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Every islander knows the story of the Nantucket skipper who claimed that he could always tell where his ship was by the color and taste of the lead after sounding. Marden, his mate, on one trip determined to fool him, and for this purpose brought some dirt from a neighbor's garden in Nantucket. He woke up the skipper one morning off Cape Horn, and showed him the lead, which had been smeared with this dirt, whereupon, to quote the words of James Thomas Fields,--

"The skipper stormed and tore his hair, Hauled on his boots and roared to Marden: 'Nantucket's sunk, and here we are Right over old Marm Hackett's garden!'"

Another Nantucket captain always took to sea medicine bottles, each numbered and indexed to suit different complaints. Once his mate was ill, and, looking up the bottle to administer in his case, found that No. 13 contained the cure for his patient. Unfortunately, this bottle had all been used, so, after careful deliberation, he mixed the contents of bottles 6 and 7, which he gave the mate, who promptly died.

Early history tells us that Thomas Macy purchased the island for thirty pounds and two beaver hats, "One for myself and one for my wife," and to him therefore belongs the honor of the settlement of Nantucket; he had been driven away from Massachusetts for sheltering Quakers, which was at that time against the law, and with his friend Edward Starbuck fled to the island and established a colony composed of such well-known families as the Coffins, Husseys, Swaynes, Gardners, Chases, Folgers, and Starbucks. These men were not whalers, but they watched the Indians and learned much from them, and later on employed Ichabod Paddock to come over from Cape Cod and instruct them further.

The character of the island and its situation far out in the ocean, its poor soil, and the number of whales along its shores, all proved an inducement to the Nantucketers to follow the sea as a calling. At first, there were so many whales that they did not find it necessary to go beyond the coast; so, under the guidance of Paddock, lookouts were erected along the South shore, and each man patrolled a certain amount of territory. Each one took his share of whales killed, and business flourished. This method of whaling continued until 1712, when Christopher Hussey, while cruising along the coast, was blown out to sea. He ran across a sperm whale, which he finally killed and brought home. This year was epoch making, as this was the first sperm whale known to have been taken by Americans. The oil from this species of whale being superior to that of all others, the Nantucketers now decided to change their methods and to whale in the "deep." As the vessels steadily increased in size with greater and greater cargo-carrying capacity, voyages necessarily became longer, extending even to periods of four or five years. In fact, a voyage lasting but two years was considered unusually short. The point of view of most whalers regarding a two-year voyage is shown by the captain who, when boarding his ship, was reminded by a friend that he had not said "Good-by" to his wife,--

"Why should I?" said he; "I am only to be gone two years."

About 1730 "try-works" were built on the vessels instead of on the shore, and the oil was boiled and stowed away at sea, thus allowing the ships to make much longer voyages. At this time Nantucket owned as many whaleships as all the other ports of America combined. Whaling continued to increase, and the sterile island was turned into a prosperous community, when the Revolution came on, and for the time being practically put an end to the industry. Nantucket was the only port that carried on whaling during the war: the island simply had to whale or starve, as the inhabitants knew no other occupation. Most of their vessels were eventually captured or lost by shipwreck, and over twelve hundred of their men were either killed or made prisoners. The end of the war found the island's business hopelessly wrecked; but, with their usual pluck and determination, the Nantucketers once more built up a profitable fleet. So impoverished were they that the government for one year levied no taxes.

Immediately after the war, the ship "Bedford," one of the Rotch vessels, was loaded with oil, and sent to England under command of Captain Mooers. This was the first vessel to display the American flag in a British port. It is related that one of the crew of the ship was hunchbacked, and when on shore one day a British sailor clapped his hand on his shoulder, and said, "Hello, Jack, what have you got here?" "Bunker Hill, and be d--d to you," replied the Yankee.

The redoubtable Nantucketers resumed their whaling at the close of the Revolution, and their energy and skill were again yielding rich profits when the War of 1812 almost annihilated the island's fleet. But as it was another case of whale or starve, Nantucket continued to send out a few whalers, and was the only American port during the war that dared to brave the risks of British capture.

About this time, in one of the Pacific ports, an incident occurred which showed in an amusing light the ready wit and intrepid courage of an American whaleman. He had in some way displeased an English naval officer, who, feeling himself highly insulted, promptly challenged the Yankee, who accepted and, being the challenged party, had the choice of weapons. He selected, of course, the weapon with which he was most skilful and took his stand with a poised harpoon. It had altogether too dangerous an appearance for the irate Englishman, particularly as the whaleman was evidently an expert in the manual of thrust and parry, and so with as good grace as he could command, the Englishman withdrew from the fight.

At a very early day in the fishery, whaling vessels, which were at first long rowboats and later small sloops, began to increase in size, and about 1820 ships of three hundred tons were found profitable. The increase in profit producing capacity, strange as it may appear, actually sounded the death-knell of the Nantucket whaling, for across the mouth of the harbour ran a bar, over which it soon became impossible for whaling vessels of large size to pass. The difficulty was for a time overcome by the true Yankee ingenuity of some inventive Nantucketer, who devised the "camel," a veritable dry-dock barge in which the larger whaleships, lightened often of oil and bone, were floated over the bar into the forest of masts which in those days characterized a harbour now frequented only by a few schooners and sloops, the small pleasure crafts of the summer residents, and an occasional steamer.

As whaleships still continued to increase in size, the "camel" expedient was only a temporary success; for the time came when vessels were of too great tonnage to be thus floated over the bar, and the daring and skilful Nantucketer, who had taught the civilized world not only how, but where, to whale, had to admit defeat and gradually give up the industry to more fortunately situated ports. At this time, about 1830, Nantucket was commercially the third largest city in Massachusetts, Boston being first and Salem second.

In 1843 Nantucket owned its record number of ships, eighty-eight. In 1846, which is referred to as the "boom" year in American whaling, sixteen vessels cleared from Nantucket and sixty-nine from her near-by rival--New Bedford. In 1869 Nantucket sent her last ship and disappeared from the list of whaling ports. The great fire of 1846 also contributed to the downfall of the industry.

A new era in whaling was to be born, with New Bedford as the centre, and Nantucket was to become only a health resort and mecca for sight-seers, more than ten thousand persons visiting the island in 1914.

NEW BEDFORD

New Bedford undoubtedly owed its whaling success to its proximity to Nantucket, to its wonderful harbour, and to the honesty, thrift, and good business ability of its citizens, most of whom were Quakers.

As in Nantucket, the whole city lived to go whaling, and as each inhabitant made more money, he moved his residence higher up on the Hill. It is said that there was an inn called the "Crossed Harpoons," and another called "Spouter Inn," and there is a Whaleman's Chapel on Johnny Cake Hill where regular Sunday services were held, at which the following hymn was always sung by the congregation:--

"The ribs and terrors of the whale Arched over me in dismal gloom, While all God's sun-lit waves rolled by And left me deepening down to doom.

"I saw the opening maw of hell, With endless pains and sorrows there; Which none but they that feel can tell-- Oh, I was plunging to despair--

"In black distress I called to God, When I could scarce believe him mine, He bowed his ear to my complaints-- No more the whale did me confine."

It is a curious fact that three Morgans not long ago married three Rotchs, three Rotchs married three Rodmans, and three Rodmans married three Motleys. Among other well-known New Bedford whaling families are the Hathaways, Swifts, Howlands, Morgans, Stones, Delanos, Rodmans, Seaburys, Giffords, Tabers, Grinnells, and Wings.

Whaling was a tremendous financial gamble, and until a vessel came home "clean" or "greasy," meaning empty or full, the success of the voyage was not known. They tell a story of a New Bedford captain who had been out for nearly four years, and as he came up to the wharf the owners asked him what luck he had had. His reply was, "I didn't get any whales, but I had a damn good sail." There is another tale of a seaman whose vessel left New Bedford on the day of his mother's funeral. Naturally he set sail with a heavy heart, and during his three years' cruise he thought many times of his sorrowful father at home. As the ship neared the docks he was met by his father with "Hurry up, Jim, I want to introduce you to your new mother." There were many changes at home during a long cruise, and sometimes even the fashions had entirely changed. One whaleship captain described his surprise at seeing for the first time the crinoline or hoop skirt.

The real founder of New Bedford, and the pioneer of the whale fishery at this port, was Joseph Russell, who sent his ships out in 1765. Several years later the first ship was launched and was called the "Dartmouth," and this vessel is well known to history owing to the fact that she was one of the ships that carried into Boston Harbour the tea that was thrown overboard. The whaling industry increased steadily, except during the wars, until 1857, when the New Bedford fleet numbered three hundred and twenty-nine vessels, was valued at over twelve million dollars, and employed over twelve thousand seamen. If these vessels had been strung out in line, they would have stretched over ten miles. In addition to these sailors, thousands of others were employed at home making casks, irons, ropes, and many other articles used in whaling. In fact, it was often stated that the population was divided into three parts,--those away on a voyage, those returning, and those getting ready for the next trip.

There were many nationalities represented in the crews of the whalers, and the New Bedford streets presented a very foreign appearance, with Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegians, Germans, French, English, Scotch, Irish, Sandwich Islanders, and New Englanders at every turn. A large number of Portuguese served on whaleships, and a part of the city near the south end of Water Street became known as Fayal.

The "Golden Age," as it is called, of whaling was between 1825 and 1860, and during the whole of this period New Bedford assumed the lead, even long after other ports had given up the pursuit. It is estimated that about the year 1848 there were over seventy millions invested in the industry and seventy thousand persons derived from it their subsistence.

It is an interesting fact that the insurance on American whalemen was about one-half the rate that was charged the Englishman, which certainly showed the superiority of our Yankee seamen. There were several whaling insurance companies in New Bedford. There is a story told of a New Bedford ship owner who had just heard that his vessel had gone down and he hadn't yet received the insurance policy from the company. He sent a letter down to the office which read as follows: "I have heard from my ship and thee need not place the insurance." Of course, the policy was sent up immediately.

The New Bedford whalers explored new grounds, and to this fact chiefly is due the continued prosperity of its whale fishery, but it was to die slowly; in 1875 the fleet from this port had declined to 116 vessels, in 1886 to 77 ships, and in 1906 to 24.

One of the chief historical events of New Bedford happened in 1861, when the famous Stone Fleet sailed from that port. The United States government decided to purchase some old ships and sink them in the channels of the harbours of Charleston and Savannah, to prevent blockade running during the war. H. Bartlett & Sons supervised their purchase and Captain Rodolphus N. Swift was the general agent. Bartlett purchased some of the old whalers for as small a price as thirty-one hundred and fifty dollars, some of them having more cement than wood in their hulls. To James Duddy, a teamster, fell the task of supplying the seventy-five hundred tons of stones with which to fill the vessels, and many a New Bedford stone wall now lies at the bottom of some of our Southern harbours. Captain Rodney French, an old "slaver," who afterwards became Mayor of New Bedford, was selected as commander of the fleet, and on Thanksgiving Day most of New Bedford assembled on the wharves and saw fifteen of her once famous fleet, which had for years been the homes of its seamen, sail forth never to return. It must have been a very sad day for the city, and it may be said that this event marked the beginning of the decline of the industry at New Bedford.

One captain insisted upon washing the decks of his ship every morning, using pulverized stones instead of sand, and another, to give the fleet a warlike appearance, mounted a formidable "Quaker" gun, made from a section of a spar.

A second fleet sailed later in the year, making forty-five vessels in all. Although the expedition cost the government about a quarter of a million dollars, its success was only temporary. The captain of the "Alabama" swore vengeance on New Bedford and destroyed or captured every whaler he could find, and in the "Alabama" awards that were made after the war New Bedford received a large share.

Ten years later occurred the worst disaster that ever befell a whaling fleet. Thirty-four whalers were caught in the ice in the Arctic regions and sunk, and it is a curious fact that, while the loss reached one million five hundred thousand dollars, not a single human life was sacrificed. These three pictures of a series of five on the following page show the sinking of the ships, the abandonment of their vessels, which had their flags union down, and the eighty-mile sail through the ice-floes to the open sea, where twelve hundred and nineteen men, women, and children were taken home in the seven whalers that had not been lost in the ice. It must have been very crowded, as each ship had to stow away several hundred persons in addition to her own crew. There were many sad hearts as they left their vessels and almost all of their belongings, and started off in the small boats. The trip to sea and the trans-shipment in the heavy swell must have been made with the utmost care, otherwise many lives would have been sacrificed. The loss to the New Bedford owners was so tremendous that they never really recovered from the catastrophe, and many families had to economize for years after. The Swifts, Howlands, and Rotchs were among those who lost ships.

On one of the vessels in the first picture of this series was a large quantity of the finest Manila cigars and also some rare Madeira wine, that had been picked up in the Philippines the year before on instructions from the ship's owner. When the captain of this vessel reached New Bedford and reported the loss of his command, the owner's first question, after listening to the dismal tale, was whether his cigars and wine had been saved. "All of it," came the reply. "Where is it?" said the owner, looking more cheerful. "Well, you see, I drank the wine and Mr. Jones, the mate, he smoked the cigars, and they certainly done us both good," replied the captain.

The ship "Progress," shown in the last picture, forms an interesting connecting link between the Stone Fleet and this 1871 disaster.

Under the name of the "Charles Phelps" she whaled from Stonington, Conn., for a number of years and finally was purchased for the Stone Fleet. She was found to be in such good condition that the government decided not to sink her, and she returned to New Bedford and was sold; and it was this same vessel that took part in the rescue of the twelve hundred and nineteen shipwrecked people ten years later. In 1893 she was fitted out as if for a whaling voyage and towed by way of the St. Lawrence River to Chicago, where she was exhibited at the Fair, and now lies rotting on the sands of the lake at South Chicago. No other whaler ever had so interesting and varied a history.

The year after this Arctic disaster found the fleet again in the Arctic, and the "Minerva," one of the ships left at Point Belcher, was discovered and found to be in good condition; the others had sunk. One lone person was found who had remained on board his ship for the whole year, and his sufferings had been fearful. The natives had stolen all the whalebone and oil from the sinking vessels, and when some of the same shipwrecked captains arrived the next year the Esquimaux tried to sell them back their own property, and one native was using one of the chronometer cases as a dinner pot in which to boil his blubber. The "Minerva" was manned and sailed to New Bedford and continued in the whaling industry.

New Bedford ships suffered severely during the Rebellion, but later new ones were added to the fleet and business again prospered. Lack of space prevents enumerating the achievements of American whalers during the Civil War. Captain William P. Randall, however, will go down in history as a hero of this war; he was brought up on a whaleship and later served in the navy.

Captain Frederick Fish, father of Frederick P. Fish and Charles H. Fish, of Boston, was one of the best known and most respected of the whaling captains sailing out of New Bedford. He commanded the "Montreal" and the "Columbus" when only twenty-two years old, made nine voyages round the world, and was one of the most successful whalers of his day. Once when near the Sandwich Islands his vessel happened to anchor very close to an English ship, and Captain Fish noticed that every evening at sunset the English commander, while at anchor, set all sails and then furled them again in order to show how quickly this work could be performed. After a few evenings Captain Fish ordered his crew to do the same, and the time consumed was so much less that the next evening the Englishman decided he did not care to go through the performance; in fact, he never tried to show off again in that port.

There is also another amusing story told about Captain Fish. His ship at one port took on a great many chickens, which were used for food, and finally one of the crew rebelled and informed the captain that he had eaten enough hen. He was immediately ordered out on a yard-arm and was made to crow like a rooster for such a long time that when he was again allowed on deck, he had a most excellent appetite for another chicken dinner. Captain Fish delighted in telling of the time when he took a local pilot on board somewhere in the Pacific to conduct his vessel into port. He asked the navigator if he were sure of his course, and received a prompt and decisive answer in the affirmative. Presently, to the disgust of the captain, the vessel touched. The next question put to the pilot was whether or not he could swim, and finding that he could, Captain Fish ordered his crew to throw him overboard. This was done, and, the distance being short, the swimmer made the land, and the captain himself took his vessel in the rest of the way.

Captain Fish was an excellent story teller, and another yarn has been handed down in connection with one of his trips. The voyage had been very unsuccessful, and as he was looking over his chart he tossed his dividers down in a disgruntled manner, and by accident they chanced to stick in the chart. He then conceived the novel idea of sailing to the very place where his instrument happened to land, and curiously enough he was rewarded by a very large catch.

Once when one of his whaleboats had been overturned by a fighting whale he hurried to the assistance of the crew, who were struggling in the water, and to his amazement found two of them squabbling over the ownership of a pair of old shoes, instead of thinking about saving their lives. It is a curious fact that he never learned to swim, and often saved his life when capsized by grabbing some floating d?bris. His nerve and courage were remarkable, and it is related that even on his death-bed he told the doctor an amusing story.

This picture of New Bedford in 1808 is most interesting. The oil market shed on the right-hand side of the street was built in 1795 by Barnabas Russell for his son Joseph, and the last building shown on the right of the picture was the mansion of William Rotch, Sr., and the first estate in the village at that time. This Rotch was the son of Joseph Rotch, one of New Bedford's earliest whalers, and he himself is represented in his old chaise, the only private carriage then in the town. He is negotiating for a load of hay, and from all accounts he must have been a keen business man, for he was often seen going to market so early that he had to use a lantern. All the other figures in this picture also are intended to represent well-known citizens of the time. The two men shaking hands are Captain Crocker and Samuel Rodman; the latter, who was the son-in-law of William Rotch, had the reputation of being the best dressed man in New Bedford in his day. One of the boys harnessed to the small cart is the Hon. George Howland, Jr., great-uncle of Llewellyn Howland. H. H. Hathaway, Jr., and Thomas S. Hathaway have three ancestors in the picture.

OTHER NEW ENGLAND WHALING PORTS

Rhode Island pursued whales in 1731, Newport and Providence being the two most successful ports. Fifty ships were owned by Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1775. Massachusetts owned over three hundred at this time. Rhode Island was more of a "slave" than a whaling State. New London became a great whaling port in 1846, and was the third in importance in New England.

The people of Cape Cod began sending ships to sea about 1726, and a few years later a dozen or so vessels were fitted out at Provincetown. Boston claimed twenty whaleships in 1775, and registered from one to eleven vessels almost every year until 1903, since which date no whaleship has been recorded from this port. Gloucester turned to whaling in 1833.

The following figures show the different whaling ports in Massachusetts and the largest number of vessels enrolled in any one year in each. New Bedford, of course, held first place with 329 in 1857, with Nantucket 88 in 1843, Provincetown claimed 54 in 1869; Fairhaven 50 in 1848 to 1852; Edgartown and Mattapoisett owned 19 each; Salem had 14 in 1840; Boston 11 in 1868; Dartmouth, 10; Plymouth, 9; Falmouth, 8; Wareham, Fall River, and Marion, 7 each; Beverly, Holmes' Hole, Orleans, 5 each; Lynn, 4; Newburyport, 3; Gloucester, Dorchester, and Sandwich, 2 each; and the following claimed 1: Braintree, Hingham, Marblehead, Barnstable, Duxbury, Quincy, Truro, Yarmouth, and Wellfleet. Of the Rhode Island towns Warren owned 25; Newport, 12; Bristol, 10; Providence, 9. Connecticut towns that owned whalers were New London, 70; Stonington, 27; Mystic, 18; and a few scattered among half a dozen other places. Portsmouth, N.H., at one time owned two vessels, and between the years 1835 to 1845 Bath, Bucksport, Portland, and Wiscasset in Maine each had one. Massachusetts, however, could claim five-sixths of the total fleet.

A few words must be said in praise of Samuel Mulford of Long Island. Governor Hunter of New York claimed for his State a share of all whales caught, whereupon Mulford waged war against this act in every possible way. Finally he sailed to London and put his case before the Crown. The people in London were much amused at his country clothes, and the pickpockets in particular became a nuisance to him in the streets. Mulford, however, showed his resourcefulness by sewing fish hooks in his pockets and succeeded in capturing the thief. Another incident shows the ingenuity of the whaleman. The ship "Syren" was attacked by a horde of murderous savages, and the crew of the ship would, doubtless, have been murdered had it not been for a quick stratagem of the mate. He remembered a package of tacks in the cabin and yelled, "Break out the carpet tacks and sow 'em over the deck." The natives, yelling with pain, jumped headlong into the sea, and the ship was saved.

The world owes many discoveries to the energy and determination of whaleship captains. Over four hundred islands in the Pacific were discovered and named by American whalemen, and the history of New Zealand is closely connected with the visits of New England whalers. Australia, too, was opened to the world by the whalemen.

It was to a certain extent due to the testimony of Captain Bryant, a whale captain of Mattapoisett, that Alaska was purchased by the United States government. That there was a northwest passage was also discovered by American whalemen in this way: the date and name of a ship were always marked on its harpoons, and in several instances whales were captured in the Pacific by ships that were known to have been cruising not long before in the Atlantic. It was Captain Timothy Folger, of Nantucket, who charted the Gulf Stream at the request of Benjamin Franklin, to whom he was related, and this drawing was engraved on an old chart and preserved in London. In this way English mariners discovered how to avoid the swift current and thereby gain much time. Our seamen in the early days were not very kindly treated by the Japanese, but, finally, several whalemen secured their good will by teaching them English. This encouraged the American government to send out Commodore Perry's expedition, which succeeded in making our first treaty with Japan, thus opening that country to Western civilization.

It was difficult to make discoveries ahead of our whalemen. In 1834 two Russian discovery ships approached a forlorn little island in the Antarctic Ocean and the commander was about to take possession in the name of his Czar. There was a dense fog at the time, but when it cleared away they were very much surprised and vexed to see a little Connecticut ship at anchor between their two vessels. The name of this whaler was the "Hero" of Stonington, captained by Nathaniel B. Palmer, who was only twenty-one years of age and was just returning from his discovery of the Antarctic Continent. The Russian commander was so impressed by the achievement of this youthful captain that he cheerfully acquiesced in naming the place Palmer's Land. This name has since been changed to Graham Land. It is an undisputed fact that the whalers prepared the way for the missionaries.

ABOARD A "BLUBBER HUNTER"

Nothing can be more romantic than to be attending a clam-bake on Mishaum Point or Barney's Joy and to see a whaleship, or "blubber hunter" as she is often termed, round the point and start to sea. It is with quite different feelings that one peers down into her forecastle, which is often referred to as the Black Hole of Calcutta. This room, which is the home of thirty to forty men for three or four years, is reached by a perpendicular ladder through a small hatchway, which is the only means of ventilation. The bunks are in tiers and are about the size of a coffin, so narrow that it has often been said that one has to get out of them in order to turn over. A small table in the centre of this "hole" and the seamen's chests lashed to the floor comprise all the furnishings, except possibly a few bottles of rum, which were often labelled "camphor." In fact, one might speak of the dis-accommodations of the forecastle, and it is no wonder that a cruise in a whaler is often spoken of as a "sailor's horror." The odor of grease, dirt, oil, and lack of air are unbearable except to one thoroughly accustomed to a whaling trip, and sailors often say that this attractive place should not be approached without a clothespin on one's nose. The utensils comprised a few tin plates and a bucket of water, with one cup for the use of every one. The food consisted of "longlick" and "scouse," the former made of tea, coffee, and molasses, and the latter of hardtack, beans, and meat. It is not difficult to see, therefore, why most of the captains anchored their ships well out beyond the harbour, so as to prevent desertions after the novice seaman had glanced at his sleeping quarters. There have been cases of sailors jumping overboard on the chance of reaching land, and it is on record that the greater part of a whaleship's crew once floated to shore on the cover of the try-works. A captain was very careful where he allowed his men to land, and, in case he was afraid of desertions, took care to allow them shore leave only at places where the natives were troublesome, or where for a ten-dollar bill he knew he could get the whole crew returned to him.

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