Society, and the
American Bible Society, for gratuitous distribution among the sons
of the ocean. Nor would we forget to mention our obligations to the
American Tract Society for thousands and tens of thousands of pages
of tracts, generously given to be placed on shipboard or put into the
hands of seamen. We believe that the good seed of divine truth, thus
sown broadcast from year to year, will not wholly fall on unpropitious
soil. We are encouraged and strengthened in this benevolent work by the
express and significant promises of inspiration: "Cast thy bread upon
the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days;" and, again, "Sow
beside all waters."
More, however, should and ought to be done for seamen. The benevolent
and the religious, if so disposed, may find here an ample field for the
exercise of their liberality. While something is being done for seamen
with reference to their moral and spiritual improvement, yet, when
we take into consideration the scores of thousands that yearly leave
seaport places in our country, the thousands that are now traversing
seas and oceans both near and remote, and visiting almost every part of
the earth's surface, how limited are the means employed in behalf of
their religious welfare, that Christ may become the pole star of hope
to the wandering and tempest-tossed!
The American seaman, in a certain sense, is our representative abroad;
and, wherever the stars and stripes are given to the wind and fly
from the mast head, there he leaves the impress of his influence. How
important it is, then, as he departs from the land of his birth and
from the scenes of his early associations, and goes out upon the ocean
to meet its dangers and perils, as he is assailed by temptations, or
mingles with foreigners in other ports, how immensely important it
is, that he should be a true representative of Christian institutions
and principles at home, and bear about in his own bosom, amid the
vicissitudes of ocean life, the "witness of the Spirit" as his true and
lasting treasure!
It is true, there are religious captains, officers, and seamen; but
what we earnestly desire is, that the number may be increased a
thousand fold. Under the benign influence of the spirit of religion
and the fear of God, neither Sabbath breaking, nor profane language,
nor vice, nor disorder, nor cruelty, nor mutiny would find a place on
shipboard. "Thus officered, manned, and conducted, does any man who
believes there is a God, who rules the winds and waves and the monsters
of the deep, doubt the success of such a ship?" By no means.
There is another instrumentality fitted to promote the religious
interests of seamen, which we would not fail to mention, and that is,
the _concert of prayer_. We are taught to "pray for all men;" therefore
seamen may be included in the devout supplications of the people of God
--not only that they may be mercifully shielded in the hour of danger,
and meet with success in all lawful undertakings, but that spiritual
blessings in Christ Jesus may be their enduring portion.
The concert of prayer for seamen is one of the most interesting and
profitable meetings held in a seaport place, and which the month brings
around.
In such a gathering all are interested. Some of the members of
congregations and churches are upon the ocean, and have been gone for
months and years; others, perhaps, have just left for long voyages,
and others still on their homeward-bound passages. At such a meeting
as this, the absent ones are brought vividly before the mind. The bare
mention of the words husband, son, brother, endeared friend, finds at
once a response in many hearts. It is, therefore, alike the dictate of
nature as well as the great law of grace to look to Him "whose way is
in the sea, and whose path is in the great waters," that he would be
with the mariner in the storm and tempest, and at the appointed time
return him to his native port and to the bosom of his family.
Temperance and other reforms have wrought, and still are working,
gradual and essential changes and improvements among all classes of
seamen; but the most important, and that which stands higher than all
others, is, that those who behold the wonders of God in the deep may
become the friends and followers of the Saviour.
The following hymn, which, with others of like character, is frequently
sung, shows at once the sentiments and spirit of the seamen's concert
of prayer.
O, pray for the sailor, now far on the billow;
O, think of his hardships, temptations, and pain.
His home is the ocean; his hammock his pillow;
He toils for our pleasure; his loss is our gain.
While we are securely and peacefully sleeping,
He stands at the helm and his duty performs;
Now walking the deck and his painful watch keeping,
Or sits at the mast head 'mid perils and storms.
O, pray for the sailor, to banishment driven,
Enduring privation, oppression, and care,--
Shut out from the gospel, a stranger to Heaven,
The victim to vice and a prey to despair.
And, while we thus pray for the sons of the ocean,
A kind, peaceful Home to him must be given;
The Mariners' Bethel allures to devotion;
The Bible and preacher direct him to Heaven.
Seamen, of all classes, you are remembered by thousands and tens of
thousands, throughout the land and world, who are deeply interested in
your welfare. Day and night you are thought of and prayed for by those
whom you have left behind; and many a desire is breathed out in the
presence of Him who alone can save, that you may be protected in your
absence, shielded from temptations, and returned again to your friends.
May the "Star of Bethlehem, which alone can "fix the sinner's
wandering eye," guide many a son of the ocean, and lead him to say,--
It was my guide, my light, my all;
It bade my dark forebodings cease;
And, through the storm and danger's thrall,
It led me to the port of peace.
Now, safely moored, my perils o'er,
I'll sing, first in night's diadem,
Forever, and forevermore,
The Star--the Star of Bethlehem!
[Illustration: PERILOUS SITUATION OF WHALEMEN.]
A BRIEF
HISTORY OF WHALING,
WITH SOME OF ITS INTERESTING DETAILS.
CHAPTER I.
Whale Fishery.--Its Origin.--Where first carried on.--By
whom.--Whaling in the Northern Ocean by the Dutch and English.
--Contentions between them.--The Success of the Dutch.--
Its Commencement in New England.--"London Documents."--The
first Whale Scene in Nantucket.--Boat Whaling.--The Number
of Whales taken in one Day.--The first Spermaceti Whale.--
The Interest it excited.--Its supposed Value.--The first
Sperm Whale captured.--New Life to the Business.--Whaling
in Massachusetts in 1771-75.--Burke's Eulogy on New England
Whalers.--Sperm Whaling in Great Britain.--Revived in
France.--The American and French Revolutions nearly destroyed
the Business.--Loss to Nantucket.--Its Commencement in New
Bedford.--Tabular View of the Number of Vessels engaged in
Whaling, and Places to which they belong.
"No species of fishery, prosecuted any where on the surface of the
ocean, can compare in intensity of interest with the whale fishery. The
magnitude of the object of the chase, and the perilous character of the
seas which it frequents in all climates and latitudes, are features
which prominently distinguish the whale fishery from all similar
pursuits, and which invest the details of its history with the strong
charm inseparable from pictures and verities of stirring exertion,
privation, adventure, daring, and danger." In a word, it is fishery
upon a gigantic scale, in which romance and reality are strangely
blended.
"The whale fishery is a practice of long standing in the world. It is
supposed that the Norwegians began to prosecute this hazardous and
arduous enterprise as early as the closing part of the ninth century.
From rather vague statements, on this subject, which have come down to
us, it would seem that they confined themselves to the capturing of a
few whales in their bays and harbors.
"The shores of the Bay of Biscay, where the Normans formed early
settlements, became famous through them for the whale fishery there
earned on. In the same region, it was first made a regular commercial
pursuit; and as the whales visited the bay in large numbers, the
traffic was convenient and easy.
"The Biscayans maintained it with great vigor and success in the
twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries.
"We find from a work of Noel, 'Upon the Antiquity of Whale Fishing,'
that, in 1261, a tithe was laid upon the _tongues_ of whales imported
into Bayonne, they being then a highly esteemed species of food. In
1338, Edward III. relinquished to Peter de Puyanne a duty of six pounds
sterling laid on each whale brought into the port of Biarritz, to
indemnify him for the extraordinary expenses he had incurred in fitting
out a fleet for the service of his majesty.
"The Biscayans, however, soon gave up the whale fishery for the want of
fish, which ceased to come southward, no longer leaving the icy seas.
"In process of time, voyages both of the Dutch and English were
undertaken to discover a passage through the Northern Ocean to India;
and though they entirely failed in their primary object, yet they laid
open the remote haunts of the whale, and immediately began to prosecute
the enterprise of their capture. Even then, it was said, they employed
the Biscayans as their harpooners, and for a considerable part of
their crew. The Dutch and English prosecuted the business with varied
success, each claiming the ground for whale fishery in the seas around
Spitzbergen. Large companies were formed, and many ships were sent to
those northern regions, each armed and prepared to maintain his right
and supremacy over the seas. Thus one party would obtain a charter from
its own government, to the exclusion of the other and all others--at
the same time, each claiming the prior right of possession by discovery.
"At length, in 1618, a general engagement took place, in which the
English were defeated. Hitherto the two governments had allowed the
fishing adventurers and companies to fight out their own battles; but
in consequence of this event, it was considered prudent by each party
to divide the Spitzbergen bay and seas into fishing stations, where the
companies might fish and not trouble each other.
"After this period, the Dutch quickly gained a superiority over their
rivals. While the English prosecuted the trade sluggishly and with
incompetent means, the Dutch turned their fisheries to great account,
and, in 1680, had about two hundred and sixty ships and fourteen
thousand seamen employed in them."[F]
"From the year 1660, or forty years after the landing of our pilgrim
fathers on the shores of New England, down to the end of the
seventeenth century, there seem to have been various, and, as far as
now can be ascertained, nearly simultaneous and independent attempts
to prosecute this business by the inhabitants of Cape Cod, those of
Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, and some of the British subjects in
the bays around the Bermuda Islands."
The following interesting facts respecting the early history of whaling
in this country were obtained from manuscripts in the New York State
Library, by R. L. Pease, Esq., of Edgartown. They were copied from the
originals in London, by Mr. Brodhead, under the authority of the State
of New York, and called "London Documents."
Vol. iv. pp. 9-12. In the instructions of the Duke of York to his
agent, John Lewen, he is directed to "inquire what number of whales
have been killed near ye place within six years last past, and what
quantities of whale bone and oyle have been made or brought in there,
and how much my share hath amounted to in that time.... And you are
also to informe yourself how many whales are taken and brought in
there, commibus annis. Given May 24th, 1680."
Ibid. p. 71. In his answer, Lewen says "that the number of whales
killed is never observed by any person, nor the oil or bone."
Ibid. p. 84. General Andros, on this point, states, December 31, 1681,
that "very few whales have been driven on ashore but what have been
killed and claymed by the whalers; and, if not proved theirs, then
claymed by the Indian natives, or Christians clayming the shores in
said Indian's right. And tho I have not been wanting in my endeavors, I
never could recover any part thereof for his Royal Highness."
Vol. ii. p. 277. "On ye east of Long Island there were 12 or 13 whales
taken before ye end of March, and what since wee heare not; here are
some dayly seen in the very harbour, sometimes within Nutt Island. Out
of the pinnace, the other week, they struck two, but lost both; the
irons broke in one, the other broke the warpe.
SAMUEL MAVERICK.
July 5, 1669."
"The first whaling expedition from Nantucket was undertaken by some of
the original purchasers of the island, the circumstances of which are
handed down to us by tradition, and are as follows: A whale of the kind
called the 'scragg' came into the harbor, and continued there three
days. This excited the curiosity of the people, and led them to devise
measures to prevent his return out of the harbor. They accordingly
invented, and caused to be wrought for them, a harpoon, with which
they attacked and killed the whale. This first success encouraged them
to undertake whaling as a permanent business, whales being at that time
numerous in the vicinity of the shores.
Finding, however, that the people of Cape Cod had made greater
proficiency in the art of whale catching than themselves, the
inhabitants, in 1690, sent thither and employed a man by the name of
Ichabod Paddock to instruct them in the best manner of killing whales
and extracting their oil.
The pursuit of whales was commenced in boats, and was carried on
from year to year until it became a principal branch of business to
the islanders. The Indians readily joined the whites in this new
enterprise; and the most active among them soon became boat steerers
and experienced whalemen, and were capable of conducting any part of
the business.
Boat whaling from the shore continued until about the year 1760, when
the whales became so scarce that it was wholly laid aside.
The greatest number of whales ever killed and brought to the shore in
one day was eleven. In 1726, they were very plenty; forty-six were
taken during that year--a greater number than ever was obtained in
one year either before or since this date.
It is a remarkable fact that, notwithstanding the people had to learn
the business and carry it on under many hazardous circumstances, yet
not a single white person was known to be killed or drowned in the
pursuit of whales in the course of seventy years preceding 1760. The
whales hitherto caught near the shores in boats were of the 'right'
species.
The first spermaceti whale known to the inhabitants was found dead and
ashore on the west end of the island. It caused great excitement--
some demanding a part of the prize under one pretence and some under
another, and all were anxious to behold so strange an animal.
The natives claimed the whole because they found it; the whites,
to whom the natives made known the discovery, claimed it by a right
comprehended, as they affirmed, in the purchase of the island by the
original patent. An officer of the crown made his claim to it, and
pretended to seize the fish in the name of his majesty, as being
property without any particular owner.
After considerable discussion between the contending parties, it was
finally settled that the white inhabitants who first found the whale
should share the prize equally among themselves.
The teeth, however, which were considered very valuable, had been
extracted by a white man and an Indian before any others had any
knowledge of the whale.
All difficulty having been settled, a company was then formed that
commenced cutting the whale in pieces convenient for transportation to
the try works. The sperm procured from the head was thought to be of
great value for medicinal purposes. It was used both as an internal and
external application; and such was the credulity of the people that
they considered it a certain cure for all diseases; it was sought with
avidity, and for a while was esteemed to be worth its weight in silver."
"The first sperm whale taken by the Nantucket whalers was killed by
Christopher Hussey. He was cruising near the shore for 'right' whales,
and was blown off some distance from the land by a strong northerly
wind, when he fell in with a school of that species of whale, and
killed one, and brought it home.
"At what date this adventure took place is not fully ascertained, but
it is supposed that it was not far from 1712. This event imparted new
life to the business, for they immediately began to build vessels, of
about forty tons, to whale out in the 'deep,' as it was then called, to
distinguish it from 'shore whaling.' They fitted three vessels for six
weeks, carried a few hogsheads, sufficient to contain the blubber of
one whale, and tried out the oil after they returned home.
"In 1715, there were six vessels engaged in the whaling business, (all
sloops, from thirty to forty tons burden each,) and which produced an
income of nearly five thousand dollars."[G]
As the enterprise increased, more capital was invested, larger vessels
were built, longer voyages were undertaken, and new localities or
grounds for whales were discovered.
Fifty years later,--viz., from 1771 to 1775,--Massachusetts alone
employed annually one hundred and eighty-three vessels in the North
Atlantic Ocean, and one hundred and twenty-one vessels of larger burden
in the South Atlantic Ocean.
"Look at the manner," says Burke, (1774,) "in which the New England
people carry on the whale fishery. While we follow them among the
tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them penetrating into the deepest
frozen recesses of Hudson's Bay and Davis's Straits; while we are
looking for them beneath the arctic circle, we hear that they have
pierced into the opposite region of polar cold--that they are at the
antipodes, and engaged under the frozen serpent of the south. Falkland
Island, which seems too remote and too romantic an object for the
grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and resting place to their
victorious industry. Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to
them than the accumulated winter of both the poles. We learn that,
while some draw the line and strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa,
others run the longitude, and pursue their gigantic game, along the
coast of Brazil."
Such was the eloquent commendation given to the energy and perseverance
of New England whalers by one of the most distinguished of British
statesmen.
"The first attempt to establish the sperm whale fishery from Great
Britain was made in 1775. Nine years later, the French undertook to
revive the prosecution of this business. The king, Louis XVI., fitted
out six ships himself from Dunkirk, and procured his experienced
harpooners from Nantucket; others emulated the example of that
monarch; so that, before the French revolution, that nation had forty
ships in the service.
"The revolutionary war of the American colonies, and the wars of the
French revolution, nearly destroyed this flourishing branch of marine
enterprise in both countries. Just previous to the war, Massachusetts
employed in this service three hundred vessels and four thousand
seamen, about half of whom were from Nantucket alone. During that war,
fifteen vessels belonging to this island were lost at sea, and one
hundred and thirty-four were captured by the enemy. The loss of life in
prison ships and elsewhere, and the immense loss of property, show that
Nantucket paid as dearly in the struggle for liberty as any portion of
our country.
"It was not until the year 1792, many years after the commencement of
the enterprise in Nantucket, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and other
places on the sound, that the attention of the people of New Bedford
was turned towards the whale fishery."[H]
From this date until the present time, no permanent obstruction, with
the exception of the war of 1812-1815, has occurred to impede the
gradual and increasing interest given to this enterprise, and which now
assumes commanding commercial importance, and develops unrivaled energy
in its prosecution.
The number of vessels in this country employed in the whale fishery far
exceeds that of all others engaged in the same pursuit.
The following tabular view will present to the reader the number and
class of vessels engaged in the whale fishery, belonging to their
respective places in the United States, as reported in the "Whaleman's
Shipping List and Merchant's Transcript" for October, 1856:--
---------------+--------+--------+--------+---------+--------+--------
Places. | Ships. | Barks. | Brigs. | Sch'rs. | Total. | Tonn.
---------------+--------+--------+--------+---------+--------+--------
New Bedford | 209[*] | 128[*] | | | 337 | 122,000
Dartmouth | 4 | 6 | | | 10 | 2,698
Sippican | | | | 3 | 3 | 319
Westport | | 17 | | | 17 | 3,989
Wareham | 1 | | | | 1 | 347
Sandwich | | 1 | 1 | | 2 | 292
Fairhaven | 36 | 12 | | 1 | 49 | 15,927
Mattapoisett | 1 | 10 | | 1 | 12 | 3,281
Nantucket | 32 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 12,860
Edgartown | 10 | 4 | | 3 | 17 | 4,986
Holmes's Hole | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1,349
Falmouth | 2 | 1 | | | 3 | 1,111
Provincetown | 1 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 22 | 2,792
Orleans | | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 638
Beverly | | 3 | | | 3 | 616
Salem | | 1 | | | 1 | 323
Lynn | | 1 | | | 1 | 216
Fall River | | 3 | | | 3 | 814
Warren, R.I. | 5 | 10 | | | 15 | 5,025
Newport | | 4 | | | 4 | 1,206
Providence | 1 | | | | 1 | 298
New London | 32 | 14 | 5 | 12 | 63 | 19,176
Stonington | 3 | 3 | | | 6 | 1,949
Greenport | 3 | 7 | | | 10 | 2,958
Mystic | 4 | 2 | | | 6 | 1,840
Sag Harbor | 5 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 5,252
Cold Spring | 3 | 2 | | | 5 | 2,129
San Francisco | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 2,500
---------------+--------+--------+--------+---------+--------+--------
[*] Ships reckoned at 400 tons, and barks at 300.
The whole number of vessels employed in the whale fishery
in this country, as before reported, is 670
Number of ships, 358
Number of barks, 259
Number of brigs 17
Number of schooners 46
The tonnage may be put down at 220,000.
Value of property, at $100 per ton, $20,000,000.
The number of seamen engaged in this business, allowing 30 for each
ship, 24 for a bark, 20 for a brig, and 18 for a schooner, would be
more than 20,000.
Importations of sperm and whale oil and whalebone into the United
States in 1856 are as follows:--
Sperm oil, 80,941 bbls.
Right whale oil, 197,890 bbls.
Whalebone, 2,592,700 lbs.
CHAPTER II.
The Whale.--Its Zoology.--The largest known Animal.--Sperm
Whale.--Right Whale.--Finback.--Bowhead.
The Whale is the general name of an order of animals inhabiting the
ocean, arranged in zoology under the name of _Cete_, or _Cetacae_, and
belonging to the class _Mammalia_ in the Linnaean system. This animal is
named whale from roundness, or from rolling.
"While living in part or wholly in the ocean, it differs in many
important respects from the fish tribes, and it is these peculiarities
which render it a link between the creature of the land and of the sea.
While it has the power of locomotion in the water, like other fishes,
yet in other particulars it has no affinity with them; it is as much a
mammal as the ox, or the elephant, or the horse--having warm blood,
breathing air, bringing forth living young, and suckling them with true
milk."
The whale is the largest of all known animals. Some remarks upon the
whale and its varieties will form the subject of the present chapter.
1. THE SPERM WHALE. The _Cachalot_, or _Physeter Macrocephalus._ The
principal species are the black-headed, with a dorsal fin, and the
round-headed, without a fin on the back, and with fistula in the snout.
This whale is known at a distance by the peculiarity of his "spoutings"
or "blows." He can be easily detected by whalemen, if he happens to
be in company with other species of whales. He blows the water or
vapor from his nostrils in a single column, to the height, perhaps, of
twelve feet, inclining in a forward direction in an angle of forty-five
degrees with the horizon, and visible for several miles. There is also
a wonderful regularity as to time in which he "blows"--perhaps once
in ten minutes. He remains on the surface of the water from forty-five
to sixty minutes, and under water about the same time. Unless the
whale is frightened, whalemen make quite correct calculation as to the
chances of overtaking him, or meeting him, or when he will rise to the
surface after he has "turned flukes."
When the sperm whale is near, he can be easily distinguished by the
form of his head, unlike any other variety of whale. Its head is
enormous in bulk, being fully more than one third of the whole length
of its body; and it ends like an abrupt and steep promontory, and is
so hard for several feet from its front that it is quite difficult, if
not impossible, for an iron to enter it--as impervious, indeed, to a
harpoon as a bale of cotton.
Besides, the sperm whale has a hump on his back, which distinguishes
him from others. This hump is farther forward than the fin on the
finback whale.
Sperm whales have been captured from seventy to ninety feet in
length, and from thirty to forty-five feet in circumference round the
largest part of their bodies. It is supposed by whalemen, from their
appearance, that they live, or some of them at least, to a great age.
One writer on this subject thought that the sperm whale would attain
the age of many hundred years, and even to a thousand years. This,
however, is mere conjecture, because there are no dates or facts upon
which to found a correct opinion.
Some whales have been taken having their teeth worn off level with the
gums; and then, again, in other instances, part of their teeth have
been broken off, or torn out by some violent effort.
The whole number of teeth in a sperm whale is about forty-two; they are
wholly in the lower jaw, which alone is movable, with the exception of
a natural movement of the entire head of the fish.
The teeth admirably fit into sockets in the upper jaw. When the whale
is in search for his food, or contending with his foes, he drops his
lower jaw, if he sees fit, nearly to a right angle with the under part
of his body, and then brings his jaws together with incredible energy
and quickness.
Sperm whales engage in fearful and dreadful struggles and conflicts
with each other. One was captured, a few years since, having his
lower jaw, which was more than fifteen feet long, and studded with
sharp-pointed teeth, twisted entirely around at a right angle with his
body; he was swimming in that manner when he was harpooned. This was
an instance of a most desperate encounter. Another whale was captured
having a part of his enormous jaw broken entirely off. The front and
sides of their heads, as well as their bodies, not unfrequently exhibit
deep lines or furrows produced by the teeth of some powerful antagonist.
It is supposed that, as the sperm whale advances in age, his head
not only retains its ordinary proportions, and to appearance becomes
enlarged, but the truth is, the other parts of his body, especially his
extremities, do actually diminish in bulk and circumference.
In some instances, more oil has been taken out of the head of a sperm
whale than from the other part of his body.
The principal food of the sperm whale is "squid," a molluscous animal.
"This is an animal of so curious an order as to merit a word of special
notice. The principal peculiarity of this molluscous tribe is the
possession of powerful tentacula or arms, ranged round the mouth, and
provided with suckers, which give them the power of adhering to rocks
or any other substances with surprising tenacity. Some of this tribe
attain to a great size, and, as large as the whale is, will furnish it
with no contemptible mouthful. In the gullet of one sperm whale, an arm
or tentaculum of a sea-squid was found measuring nearly twenty-seven
feet long."
Whalemen frequently discover large masses or junks of squid floating
about, probably torn in pieces by whales in their search after
food. The flesh of the squid is soft, without bones, and somewhat
transparent, like the common sunfish seen on our shores. It is said
that squid have been seen as large as an ordinary whale. This food for
the sperm whale is found in great abundance in the Pacific seas.
2. THE RIGHT WHALE. The whale having this general cognomen belongs
to the species of _Balaena Mysticetus_. There are several varieties
included in this species, as we shall hereafter observe, and which are
distinguished by whalemen both in regard to some external peculiarity
as well as the different localities where they are usually found.
The right whale differs from the sperm in the following particulars:
his head is sharper, more pointed; he has no "hump" on his back;
the column of water which he throws up when he "blows" is divided
like the tines of a fork; and it rises from his breathing holes in a
perpendicular direction from eight to twenty feet.
The right whale furnishes the bone (baleen) so much in common use, and
called "whalebone." This bone is taken from the mouth and upper jaw of
the whale, and is set along laterally, in the most exact order, several
inches apart, decreasing in length from the centre of his mouth, or the
arch of his palate, and becoming shorter farther back, while towards
the lips the bone tapers away into mere bristles, forming a loose
hanging fringe or border.
At the bottom of this row of bone, where it penetrates the gum, and
from eighteen to thirty inches downward, we find a material that
resembles coarse hair, entwining and interlacing the bone, and thus
forming a sort of network, and so thick that, when the whale closes his
lips to press out the water, the smallest kind of fish are caught in
the meshes, and are unable to escape.
Indeed, the edges of the bones, or slabs, as they might be termed, are
fringed with this coarse hair, and it extends to their extremities, as
may be seen in the rough state when landed from whale ships.
The length of the bones or slabs[I] vary in a great measure according
to the size of the fish, though some varieties of this species have
larger and better bone than others. The value of the bone is enhanced,
as a general thing, in proportion to its length.
The principal food of the right whale is a very small, red fish, called
"brit." Immense shoals of these fish are seen on whale grounds; and the
water to a great distance, even for miles, becomes colored with them.
When the whale takes his food, he throws open his lips, or lets them
fall, and, swimming with great velocity, he scoops up an infinite
number of these small fish and others that accompany them, some of them
scarcely larger than half of an ordinary sized pea; he then closes his
lips, and pressing out the water from his mouth, every particle of
solid matter is securely retained within.
"The mouth of the whale is an organ of very wonderful construction. In
a large specimen of the race, it may measure, when fully opened, about
sixteen feet long, twelve feet high, and ten feet wide--an apartment,
in truth, of very good dimensions. Notwithstanding the enormous bulk
of this creature, its throat is so narrow that it would choke upon a
morsel fitted for the deglutition of an ox. Its food, therefore, must
be, as it really is, in very small particles. Such is the wonderful
contrivance of nature, and in which we can discover an instance of
remarkable wisdom in the Creator and Provider of his creatures."
The right whale does not fight or contend with his mouth or head, as
the sperm whale does; but his means of attack and defence are chiefly
in his enormous flukes. He will, however, when struck, "root around,"
as whalemen say, and not unfrequently in this manner upset a boat.
This kind of whale, and other varieties, distinguished by the baleen or
bone, have no regular time for remaining on the surface of the water
after they "breach," nor in remaining under water after they "turn
flukes."
The length of a large right whale is about eighty feet, and some have
yielded their captors two hundred and fifty to three hundred barrels of
oil.
Such a whale would perhaps weigh not far from eighty tons. Allowing
one ox to weigh twenty-five hundred or three thousand pounds, he would
weigh down more than fifty of such animals.
And what a sublime sight it must be--and whalemen have often observed
it--to see such a prodigious living mass leaping right into the air,
clear, altogether out of the water, so that the horizon can be seen
between the fish and the ocean! These stupendous exercises and gambols
of such huge creatures are termed "breaching."
Sometimes a whale will turn its head downwards, and, moving its
tremendous tail high in the air, will lash the water with violence,
raising a cloud of vapor, and sending a loud report to the distance of
two or three miles. This is called "lobtailing" by whalemen.
The oil of this species of whale is less valuable than the sperm. The
"whalebone," which now has an advanced price in the market far beyond
any previous value attached to it, is obtained from the mouth of the
whale about in proportion of a thousand pounds to a hundred barrels of
oil.
3. THE FINBACK WHALE. This is a smooth, slim fish--smaller usually
than a right whale. He is found in nearly all latitudes. His head and
mouth are of the same construction with those of the right whale. This
whale is known by whalemen, when seen at a suitable distance, by his
"blows." The column of vapor rises in a single stream in a vertical or
perpendicular direction. This fish is termed _finback_ on account of a
fin on his back, differing in this particular from all other species of
whale. The oil obtained from him is of the same quality as the right
whale oil.
4. BOWHEAD WHALE. This whale is smooth all over, having no "bonnet
on his head," as whalemen say, and as right whales have. Their heads
differ in shape somewhat from other whales, and hence the name
_bowhead_ given to them. This species of whale, so far as known, has
never been found except in the Ochotsk Sea and Arctic Ocean.
The Greenland whale, and also the species called the _great rorqual_,
are doubtless included in the name which our whalemen give to the
bowhead.
There are several other varieties of the whale tribe, and different
names are attached to them, such as the "scragg," the "humpback," &c.;
but the foregoing are all the kinds whether of interest or profit to
whalemen.
CHAPTER III.
Whale Blubber.--Enemies of the Whale.--Affection of the Whale
for its Young.--Instances.
WHALE BLUBBER. The following furnishes a succinct statement of whale
blubber: "That structure in which the oil is, denominated blubber,
is the true skin of the animal, modified, certainly, for the purpose
of holding this fluid oil, but still being the true skin. Upon close
examination, it is found to consist of an interlacement of fibres,
crossing each other in every direction, as in common skin, but more
open in texture, to leave room for the oil. Taking as an example
that of an individual covered with an external layer of fat, we find
we can trace the true skin without any difficulty, leaving a thick
layer of cellular membrane loaded with fat, of the same nature as that
in the other parts of the body; on the contrary, in the whale, it is
altogether impossible to raise any layer of skin distinct from the rest
of the blubber, however thick it may be; and, in _flensing_ a whale the
operator removes this blubber or skin from the muscular parts beneath,
merely dividing with his spade the connecting cellular membrane.
"Such a structure as this, being firm and elastic in the highest
degree, operates like so much india rubber, possessing a density and
power of resistance which increases with the pressure. But this thick
coating of fat subserves other important uses. An inhabitant of seas
where the cold is most intense, yet warm blooded, and dependent for
existence on keeping up the animal heat, the whale is furnished in this
thick wrapper with a substance which resists the abstraction of heat
from the body as fast as it is generated, and thus is kept comfortably
warm in the fiercest polar winters. Again, the oil contained in the
cells of the skin, being superficially lighter than water, adds to
the buoyancy of the animal, and thus saves much muscular exertion in
swimming horizontally and in rising to the surface; the bones, being of
a porous or spongy texture, have a similar influence."
[Illustration: ENEMIES OF THE WHALE.]
ENEMIES OF THE WHALE. "The whales, gigantic as they are, and little
disposed to injure creatures less in bulk and power than themselves,
find, however, to their cost, in common with nobler creatures, that
harmlessness is often no defence against violence. Several species
of the voracious sharks make the whale the object of their peculiar
attacks; the arctic shark is said, with its serrated teeth, to scoop
out hemispherical pieces of flesh from the whale's body as big as a
man's head, and to proceed without any mercy until its appetite is
satiated.
"Another shark, called the thrasher, which is upwards of twelve feet
long, is said to use its muscular tail, which is nearly half its own
length, to inflict terrible slaps on the whale; though one would be apt
to imagine that if this whipping were all, the huge creature would be
more frightened than hurt."
A sperm whale was killed off the coast of Peru several years since,
whose sides were found to be greatly bruised, and portions of the
blubber were reduced nearly to a fluid state. Two thrashers probably
attacked the whale, one on one side of it, and the other on the other,
and beat him in the manner above described. This fact shows that
thrashers are not only able to injure the whale, but most likely by
repeated attacks even to kill it.
"The sword fish, in the long and bony spear that projects from its
snout, seems to be furnished with a weapon which may reasonably alarm
even the leviathan of the deep, especially as the _will_ to use his
sword, if we may believe eye witnesses, is in no wise deficient."
Thus sharks, thrashers, and sword fish, in pursuit of the whale, and
meeting him at every turn, and in all directions, must be powerful
antagonists, even with the monster of the deep; and it is not at all
unlikely but that, in the conflicts with him, they finally conquer and
destroy him.
But there is another, and, without doubt, the most powerful and
persevering enemy with which the right whale has to contend. This is
a fish about sixteen feet long, and called by his appropriate name,
"Whale Killer." A company of these fish attacking the whale will almost
surely overcome and kill him. Besides, the whale appears to be sensible
of the superiority of his enemy.
Though the whale can and does frequently elude and outstrip the
velocity of the fastest boats of the whalemen, yet, when attacked by
"killers," he seems to lose all power of resistance, and submits,
without any apparent effort to escape. The "killers," in their relish
to fight the whale, have been known to attack a dead one which whalemen
had harpooned, and were towing to the ship. And so furious and
determined were they, that notwithstanding they were lanced and cut
most dreadfully by the whalemen in order to drive them off, yet they
finally succeeded in getting the whale, and carried him to the bottom.
Old whalemen say that "killers" will eat no part of the whale but his
_tongue_. They attack him by the head, and if possible get into his
mouth and eat up his tongue. The "killers" are a remarkably active
fish, and endowed with a set of sharp teeth which may well constitute
them a powerful adversary even to the whale, and whose particular and
personal enemy they appear to be.
THE WHALE'S LOVE AND CARE FOR ITS OFFSPRING. The strong affection of
the whale towards its young has been many times witnessed by whalemen;
and yet the nature of their occupation is such, that they turn this
interesting and affecting feature of its character to a most fatal
account. They will try to strike the young one with the harpoon, and if
they effect this, are sure of the old one, for they will not leave it.
Mr. Scoresby mentions a case where a young whale was struck beside its
dam. She seized it and darted off, but the fatal line was fixed in its
body. Regardless of all that could be done to her, she remained beside
her dying offspring until she was struck again and again, and finally
perished. Sometimes, however, she becomes furious on these occasions,
and extremely dangerous.
Another writer gives the following account of a case which he witnessed
in the Atlantic. Being out with fishing boats, "we saw," says he, "a
whale with her calf playing around the coral rocks; the attention
which the dam showed to its young, and the care which she took to warn
it of danger, were truly affecting. She led it away from the boats,
swam around it, and sometimes she would embrace it with her fins, and
roll over with it in the waves. We tried to get the 'vantage ground'
by going to seaward of her, and by that means drove her into shoal
water among the rocks. Aware of the danger and impending fate of her
inexperienced offspring, she swam rapidly around it in decreasing
circles, evincing the utmost uneasiness and anxiety; but her parental
admonitions were unheeded, and it met its fate. The young one was
struck and killed, and a harpoon was fixed in the mother. Roused to
reckless fury, she flew upon one of the boats, and made her tail
descend with irresistible force upon the very centre of our boat,
cutting it in two, and killing two of the men; the survivors took to
swimming for their lives in all directions. Her subsequent motions
were alarmingly furious; but afterwards, exhausted by the quantity of
black blood which she threw up, she drew near to her calf, and died
by its side, evidently, in her last moments, more occupied with the
preservation of her young than of herself."
CHAPTER IV.
Whale Grounds.--Whaling Seasons, and where Species of Whales
are found.--Sperm Whale Grounds.--Right Whale Grounds.--
Humpbacks and Bowheads, where found.--Right Whale not crossing
the Equator.--Arctic Passage for Whales.--Maury's Opinion of
the Haunts of the Whale in the Polar Sea.--Confirmed by Dr.
Kane.--Vessels fitted for Whaling.--Several Classes.--Time
of Sailing.--Arrival at Home.--Length of Voyages.--Seasons
and between Seasons.
WHALE GROUNDS, OR PLACES WHERE WHALES MAY BE TAKEN. The following
embrace all or nearly all the prominent localities which are familiar
to whalemen as whale grounds.
The Charleston ground, Brazil Banks, Tristan de Cuna Islands, Indian
Ocean, Sooloo Sea, New Holland, New Zealand, King Mill's Group, Japan
and Japan Sea, Peru Coast, Chili Off Shore ground, California, Kodiak,
Ochotsk Sea, and Arctic Ocean.
WHALE SEASONS AND THE PLACES WHERE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF WHALE ARE
FOUND. Sperm whales are taken in the North and South Atlantic Oceans
in every month of the year. Sperm whales are taken on the coast of
Chili from November to April, and on the coast of Peru in every month
of the year. In the vicinity of the Gallipagos and King Mill's group,
sperm whales are found. On the coast of Japan, they may be taken from
April to October. They are also taken off New Zealand and Navigator's
Island, from September to May. From November to March, there is good
sperm whaling south of Java and Lombock. In June and July, sperm whales
may be found off the north-west cape of New Holland. March, April,
and May are considered good months for sperm whaling off the Bashee
Islands, but ships are obliged to leave this ground after that time,
in consequence of typhoons. From March to July, there is good ground
for sperm whaling in the Sooloo Sea, to the west of the Serengani
Islands. In the same months, sperm whales are found off Cape Rivers
and Canda, close in to the land. In the Molucca Passage, there is good
sperm whaling the year round; the best months, however, are January,
February, and March. The English whalemen have taken, in years past,
a large number of sperm whales in the Red Sea. The area over which
sperm whales roam may include the immense space of the ocean or oceans
included between the parallels of 60 deg. of latitude, on both sides of the
equator. "The sperm whale is a warm water fish," and, according to the
opinion of Maury, though it "has never been known to double the Cape of
Good Hope, he doubles Cape Horn."
_Right_ whale season off Tristan de Cuna is from November to March;
and from January to March off Crozetts and Desolation Islands. Sperm
whales are seldom seen near these islands. Right and sperm whaling
off the south coast of New Holland, from October to March. In August,
there is good ground for humpback whaling around the Rosemary Islands.
Right whales are taken in the Japan Sea from February to October, but
bowhead whales have never been seen there. Right whales are taken on
the Kodiak ground from May to September; and from March, or as early
as the sea is free from ice, until November, in the Ochotsk Sea. Right
whales are found in the _southern_ part of the sea, and _bowheads_ are
found in the _north_ and _western_ part of it at the same time. Bowhead
whales are found and captured in the Arctic Ocean as soon as the ice
breaks up, which is usually in June, until October.
The right whale is a cold water fish. It has been found by the
examination of "records kept by different ships for hundreds of
thousands of days, that the tropical regions of the ocean are to the
_right_ whale as a sea of fire, through which he cannot pass, and into
which he never enters."
It has also been supposed, that since the right whale does not cross
the torrid zone, which to him is as a belt of liquid fire through which
he cannot pass, therefore "the right whale of the northern hemisphere
is a different animal from that of the southern."
It is, however, a well-established fact, "that the same kind of whale
which is found off the shores of Greenland, in Baffin's Bay, etc.,
is also found in the North Pacific, and about Behring Straits; the
inference therefore is, that there must be an opening for the passage
of whales from one part of the Arctic Ocean to the other."
The following facts are taken from Maury's recent work on "The Physical
Geography of the Sea," and cannot fail of being interesting to
whalemen, and indeed to all classes of readers:--
"It is the custom among whalers to have their harpoons marked with
date and name of the ship; and Dr. Scoresby, in his work on 'Arctic
Voyages,' mentions several instances of whales that have been taken
near Behring's Straits side with harpoons in them bearing the stamps
of ships that were known to cruise on the Baffin's Bay side of the
American continent; and as, in one or two instances, a very short
time had elapsed between the date of capture in the Pacific and the
date when the fish must have been struck on the Atlantic side, it was
argued, therefore, that there was a _north-west_ passage by which the
whales passed from one side to the other, since the stricken animal
could not have had the harpoon in him long enough to admit of a passage
around either Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope.
"Thus the fact was approximately established that the harpooned whales
did not pass around Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope, for they were
of the class that could not cross the equator. In this way we are
furnished with circumstantial proof affording the most irrefragable
evidence that there is, at times at least, open water communication
through the Arctic Sea from one side of the continent to the other;
for it is known that the whales cannot travel under the ice for such a
great distance as is that from one side of the continent to the other.
"But this did not prove the existence of an _open_ sea there; it only
established the existence--the occasional existence, if you please--
of a channel through which whales had passed. Therefore we felt bound
to introduce other evidence before we could expect the reader to admit
our proof, and to believe with us in the existence of an open sea in
the Arctic Ocean.
"There is an under current setting from the Atlantic through Davis's
Strait into the Arctic Ocean, and there is a surface current setting
out. Observations have pointed out the existence of an under current
there, for navigators tell us of immense icebergs which they have seen
drifting rapidly to the north, and against a strong surface current.
These icebergs were high above the water, and their depth below,
supposing them to be parallelopipeds, was seven times greater than
their height above. No doubt they were drifted by a powerful under
current."
Dr. Kane reports an open sea north of the parallel of 82 deg.. To reach
it, his party crossed a barrier of ice 80 or 100 miles broad. Before
reaching this open water, he found the thermometer to show the extreme
temperature of 60 deg. below zero. Passing this ice-bound region by
traveling north, he stood on the shores of an iceless sea, extending in
an unbroken sheet of water as far as the eye could reach towards the
pole. Its waves were dashing on the beach with the swell of a boundless
ocean. The tides ebbed and flowed in it, and it is apprehended that the
tidal wave from the Atlantic can no more pass under this icy barrier to
be propagated in seas beyond, than the vibrations of a musical string
can pass with its notes a fret upon which the musician has placed his
finger.... These tides, therefore, must have been born in that cold
sea, having their cradle about the north pole. If these statements
and deductions be correct, then we infer that most, if not all, the
unexplored regions about the pole are covered with deep water; for,
were this unexpected area mostly land or shallow water, it could not
give birth to regular tides. Indeed, the existence of these tides,
with the immense flow and drift which annually take place from the
polar seas into the Atlantic, suggests many conjectures concerning the
condition of the unexplored regions.
Whalemen have always been puzzled as to the place of breeding for the
right whale. It is a cold water animal; and, following up this train of
thought, the question is prompted, Is the nursery for the great whale
in this polar sea, which has been so set about and hemmed in with a
hedge of ice that man may not trespass there? This providential economy
is still further suggestive, prompting us to ask, Whence comes the
_food_ for the young whales there? Do the teeming waters of the Gulf
Stream convey it there also, and in channels so far down in the depths
of the sea that no enemy may waylay and spoil it on the long journey?
These facts therefore lead us to the opinion that the polar sea may be
an exhaustless resource for the supply of whales for other seas, as
well as a common rendezvous for them during the intense cold of arctic
winters. Dr. Kane found the temperature of this polar sea only 36 deg.!
Vessels that are fitted out for the purpose of whaling, whether for
_sperm_ or _right_ whaling, and the time for which they are fitted, may
be classed as follows:--
1. Small vessels, principally schooners, though barks and brigs are
included, cruise in the North and South Atlantic Oceans. They are
fitted for six to eighteen months, and even two years. 2. Ships and
barks that cruise in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans are usually
fitted for two to three years. 3. Ships and barks that cruise on the
Peru coast, or Off Shore ground, are fitted for two to four years. 4.
Ochotsk Sea and Arctic Ocean whalers are fitted for two, three, and
four years. 5. New Zealand whalers, sperm and right, are fitted for
two, three, and four years.
THE TIME WHEN WHALING VESSELS SAIL TO THEIR RESPECTIVE WHALE GROUNDS.
Ships and barks fitted for the North Pacific, the Ochotsk Sea, the
Kodiak, or the Arctic Ocean, usually leave our ports in the fall of the
year, so as to make the passage of the Horn, or Cape of Good Hope, in
the southern summer; these ships will arrive at the Sandwich Islands
in March or April, remain in port a week or two, recruit, and sail to
the north. On their return from the north in October and November, and
sometimes as late as December, they usually touch at the islands again,
take in a fresh supply of provisions, it may be ship their oil home,
and sail to some other whale ground in a more southern latitude, either
for sperm or right whaling, or both, and continue this cruise until
the season comes around for them to go to the north again. The first
is called the "regular season" for whaling, and the second "between
seasons."
Ships that have completed their voyages, and intend returning home,
when they leave the Ochotsk or Arctic, generally touch at the islands,
or some other intermediate port, for recruits, and arrive on our coast
some time in the spring months, and even as early as February or March,
though not generally. The great majority of the ships sail in the
autumn, and the largest arrivals are usually in the spring.
THE LENGTH OF A WHALE VOYAGE IS DETERMINED BY THE NUMBER OF SEASONS.
One season in the Ochotsk or Arctic, including the outward and homeward
passages, consumes _one year and a half_. Two seasons at the north,
including the passages outward and home, and one "between seasons,"
require _two and a half years_. Three seasons, including the passages
and two "between seasons," will require _three and a half years_.
Sperm whalemen, who are not governed by these seasons and between
seasons, as right whalers are, are absent from home three and a half
and four years, and sometimes longer. Indeed, the success or ill
success of whalemen in obtaining oil determines essentially the length
of voyages.
CHAPTER V.
Increased Length of Whaling Voyages.--Capital.--Value of Oils
and Bone.--Value of several Classes of Whaling Vessels.--"Lay."
--Boat's Crew.--Whaleboats.--Approaching a Whale.--
Harpooning.--Whale Warp.--Danger when the Line runs out.--
Locomotive Power of the Whale.--Lancing.--Flurry.--Cutting
in.--Boiling out.--The "Case and Junk."--The Rapidity with
which Oil may be taken.
The voyages of all classes of whalemen are much longer and more tedious
now than formerly. Whales are more scarce, more easily frightened; they
change their grounds or haunts oftener; and besides, the number of
vessels engaged in their capture, in all seas, is largely increased,
compared with the number twenty years since, or even later.
[Illustration: HARPOONING A WHALE.]
More capital is now employed in this enterprise than ever before; and,
were it not for the greatly advanced prices of oils and bone beyond
what they were a few years ago,--taking into account the scarcity of
whales, the long time occupied on a voyage, the augmented expense
of fitting out ships, in the high prices of provisions and other
incidentals,--the enterprise could hardly be sustained a single year;
and certainly but a few years. Immense losses would pervade all
departments of this wide-spread system of commercial operation.
A few years since, the price of _sperm_ oil by the quantity was only
_fifty_ to _seventy-five_ cents per gallon; but now it brings _one
dollar_ and _forty cents_ per gallon by the cargo.
Right whale oil was formerly sold as low as _twenty-five_ cents per
gallon by the cargo; but now it brings in the market _seventy_ and
_eighty_ cents per gallon by the quantity.
Whalebone, which formerly was sold as low as _six cents_ per
pound,--and almost a drug at that,--in consequence of the increased
demand for it, and the various and _extraordinary_ uses to which it is
applied, now readily commands _eighty_ cents per pound.
Thus a cargo of three thousand barrels of sperm oil, at the present
market value of the article, will amount to more than one hundred and
thirty thousand dollars. A cargo of three thousand barrels of right
whale oil, including the bone, will command in the market, as their
value now is, more than ninety thousand dollars; a _ship_ of four
hundred tons burden, fitted for a whaling voyage, may be estimated
to be worth from thirty to sixty thousand dollars; a _bark_ of three
hundred tons, valued from twenty-five to forty-five thousand dollars; a
_brig_ of two hundred tons, valued from fifteen to twenty-five thousand
dollars; a _schooner_, valued from eight to twelve thousand dollars.
A vessel owned by a number of persons, or a company, is usually
divided into halves, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, thirty-seconds,
sixty-fourths, &c.
The "lay" for which an individual agrees to go on a whaling voyage,
is the proportion of oil, or its equivalent in money, according to
the current value of oil, which comes to his share at the termination
of the voyage. A short voyage and a full ship will be a profitable
enterprise. Since each and all on board know their individual lays,
all, therefore, have urgent, personal considerations to secure both for
themselves and employers the greatest quantity of oil.
The captain's lay is from one tenth to one eighteenth of all the
oil which is obtained; the first officer's, or mate's lay, from one
seventeenth to one twenty-fifth; the second officer, from one thirtieth
to one fortieth; the third mate, from one fortieth to one fiftieth; the
fourth mate, from one fiftieth to one sixtieth; four boat steerers,
each about one eightieth; "green hands," or those "before the mast,"
not far from one hundred and seventy-fifth lay.
Each whale boat, when properly _pointed_, has six men. Some ships man
five boats, others four; barks four, brigs three, and schooners two and
three.
Each vessel carries nearly double the number of whale boats which it
needs. The whale boats, which combine lightness and strength, are
always kept hanging over the sides and upon the quarters of the ship,
ready furnished for pursuit, so that, on the appearance of a whale
being announced from aloft, one or more boats can be despatched in less
than a minute.
When a boat approaches the whale sufficiently near to strike, which is
sometimes close alongside, and at other times on the top of his back,
the boat steerer, who has the forward oar, immediately "peaks" it, and
taking his position at the head of the boat, with harpoon in hand,
he hurls it with all his energy, and generally with such force and
precision, that he buries the fatal iron in the body of the whale, and
sometimes he is killed almost instantly.
"The harpoon with which the whale is first struck is a most important
weapon, made of the toughest iron, somewhat in the form of an anchor,
but brought to an edge and point. Instead of steel being employed,
as is commonly supposed, the very softest iron is chosen for this
important implement, so that it may be scraped to an edge with a
knife. A long staff is affixed to the harpoon by which it is wielded.
Connected with the harpoon there is a strong line regularly coiled in
the tub; when the whale is struck, and is disposed to dart away or dive
down to the depths of the ocean, he carries the iron sticking fast by
the barbs, while the coiled line runs out with amazing velocity. From a
tub near the stern of the boat, it passes around a loggerhead, and over
the seats of the oarsmen, to the bow of the boat, and then a sheeve or
pulley is provided, over which it passes to the whale. The friction
sometimes is so great in consequence of the rapidity with which the
line is carried out by the whale, if by accident it gets out of its
place, the bow of the boat is speedily enveloped in smoke, and would
burst into a flame provided water was not instantly applied to prevent
or allay all friction.
"It is at such a time as this, when by some slight accident the line
gets 'foul,' or, by the overturning of the boat, the warp becomes
'tangled' up with the men, many a poor sailor has been carried out of
the boat, and carried down into the depths below, and never seen after.
Such sad occurrences as these are not wholly unfamiliar with whalemen.
"As soon as the whale is struck, orders are given to 'stern all,' in
order to get out of the way of his flukes, or if he is disposed to be
frantic and run, to give him the line. Sometimes the lines of several
boats are bent on, and more than eight hundred fathoms are run out, and
yet the whale would sink the boats were not the line cut. The force
that can drag more than three thousand feet of whale warp through the
water, including a whale boat, and sometimes more than one, at the rate
of _ten_, _twelve_, and _fourteen_ miles per hour, must be tremendous.
Such is the locomotive energy of the whale. It is supposed that with
equal ease he could swim off with a ship.
"When, however, the whale becomes so exhausted, having been perhaps
harpooned by some other boats, that the warp can be hauled in, and the
boat or boats approach the whale again, the lancer, who is generally
one of the mates of the ship, exchanges places with the boat steerer,
and takes his position at the bow of the boat, with a lance ten
or twelve feet long; as soon as he comes near enough to reach him,
he thrusts the slender and fatal steel into the very vitals of the
animal; blood mixed with water is discharged from the blow holes, and
presently streams of blood alone are ejected, which frequently drench
the boats and men, and cover the sea far around. Sometimes the last
agony of the victim is marked by convulsive motions with the tail, and
violent contortions of his whole body; and, as we have seen, in its
dying moments it turns its rage towards the authors of its sufferings.
The whale is now in his 'flurry;' he dashes hither and thither, snaps
convulsively with his huge jaws, rolls over and over, coiling the line
around his body, or leaps completely out of the water. The boats are
often upset, broken into fragments, and the men wounded or drowned. The
poor animal whirls rapidly around in unconsciousness, in a portion of a
circle, rolls over on its side, and is still in death. At other times,
after it is lanced, the whale yields up its life quietly, and dies with
scarcely a struggle."
Besides harpoons, which are the most important instruments upon which
whalemen depend for capturing the whale, the harpoon gun and bomb lance
are now used for the same purpose. They are not, however, considered
as substitutes for the harpoon, except in cases of emergency, when the
whale cannot be approached by a boat, or when he manifests ugliness or
ferocity. The harpoon gun, designed to throw a harpoon, is but little
used by American ships, though quite generally among English whalers.
Nearly all of our whale ships, however, are supplied with the fatal and
destructive bomb lance. The gun, into which the lance exactly fits, is
heavier, shorter, and its barrel larger than common guns. It is loaded
with powder, in the same manner as other guns. The lance is then put
into the barrel of the gun, until one end of it comes in contact with
the charge of powder; the opposite extremity has three edges, sharp,
and tapering to a point. The entire length of the lance is about
eighteen inches. The lance is prepared with a hollow tube, extending
half or two thirds of the distance through it; and this tube is filled
with a combustible material that readily ignites when the gun is
fired. When the lance has buried itself in the huge body of the whale,
the fire communicates with the explosive part of the filling in the
tube, situated about in the centre of the lance, and in a few moments,
thirty seconds perhaps, it bursts like a bomb, and destroys the life
of the whale. The bomb lance may be fired with effect at a whale, at a
distance of about fifty yards or more.
"The huge body is now towed to the ship; a hole is cut into the blubber
near the head, into which a strong hook is inserted--a difficult and
dangerous operation. A strong tension is then applied to this hook, and
by it the blubber is hoisted up, as it is generally cut by the spades
in a spiral strip, going round and round the body, the whale being
secured alongside of the ship, and somewhat stretched by tackles both
at the head and tail. As this strip or band of blubber is pulled off,
weighing from one half to two tons, the body of course revolves, until
the stripping reaches the 'small,' when it will turn no more.
"The head, which at the commencement of the process was cut off and
secured astern, is now hoisted into a perpendicular position, the front
of the muzzle opened, and the oil dipped out of the case by a bucket
at the end of a pole." A ship has no purchase sufficiently strong to
hoist in on deck the head of a large sperm whale. It is so heavy that
it would take the masts out of her if attempted, or bring her keel out
of water. Besides, it is so bulky that it would more than fill up the
entire waist of the ship. The head sometimes contains more than fifty
barrels of oil.
After the oil has been dipped out of the "case," the "junk" is then
cut into oblong pieces and taken in on deck; the remainder of the head
and carcass are then cut adrift. The oil is afterwards extracted from
the blubber and junk, being cut into small pieces by the "mincing
knife," and exposed to the action of fire in large pots, the skinny
portions which remain serving for fuel. It should be observed that
it is usual to secure the "junk" before dipping the oil from the
"case." The "junk," which is the forward part of the head, contains
the purest spermaceti, and therefore more valuable on that account.
It is deposited in the front part of the head in a solid mass, about
the consistence of lard, and divided occasionally by a narrow layer
of "white horse," a substance resembling the cords of animals, only
harder. After passing through a "cooler," the oil is conveyed through
leathern hose to large stationary casks which constitute the bottom
tier in the hold of the ship. When whales are plenty, which is the
harvest time with whalemen, they usually stow away one hundred barrels
of oil in twenty-four hours. At such times as these, the fires in the
"try works" never go out. If whales were abundant, whalemen would fill
a ship carrying three thousand barrels in less than two months.
CHAPTER VI.
Outfitting and Infitting.--"Runners."--Remedy.--Articles of
Clothing.--Whaling Business.--Promotion.--Whale Killing.--
Dangers.--General Success of the Enterprise.
In connection with the enterprise of whaling, a system of _outfitting_
and _infitting_, as they are termed in common parlance, has sprung
up, become established, and which is now closely identified and
associated with it. This system, from its novel and somewhat singular
operation, is like the vine, which entwines itself around the huge and
gigantic oak, and thus it grows and expands according to the height
and dimensions of its support. Such is the outfitting and infitting
business in its relations to whaling.
[Illustration: CUTTING IN A WHALE.]
There are many establishments of this sort, in those places where
whaling is carried on, whose principal business is to fit out recruits
for whale ships. Hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of young men from
the country, who have a desire to go to sea, and particularly whaling,
naturally direct their steps to seaport places. There are others, also,
who compose the floating, shifting, and in many cases the vicious
class of young men, such as are found in all our large cities and
prominent seaport towns; these, as a last resort, and in keeping with
their roving and roaming habits, enlist in the whaling service. Such,
too, are generally poor, wanderers it may be from good homes, becoming
associated with bad company, and having no particular means of helping
themselves in the time of emergency; therefore they are willing to
be assisted in any way by others. Indeed, a change to them is a new
fortune.
Advertisements or handbills sent abroad from place to place,
proclaiming the want of seamen, are the measures usually adopted,
besides some others, for collecting the materials which supply, to
a considerable extent, the whaling fleet with "green hands." The
outfitters take the general charge of these men, pay their board bills
and other incidentals while in port, or before going to sea, and thus
supply agents of ships in want of seamen. Scores and hundreds are
shipped in this manner who never see the vessels in which they are to
sail until they go on board for the voyage.
The outfit is supposed to embrace such articles of clothing, as to
quality and value, which seamen need for the cruise, whether longer or
shorter, according to the time for which they are shipped. There is
scarcely one young man, unless he has had some previous information on
this point, or is otherwise familiar with the facts, who knows what he
most needs in the line of clothing for a voyage of two, three, and four
years.
The outfitter, however, is supposed to know just what the young man
needs. He is therefore provided with a sea chest, and in the chest,
his stock, or outfit of clothing, is supposed to be placed by the
outfitter, according to the amount for which the respective agents
of ships wanting men will be responsible, and for which agents will
settle with the outfitters after the sailing of their ships. Outfitters
are thus limited by agents of ships as to the amount of the bills of
clothing charged against each seaman respectively. The amounts of the
bill of goods, or outfit, authorized by an agent, and so understood by
the outfitter, will average from sixty to one hundred and twenty-five
dollars to each seaman, or some of the lower officers, as boat steerers
or fourth mates. Besides, all the expenses which the outfitter has been
at in procuring men, and while on their hands before the ship sails,
are charged in the several bills against the seamen.
After the sailing of the ship, the outfitter presents his bills to
the agent, which he has against the men whom he has furnished for the
ship, and these bills are immediately settled. Now, the amount of the
bills thus paid to the outfitter is charged by the agent of the ship to
each seaman, according to his bill of outfit, or which the outfitter
has against him. In the transfer of the bills from the outfitter to
the agent who settles them, the agent adds twenty per cent. to each
seaman's bill; and thus the seaman, by this change, becomes indebted to
the owners of the ship in which he sails.
The outfitter, however, must see his men on board of the ship before
she sails; if they are not there, or if they have taken "a land tack,"
which they sometimes do, clothes and all, the outfitter is the chief
and only loser in the affair. Special care, therefore, is taken by
the outfitter, that the chests of clothing belonging to seamen shall
accompany them when they go on board to go to sea.
Again, seamen are furnished for the whaling fleet by another method: an
agent, for example, wishes to procure a certain number of whalemen; and
for this purpose he sends to an outfitter, who secures the number that
is wanted, gives them an outfit, as before noticed, and places them on
board a day or two before the ship sails. This course is now usually
adopted with reference to ordinary seamen or green hands. Thus we see
the operation of the _outfitting_ system.
We would respectfully suggest in this connection, that in our opinion,
this method of supplying ships with "fresh hands" is one of the most
prolific sources of unhappiness, discord, and every evil work, which
not unfrequently take place between officers and crews. The very
lowest dregs of society in this way are thus placed on shipboard as
foremast hands; and among them there will be found those of desperate
characters, and prepared for every work of disturbance and crime.
The _infitting_ may be stated in the following brief manner. When a
ship arrives in port from a whaling voyage, there are individuals ready
to go on board before she approaches the wharf, or even casts anchor in
the outer harbor, whose object is to supply seamen, or those whom they
have formerly outfitted, as soon as they come ashore, with new clothes;
or, in other words, to give them a regular infit. These individuals are
called by agents, whalemen, and others, "runners," or "sharks," and
are connected with the outfitting and infitting establishments. The
seamen are soon provided with new suits of clothing from head to foot,
which they greatly need after a three or four years' voyage around the
Horn. The results of the voyage, however, if any thing shall be due to
the returned seamen at the time of settlement with the agent, are held
available to the outfitter; he looks to this source wholly, to meet
this additional bill of clothing, or infit, which he has against the
young whaleman.
If this were all upon which the "sharks" were disposed to lay their
hands, it might be construed into a virtue, perhaps, instead of a
fault. But could the history of large numbers of returned seamen,
both whalemen and others, be only partially opened and spread out
before the public eye, as it not unfrequently is, in that history we
should find scenes of temptation, dissipation, and vice, in which not
only the hard-earned fruits of years of toil, but character likewise,
reputation, and happiness, have disappeared before the voracious grasp
of those who lie in wait to destroy.
There are, doubtless, honorable and creditable men in the outfitting
and infitting business, as well as in other avocations and callings.
Such we do not mean. It is not so much the enterprise as it is the
disreputable proceedings of those who are bent on securing unrighteous
gain, and to whom, in far too many instances, alas! the unsuspecting
sailor falls an easy prey. It is persons of this description, called
"runners," or "sharks," that are not even allowed on board of some
ships when they come into port, and before the crew are discharged. The
purpose of their visits is well known, both to the officers and owners,
and therefore they are denied the liberty of coming on board.
Seamen, beware! There are shoals, quicksands, and death-pointed
rocks upon the land as well as upon the ocean! Be not led astray. Be
men, upright, honest. Shun the cup, and all the gilded and winning
blandishments that line the pathway to ruin! Husband, with becoming
interest and economy, the results of your toil. Remember that virtue,
and the fear of God, united with a conscientious discharge of your
duty, both upon the sea and upon the land, will be a sure precursor to
happiness, usefulness, and success in life. Take this course, and we
assure you, as friends to your temporal and religious welfare, you will
escape many a snare spread for your feet, into which others, with less
circumspection and watchfulness, sadly and fatally fall.
It sometimes happens, that a seaman who has been on a voyage of several
years, finds on his return that he has not made enough to pay his
outfit and infit, nor money enough in his pocket to get home to his
relatives and friends in the country. The voyage, perhaps, had been an
unsuccessful one, and he, therefore, with others, suffers a common
loss. Worthy young men experience such instances of misfortune as
these; having made little or nothing during their absence from home,
they are induced, from a sense of mortified pride, perhaps, to remain
away years longer, hoping thereby to gain during the next voyage
what they failed to secure in the last one. Thus they ship again,
and go through nearly the same routine, the second time, as they did
the first; with this exception, however, if they have given proof
of efficiency and aptitude in whaling, they will be promoted to the
position of boat steerers, and even to higher offices.
The writer on one occasion conversed with a young man, on board of one
of our outward bound whale ships, respecting his parents, the place of
his nativity, how long he had been in the whaling business, when he
left home, &c. He informed the writer that he had a widowed mother in
an adjoining state; that he returned from sea in June last, and having
made nothing, he was therefore unable to go home and see his mother.
Soon after his arrival in New Bedford he shipped again, and is now on
another cruise of three and a half years. When allusion was made to
his mother, and that in some way he ought to have gone and seen her,
the tear instantly gathered in his eye, which showed that beneath a
weather-beaten exterior there was something in his bosom which quickly
responded to the endearing name--_mother_.
The system of outfitting, to which allusion has been made, and which
might be carried on with honesty and integrity, yet nevertheless,
as all must see, furnishes an opportunity for the unprincipled and
avaricious to defraud and grossly cheat the ignorant and unsuspecting.
The following are the ways in which it may be done. 1. _In the poor and
miserable quality of cloth of which seamen's garments are made._ They
have been known to fail to pieces after being worn only a few times,
which clearly proved that the material called cloth was just strong
enough to be put into the _shape_ of clothes, and that was all. It was
poor and cheap, and the buyer of the article probably knew it; it being
for whalemen, and outfits justified the purchase. 2. _In the loose and
imperfect manner in which seamen's garments are put together._ This is
not true of all. The price paid for making is the minimum, or starving
price; and therefore the garments are made accordingly. There are two
losers by this arrangement, and one winner. The maker and buyer are
the losers, while the profit passes into the hands of the seller.
3. _In the exorbitant charges which are sometimes made for articles
of clothing in the bill of outfit._ Some astounding facts might be
mentioned illustrating this point; but we let them pass, hoping they
will never be reenacted again. Besides, instances have been known,
in which there was a sad discrepancy between the seaman's bill of
clothing, and the number of articles actually found in his chest, when
he first examined it, after the ship was got under weigh, and bound out
to sea.
It is when whalemen are beyond our coast, and around the Horn, and
their outfits have been put to some service, they find that the winds,
storms, and exposures have made sad havoc of their supposed sound and
reliable chest of clothing. The fact that they are not present, but
absent, and will be for months and years, and therefore unable to speak
for themselves, face to face, to those by whom they have been _sold_,
poorly and wretchedly justifies frauds, which may not be heard from for
months, and perhaps for years. Time, however, stereotypes, instead of
obliterating, a wrong. And still further, extravagant and unreasonable
inducements and promises held out to influence thoughtless youth to
engage in the business of whaling, are connected with the evils which
have grown out of the system of outfitting, and of which whalemen
and others have justly complained. These evils, however, if they now
exist, could be measurably removed, if agents of the respective ships
would carefully examine the bill of clothing which each seaman brings
from the outfitter, article by article, contained in his chest; or if
captains and officers should take this thing in hand after the sailing
of their ships from port, and thus ascertain from personal inspection
whether their crews have been justly dealt with as to the quality and
number of articles in their bill of outfits.
Were this course thoroughly pursued, it would put at once, we are free
to assert, a wholesome check upon any further attempts to defraud the
ignorant and unsuspecting. We may go even yet further, and say, that it
is clearly the _duty_ of agents and officers of ships to look after the
interests of inexperienced seamen who sail in their employ, and under
their command; and if they did as suggested, it would doubtless greatly
conduce to the contentment of seamen on shipboard, and likewise promote
mutual good will and understanding, in regard to the purposes of the
voyage.
It is hoped, however, there is less disposition now than formerly to
defraud the unsuspecting, either in the quality or number of articles
included in their outfit, or to deceive the ignorant by presenting to
their minds unreasonable and extravagant promises, which would never
be realized; and that honesty, which is always the best and safest
policy at all times, and under all circumstances, will henceforth be
more obviously seen in this branch of business connected with the whale
fishery.
The following is an inventory of the principal articles of clothing,
and a few incidentals, included in a young whaleman's outfit for
a voyage, of two, three, or four years. It may serve as a sort of
directory, and thus be of considerable advantage to those who would
prefer a good, substantial outfit, compared with one which may have a
name simply, but deficient in a great measure in real worth and service.
1 Monkey Jacket,
1 Reefing do.,
1 Oil Suit,
4 Pairs Thick Pants,
6 Thick Shirts,
4 Undershirts,
6 Pairs Thin Pants,
6 Thin Shirts,
4 Pairs Thick Drawers,
1 Guernsey Frock,
1 Thin Frock,
6 Pairs Shoes, good,
6 Pairs Stockings,
6 Jackknives,
1 Tin Pot,
1 Spoon,
1 Tin Pan,
1 Bed, (mattress,)
Quilt, Blanket, Pillow, &c., &c.; Razor, Strop, Soap, Needles, Thread,
Brush, &c.
The chief purpose the writer had in view in bringing together these
facts connected with the history and details of whaling, was not
only to interest the general reader, but that young men from the
country, and elsewhere, who are desirous of engaging in this branch of
employment, may know somewhat of its character and pecuniary importance
in a commercial point of view.
Men of the first business talents are enlisted in this enterprise
at home; and a more hardy, thorough-going, energetic, and generous
class of men, as captains and officers of ships, do not traverse the
ocean. That there are exceptions to this general rule, none will deny.
Capriciousness, tyranny, crossness, and inhumanity are exhibited by
some upon the sea as well as upon the land. He who cannot govern
himself is ill prepared to be the leader of others.
It may be said that whalemen are at home on the ocean. During the first
fifteen or twenty years of their service, they scarcely remain at home
with their families and friends as many months. It is no mean and
unworthy profession, but one highly honorable and creditable for any
aspirant.
Nor is the responsible position of a captain, or officer, attained
at once. Promotion comes not from the cabin windows, but in a direct
line from the forecastle. There must be a regular apprenticeship
gone through with, before one can expect to succeed in the hazardous
undertaking of capturing the monsters of the deep. It is a _trade_,
and in this regard it is far different from the merchant service.
In addition to good seamanship,--and, by the way, whalemen are
acknowledged to be among the best navigators in the world,--it is
_whale killing_, an aptitude for this particular kind of work, that
gives promise of attainment and success in the profession.
This business, then, we say, holds out many reasonable inducements
to a young man desirous of engaging in it. With a good common school
education, energetic, faithful to himself and his employers, temperate,
and withal having a purpose to be something and do something in the
world, there are but few paths to honorable respect, character,
influence, and pecuniary competence, more inviting than this.
There are trials, and peculiar ones too, in the whaling service; and in
what branch of industry are there not? But making all the allowances
for long absences from home, which, without doubt, are the greatest
deprivations of all, yet there are other considerations, which, it is
believed, counterbalance these disadvantages.
There are dangers also connected with whaling; aside from the storms
and sufferings which whalemen experience in navigating those remote
northern seas and oceans, the greatest exposure to life is doubtless
in the work of whaling. Yet, taking into the account the number of
vessels and seamen engaged in this business, the distant places visited
by them, and the character of their employment, and we venture the
assertion, that there is no department of commercial enterprise,
whether coastwise or foreign, that can present a list more free from
disaster, loss of life, or bad health among seamen, than the whaling
fleet.
While varied success attends the labors and deprivations of whalemen,
yet, on the whole, we must conclude that the enterprise is as
profitable, and furnishes as strong inducements for the investment of
capital, as almost any other.
There have been partial and individual reverses in the whaling
business, it is true, and unforeseen contingencies will ever happen;
yet this fact is most obvious and plain to be seen, that from the whole
history of whaling in this country, those seaport places in which
the business has been perseveringly carried on, will advantageously
compare with inland manufacturing and farming communities, in
enterprise, wealth, educational appliances, and in all the comforts,
and even the luxuries, of life.
CHAPTER VII.
Manufacture of Oil.
Crude oil, or oil in its natural state, is that which is obtained from
the blubber of the whale in the process of "trying out" on shipboard.
The oil, then, which is taken from whale ships and carried to the oil
manufactory, is said to be in its _crude_ state. We will speak first of
the manufacture of _crude sperm oil_.[J]
The first step in the process of manufacture, is to take the oil in its
crude state, and put it into large kettles, or boilers, and subject it
to a heat of one hundred and eighty to two hundred degrees, and then
all the water which happened to become mixed with the oil, either on
shipboard or since, will evaporate.
WINTER STRAINED SPERM OIL. In the fall, or autumn, the oil is boiled
for the purpose of granulation during the approaching cold weather.
The oil thus passes from a purely liquid into a solid state, or one in
which it is in grains, or masses.
[Illustration: BOILING OUT.]
When the temperature of the atmosphere rises, or the weather slackens
during the winter, the oil which has been frozen, but is now somewhat
softened, is shovelled out of the casks and put into strong bags
that will hold half a bushel or more, in order to be pressed. The
oil which is now obtained from this first pressing is called _winter
strained sperm oil_.
SPRING SPERM OIL. What remains in the bags after the first pressing, is
again heated by being put into boilers, after which it is baled into
casks again, and upon cooling, it becomes more compact and solid than
it was before.
During the month of April, when the temperature is about fifty degrees,
the oil becomes softened; it is then put into bags, and goes through
a second process of pressing similar to the first. The oil from this
pressing is called _spring strained sperm oil_.
TIGHT PRESSED OIL. That which is left in the bags after the second
pressing, is again melted, and put into tin pans or tubs which will
hold about forty pounds each. When this liquid is thoroughly cooled, as
each pressing makes what is left harder, in consequence of extracting
the oil, the cakes taken from the tubs are then carried into a room
heated to about ninety degrees; and as they begin to yield to the
influence of this high temperature, or the remaining oil begins to
soften the cakes, they are taken and shaved into very fine pieces, or
ground up as in some instances, deposited in bags as hitherto, and put
into the hydraulic press.
The room being at the temperature indicated above, and the bags
subjected to a powerful pressure of three hundred tons or more, all the
oil is extracted from them, and what is left is perfectly dry, free
from any oily matter, and brittle. The oil thus obtained by this last
pressing is called _tight pressed_, or _summer oil_.
SPERMACETI. What remains after the several pressings, and the removal
of all the oil, is called _stearine_, or _spermaceti_.
Spermaceti is not confined to the head matter of the whale, as some
suppose, nor does the head matter have any thing to do with the brains
of the whale, as others have falsely conjectured; but spermaceti is
found in the entire oil from the sperm whale.
It should be observed, however, that the spermaceti from the body
oil of the whale makes harder candles than the spermaceti from the
head matter; but the head oil or matter gives a greater proportion of
spermaceti, and is more valuable than that from the body oil. Besides,
the spermaceti from the head oil is quite different from that of
the body oil; the former presents fine, bright, transparent scales,
like small particles of isinglass, while the latter is more compact,
something like dough. In cooling, one exhibits a sparry, crystalline
structure, the other that of clay.
Head oil or matter is usually manufactured with the body oil of the
whale, and mixed in proportion to one third of the former to two thirds
of the latter.
SPERMACETI CANDLES. That which remains in the bags after the hydraulic
pressure is both dry and brittle. The oil, it is supposed, is wholly
extracted, and nothing now remains but the spermaceti. Its color,
however, is not white, but interspersed with grayish streaks, bordering
on the yellow.
The spermaceti is put into large boilers adapted for the purpose, and
heated to the temperature of two hundred and ten degrees. It is refined
and cleared of all foreign ingredients by the application of alkali.
Afterwards water is added, which, with a temperature of two hundred and
forty degrees, throws off the alkali in the form of vapor. The liquid
which remains is as pure and clear as the crystal water, and ready to
be made into the finest spermaceti candles.
RIGHT WHALE OIL. The manufacturing of this variety of oil is of recent
date, (within twenty-five years.) At first, in preparing it for sale,
it was taken in its crude state and "recked off," that is, simply
pumped out of the casks, and leaving the sediment behind. This kind of
oil then was as cheap as milk is now.
BLEACHING OIL. Crude oil is bleached in the first place by putting it
into large kettles, applying alkali to it in proportion of one quart of
alkali to one barrel of oil, and then heating it to a temperature of
one hundred and ten degrees. This process destroys the watery acid in
the oil.
WINTER STRAINED WHALE OIL. Whale oil, after bleaching, is made into
winter oil by exposing it in casks to cold weather, or by artificial
freezing in the summer. When frozen it is granulated, or separated into
grains, or masses, like sperm oil. At a temperature when the oil begins
to exhibit liquid particles, it is taken from the casks, and put into
double cotton strainers. The oil which comes from this straining is
called _winter strained whale oil_.
The following facts respecting winter strained whale oil may not be
wholly destitute of interest. It is found that it will endure a greater
degree of cold at the same temperature than winter pressed sperm oil;
it will burn longer, and its specific gravity is heavier; but it will
not give so brilliant a light as sperm oil.
SPRING WHALE OIL. What remains after straining the first time, goes
through the process of heating, cooling, and pressing, similar to
spring sperm oil; and thus is obtained the _spring whale oil_.
That which is left after straining and pressing is called _whale foots_.
The following are a few of the uses to which whale foots are applied.
In making an inferior kind of candles, in making some kinds of bar
soap, and likewise used on railways and in ship yards.
The _adamantine candles_ are made of spermaceti mixed with wax, in
proportion of one ounce of wax to a pound of spermaceti, and subjected
to powerful steam pressure. They are not only much harder than
spermaceti candles, and variously colored, but they command a higher
price in the market. There is a manufactory of this description in
Philadelphia.
_Oil soap_ is made from the deposit of alkali, in the process of
bleaching. If, after pressing and bleaching, the oils should retain too
dark a color, they are then bleached again. Some varieties of oil are
darker than others, which requires additional labor in this respect.
There is another method, and usually the ordinary one, by which oils
are clarified and prepared for the market. It is termed _panning_.
For this purpose, after it has been bleached, strained, or pressed, and
it does not assume the right color or shade, it is pumped into large,
leaded, superficial vats, or pans, located in a building near by, whose
side roof is wholly of glass, like a glass house, and so arranged that
both air and sun can act upon large bodies of oil in different stages
of whitening.
This process not only whitens the oil, but whatever particles or
thickness there may have been in the oil, not discernible before, is
now all removed and deposited on the bottom of the pan. The oil taken
from these pans is put into barrels or casks, and is ready for the
market.
GOVERNMENT TEST OF SPERM OIL. The lighthouses upon our seaboard, and
also upon the lakes, are furnished with the best quality of sperm oil.
Sperm oil has a standard weight established or recognized by the
government, and according as varieties fall short or go beyond this
measure, or standard, indicated by a nicely adjusted oilometer, its
true weight and value are ascertained.
Winter strained sperm oil is heavier, and burns away faster than spring
strained sperm oil, for the simple reason that the winter oil is freer
from spermaceti than the spring strained oil.
Sperm oil is tested by authority of government, when contracts are made
with the manufacturer to furnish oil for lighthouses, in the following
manner: A common tin lamp of a cylindrical form is taken, and fitted
with a wick which reaches to the bottom of the lamp. It is then filled
with oil, and kept burning until all the oil in the lamp is burned up,
and the wick so dry that not a drop of oil will fall from it.
The number of hours which a given quantity of oil will burn, is another
consideration included in determining the relative quality of oil.
MIXING OR ADULTERATING OILS. Sperm oil is the purest and best of all
varieties of whale oil, and brings the highest price in the market.
Sperm oil is frequently mixed in greater or less proportions with right
whale oil, which is an inferior kind of oil, and labelled _sperm oil_.
This is a fraud, and it is practised more extensively than people are
aware of.
The fraud may be detected if either the right whale oil or sperm oil
happens to differ in its shade or color, the one from the other. Sperm
oil is lighter than right whale oil. If sperm oil is carefully put into
a glass containing right whale oil, the former will not displace the
latter, but remain separate; and the line of separation between the two
kinds of oil, providing the color is somewhat different, may be easily
detected. The smell and taste of oil, likewise, determine whether it be
_bogus_ sperm oil or not.
But the surest and most certain test of all others, as to the quality
of oils, is by the oilometer,[K] (elaiometer.) This instrument is not
only authorized by government, and employed for the purpose of securing
genuine sperm oil, but it is used in all oil manufactories to determine
both in buying and selling the different varieties of oils.
It should be observed, however, that the mixing or adulteration of oils
is never practised by the oil manufacturer. It would be fatal to his
business if he should do it. There is no such article in an oil factory
for sale as mixed or adulterated oils. It is either sperm or otherwise.
The mixing takes place after it passes into the hands of the second,
third, and it may be the fourth purchaser, or retailer. It is believed
that but little genuine sperm oil reaches far back in the country,
except, perhaps, for the purpose of lubrication in machinery; and even
then, much of that, if tested by the proper measure, would probably be
found badly mixed with an inferior quality of oil.
Since preparing the present chapter on the manufacture of oil, the
following just remarks came under our observation, selected from
the _New Bedford Mercury_, January 16, 1857, and are worthy of the
attention of all.
"We embrace the present opportunity to offer some remarks and
suggestions in the matter of the adulteration of sperm oil, which has
been carried on to such an extent as to form one of the causes, we may
safely say, for the decline of the article in price. Like every other
commodity, it is liable to be counterfeited; and we know, after it has
passed out of the hands of importers and manufacturers, adulteration
has been practised to a wide extent. This is an evil beyond the control
of our merchants, however much they may deprecate its influence upon
the trade. To say that a system of adulteration is practised here, is
a charge which cannot be substantiated by facts; and to suppose that
the manufacturer would knowingly injure or damage his own business, is
too absurd to require refutation.... We believe it would be a wise and
judicious policy to establish agencies in different sections of the
country, with agents of known honesty and integrity, for the wholesale
and retail of the article; and that each barrel and cask bear the name
of the manufacturer as a guaranty of its purity.
"Consumers, especially those who buy for machinery purposes, would then
know where to make their purchases, and have the assurance of 'value
received.'"
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Master of the ship _South Seaman_, of New Bedford.
[B] Master of the ship _William Wirt_, of New Bedford.
[C] First officer of the ship _General Pike_, of New Bedford.
[D] First officer of the ship _William Henry_, of Fairhaven.
[E] See the Report of the New Bedford Port Society for 1857.
[F] Chambers.
[G] Macy's History of Nantucket.
[H] Christian Review, vol. xii.
[I] Average, eight feet; longest, fourteen feet.
[J] The author is indebted to Charles J. Barney, Esq., foreman of Dr.
Daniel Fisher's oil factory, in Edgartown, one of the largest, if not
the largest in the country, for the principal facts respecting the
manufacture of oil.
[K] Harris.
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Transcriber's Notes:
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
quotation marks retained and are not individually noted here.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Page 10: The list of Illustrations is incomplete.
Page 227: "beneath his feet" was misprinted as "beneath hi feet" (with
extra space where the "s" belongs); corrected here.