*****
Four or five days after, the two ships above mentioned, with some others, put into East Cape. The natives came off in their canoes, as usual, to trade.
Captain Norton, with several masters of ships, went ashore, and visited the settlement where he and his men had lived, and called for dinner at one of the huts. His object was that his friends might have some idea of the manner of cooking, as well as the articles of food, among the natives, and how they prepared dinner.
The sight was enough for Captain Jernegan, who left the hut as soon as possible, while his stomach sought to relieve itself by several involuntary throws!
Captain Norton made some little presents to the natives in consideration of their interest in him and his men during their abode with them. He collected various articles from the ships,—such as needles, combs, tobacco, pipes, &c.,—and distributed them among the boys, girls, fathers, and mothers. They were delighted with these unexpected gifts, and expressed their joy in a great many fantastic ways.
The next morning, a violent blow came on, and the Niger was obliged to take her anchor, and go to sea. Several ships parted their chains. The captain remained on board of the Niger most of the season, when an opportunity occurred for him to take passage in the ship Helen Augusta, Captain Fales, bound to the islands. This he did, and arrived at Honolulu on the 5th of October, 1853.
The officers and crew of the Citizen were distributed among the ships in the fleet as their services were needed.
The report of the disaster of the Citizen, and the rescue of her crew, preceded him, and had already reached the islands before Captain Norton's arrival.
The news was brought by a ship which left the Arctic about the middle of the whale season, and touched at San Francisco, and from thence was sent to the islands and to the Atlantic states, to New Bedford, and Edgartown.
A few weeks after the captain's arrival, eighteen of his former crew had come along in differentships, and were well cared for, as shipwrecked seamen, by the American consul at Honolulu. Not long after, the officers, and all the crew with the exception of two, had arrived at the islands.
It is proper here to state the readiness with which aid was proffered in supplying the necessary wants of the destitute among our number. The shipwreck and nine months in the Arctic had left some of our companions absolutely destitute; and when they arrived at the islands, after more than a year's absence at the north, they had but little, if any thing more than in what they stood, or what they had on.
There were not wanting, however, kind friends, willing minds, and generous hearts at the islands, both among the citizens of the place and officers of ships in port, who cheerfully rendered immediate aid to the needy and destitute.
The followingCardwas published inThe PolynesianNovember 19, 1853:—
"Captain Thomas H. Norton, late of the whaleship Citizen, of New Bedford, wrecked in the Arctic Ocean September 25, 1852, returns his thanks to Captain Goosman, of the ship Joseph Hayden, for relief afforded himself and men, in taking them off East Cape, andproviding them with necessaries when they were destitute."Captain N. would also return his thanks to Captain Fales, of the Helen Augusta, Captains Jernegan, Tilton, Pierce, and Gardner, for many acts of kindness and relief afforded himself and crew.Thos. H. Norton.Nov. 17, 1853."
"Captain Thomas H. Norton, late of the whaleship Citizen, of New Bedford, wrecked in the Arctic Ocean September 25, 1852, returns his thanks to Captain Goosman, of the ship Joseph Hayden, for relief afforded himself and men, in taking them off East Cape, andproviding them with necessaries when they were destitute.
"Captain N. would also return his thanks to Captain Fales, of the Helen Augusta, Captains Jernegan, Tilton, Pierce, and Gardner, for many acts of kindness and relief afforded himself and crew.
Thos. H. Norton.
Nov. 17, 1853."
Having disposed of some oil and provisions which were stored at Hilo, Captain Norton now turned his face towards home, and engaged a passage in the ship Harriet Hoxie, Captain M. Passages, however, were freely and cordially offered to him in other ships.
Before the sailing of the ship, Captain Stott, of the ship Northern Light, proposed to Captain Norton to take his ship for another season, as he himself did not wish to go in her the third season to the north.
Captain Norton had made up his mind, and felt anxious to return home to his family and friends, and reluctant to remain away any longer, since his life had been spared amid so many scenes of trial and suffering through which he had passed.
Upon further reflection, however, CaptainNorton changed his purpose; and the terms which he named to Captain Stott being accepted, he concluded he would try his success in the Northern Light, and, if possible, retrieve his past misfortune.
A Whaling Community.—Interest felt for absent Ones.—The first Intelligence from the Whaling Fleet.—California Mail.—Further News from the Islands.—"Missing Ships."—No Report of the Citizen.—No Letters.—Fears as to her Safety.—When last spoken with.—Either lost or frozen up in the Arctic.—Supposed Fate of Officers and Crew.—Distressing Suspense.—Hoping against Hope.—Prayer answered.—The first Intelligence from the Citizen.—Joy in Families.—Captain Norton's Arrival at Home, and subsequently the Arrival of his Officers, belonging to this Place.
A Whaling Community.—Interest felt for absent Ones.—The first Intelligence from the Whaling Fleet.—California Mail.—Further News from the Islands.—"Missing Ships."—No Report of the Citizen.—No Letters.—Fears as to her Safety.—When last spoken with.—Either lost or frozen up in the Arctic.—Supposed Fate of Officers and Crew.—Distressing Suspense.—Hoping against Hope.—Prayer answered.—The first Intelligence from the Citizen.—Joy in Families.—Captain Norton's Arrival at Home, and subsequently the Arrival of his Officers, belonging to this Place.
In a community like ours, in which the chief and principal occupation of the male portion of it is in the whale fishery, there is scarcely a family, and perhaps not one, but has some near or more remote relative absent at sea. It is, therefore, by no means surprising that more than ordinary interest should be felt and manifested in behalf of those who "do business upon the great waters."
In some towns upon the seaboard, the inhabitants are engaged in other kinds of fishery, such as the cod and mackerel fishery; but from the port of Edgartown not a solitary vessel of this description sails. It is wholly whaling, withbut few exceptions in case of those who are engaged in the merchant or freighting service, and they sail from other ports.
As a general thing, the boys and young men contemplate whaling as chiefly worthy of their emulation and pursuit. It is identified with their first impressions; and subsequent years only tend to deepen those impressions, and ripen them into irrepressible desire and relish for the whaling business.
A very large proportion of captains and officers belonging to this place and other parts of the island sail in ships owned principally both in New Bedford and Fairhaven. Indeed, they have contributed in no small degree to the commercial prosperity of those places. It is worthy of remark, however, in passing, just to state that the number of vessels connected with the business of whaling, belonging to this place, has doubled within four years. This shows an active spirit of enterprise which we trust will be largely increased in coming years.
The first partial intelligence from the northern whaling fleet usually arrives at home ports some time in the month of October. The early arrival of a ship at the islands, or at some port on the Pacific, from the whale ground, furnishes this report as to the general success of whalemenabout the middle of the season—whether the "catch" has been good or moderate, very good or deficient. A few scattering letters are also brought by this early means of conveyance, which, being deposited in the mail, soon find their way across the isthmus, into the hands of relatives and friends at home.
About this time, solicitude begins to be apparent in the inquiries made respecting absent husbands, sons, relatives, and townsmen, as to the probable results of the "whale season," how the ships have done, and the health and lives of those who are abroad.
Every California mail will, therefore, for months to come, be looked for with increasing interest, because it may be the bearer either of joy or sorrow to many hearts and family circles.
In the month of November, still further intelligence is received from the whaling fleet; previous reports are corrected, and additional ones are given. The first section of the fleet has already arrived at the islands.
In the months of December and January, the mail brings still additional news, and more correct than hitherto. The great majority of the ships that intended to touch at the islands on their return from the north are reported at thistime. The ordinary vehicles of public intelligence—newspapers and letters, both from the islands and from the Pacific coast—unite in announcing the grand rendezvous or arrival of northern whalemen.
If, now, there should be ships not included in the late report, and from which no recent letters have been received either by owners or relatives, and those ships not having been spoken with by others, they are specially marked as "missing ships," and serious apprehensions begin to be entertained lest some disaster may have befallen them.
The mail in February or March is supposed to bring from the islands and intermediate ports all the reliable information respecting those ships that have arrived during the last four months. Therefore a ship not reported now must have either gone to some other port, or never left the northern seas, or been wrecked and lost.
This was the case with the ship Citizen. There was no account of her arrival at the islands, agreeably to the intention of Captain Norton on his return from the Arctic; his friends at home, therefore, looked for the report of his arrival, if not among the first, certainly among the last.
Besides, there were neither letters from him orhis officers, none to relatives, none to the owners of the ship. Other families had heard from absent ones, and were made to rejoice; those interested in the fate of the Citizen, however, were filled with sadness and sorrow.
The absence of letters was ominous of something fearful and distressing. Captain Clough spoke with Captain Norton on the 23d of September, in the Arctic Ocean, lat. 68° or 69° N.; and this was the last and only intelligence from the missing ship. This occurred, as it appeared, only two days before the wreck of the Citizen. Not having arrived at the islands, nor reported from any other place, the conclusion to which all came was at once reasonable and just—either that the ship was frozen up in the Arctic, or cast away on the coast, and her officers and crew, if living, among the natives.
Reflections of this sort gave confirmation to the worst of fears, and wrought in the minds of relatives and friends, and the community at large, an alternation of some slight hope, on the one hand, that they might after all be safe, and, on the other, the distressing fear that they had completed their last voyage on earth, or perhaps were lingering out a miserable existence amid the rigors of an arctic winter.
How little there was upon which to build afavorable hope! How weak and superficial the foundation which engrossing and prevailing apprehensions would not instantly sweep away and scatter to the winds! Indeed, whatever conclusions might have been drawn respecting the fate of the Citizen, her officers, and crew, how small encouragement there was in the whole field of imaginary probabilities in their favor, to relieve the minds of those at home from the constantly pressing weight of corroding anxiety and distressing solicitude respecting them!
Uncertainty and suspense with regard to an important event is one of the most trying states of mind in which an individual can be placed. How true this is when the life of some friend appears to be suspended upon the slightest possible contingency! Now indications seem auspicious and hopeful; then, again, adverse and threatening symptoms dissipate every cherished anticipation.
Instances have been recorded in which those who were shipwrecked and threatened with instant death on every side, while the prospect of deliverance was exceedingly small or absolutely cut off, have even desired the approaching crisis, however decisive it might be, whether of life or death, as far less distressing than the dreadful suspense which for hours, and even days, hung over them.
For years, until all hope has at length been abandoned, the civilized world, and especially the commercial part of it, was in a state of profound suspense respecting the fate of Sir John Franklin and his companions, entombed in the Arctic. How much sympathy there was felt and expressed for the distinguished lady of the explorer, who was unwilling to withhold any reasonable and even extraordinary efforts for his deliverance while the faintest color of encouragement existed in his favor! Wealth was poured out like water; and strong, self-denying, adventurous men started up and volunteered their services to traverse again the inhospitable regions of the north; peradventure they might find some traces of the explorers, whether living or dead. Through scores of months of hope and fear, distracting anxiety and painful apprehensions, she suffered for her husband a thousand times more than the certainty which his death would have caused.
It was precisely this state of mind which excited and agitated many families in Edgartown in relation to the uncertainty which surrounded the fate of the Citizen and those who sailed in her.
There was a remote, and yet very slender clinging to a bare possibility that they might beamong the living; but at the same time, as if to extinguish every spark of hope, the imagination could hardly picture or conceive a condition in which they could live in the arctic regions. While "hoping against hope," and even beyond it, because hope is the only preservative against despair, yet it seemed as if forlornness stood ready to mock the fugitive idea that it could be well with them.
Thus more than twelve months rolled their rounds, and no ray of light was shed upon this dark event of Providence.
How many times the relatives met to talk over this common affliction and calamity! to mingle together their sympathies, for adversity binds kindred hearts! to send up united desires to God that deliverance in some way which they knew not, but which Infinite Wisdom only knew, might be wrought out for the husband, and sons, and brothers, if still in being!
If meetings and partings, however, brought no outward, substantial relief, nor removed in the least degree the same appalling uncertainty which enshrouded the future, this great truth they learned in many sleepless nights, and tedious days, weeks, and months—that they should "trust in God," and stay themselves upon his mighty hand.
Not only was private prayer offered to Him whose ear is ever attentive, who knows and records the pleadings of every humble worshipper, who marks the beatings of every burdened heart, but the spirit of supplication was manifested in the house of God, and one general desire pervaded the community that He who can "bring light out of darkness," and sustain when all human helpers fail, would grant a great deliverance, and return the absent ones once more to their families and friends.
Prayer was heard; and tidings of good, of hope, and safety were already being borne over the ocean wave, and hastening homewards upon the wings of the wind.
In October, by an early arrival at San Francisco from the Arctic, it was reported that the ship Citizen had been wrecked the year before, in September; that a number of her crew were lost at the time of the wreck; that the captain, officers, and remaining part of the men had wintered among the natives; that they were now on board of several ships in that ocean, and, at the close of the whaling season, they would be at the islands.
This was the first intelligence from the ship, for more than twelve months, which imparted the least reasonable hope to the friends at home. Itwas indeed hailed with joyous emotions, and profound gratitude to God. It at once lifted off a ponderous load of anxiety, solicitude, and sorrow from many hearts.
Spring and summer, with their singing birds, radiant suns, balmy air, refreshing showers, verdant landscapes, and placid waters, had come and gone; Nature had put off the freshness and beauty of a renewed creation, and once more dressed in her autumnal robes, yet this single item of news, brought from a distant ocean, was the dawn of a brighter day, and the precursor of higher happiness than all the outward world could furnish! It chased away the sorrows of the mind; it breathed new life into the spirits; it taught the hitherto disconsolate ones that the hand of a delivering God should now be recognized and adored. Public sympathy flowed in the same channel with those who could now rejoice, as it was heretofore expressed with those who wept.
November news from the islands confirmed the report of the preceding month, cleared away every doubt which distrust might venture to create, and reassured the wife that her husband was safe, and parents and members of the respective families that their sons and brothers had survived the untold severities of an arctic winter.
About one year from this time,—November 5, 1854,—Captain Norton had arrived at Lahaina, from a cruise in the Ochotsk, in the ship Northern Light, of Fairhaven. He left that port in December for home; and, after a passage of one hundred and ten days, the ship was anchored in the harbor of New Bedford, on the 10th of April, 1855. A day or two after, he reached his native place, to greet relatives, friends, and townsmen, whose apprehensions for a long time had been that they should see his face no more.
The results of his three and a half years' absence from home are briefly these: the first season in the Arctic, in the Citizen, he obtained twenty-six hundred barrels of oil, which were wholly lost when the ship was cast away; seventy barrels of sperm were left at the islands, which he took on his outward-bound passage—this was saved; nine months and eight days among the natives, and taken off in July; the second season on board of other ships, in the capacity of guest and passenger; the third season in the Northern Light, in the Ochotsk Sea, where he obtained twenty-four hundred barrels of oil.
Thus, in misfortune, there was still a good share of prosperity. Not only was one cargo lost, but it was nearly replaced again by another in the ordinary time for which ships are fitted out.
But the greatest and crowning mercy of all was, in returning once more, with such good health, from so many dangers, exposures, and perils which have attended the present voyage.
Mr. John W. Norton arrived home in October, 1855; Mr. John P. Fisher, and Mr. Abram Osborn, Jr., arrived home in April, 1856;—making the time since they sailed from New Bedford, October, 1851, four years for the first, and four and a half years for the last two.
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.
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'shome, 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 donein 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 fromabsent 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 seamenare 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 thepurpose 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 whalingports;Ebut 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 donefor 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, theconcert 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 churchesare 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.
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.
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 tosay,—
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!
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!
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!
Perilous Situation of Whalemen.
Perilous Situation of Whalemen.
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.
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 thetonguesof 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 theircrew. 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 inthem."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, byMr. 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, withwhich 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; thewhites, 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 thousanddollars."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 whalefishery."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:—
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 asfollows:—
The Whale.—Its Zoölogy.—The largest known Animal.—Sperm Whale.—Right Whale.—Finback.—Bowhead.
The Whale.—Its Zoölogy.—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 zoölogy under the name ofCete, orCetacæ, and belonging to the classMammaliain the Linnæan 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.TheCachalot, orPhyseter 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 companywith 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 itwith 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 ofBalæna 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, thesmallest 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 orslabsIvary 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 mouthor 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 termedfinbackon 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 namebowheadgiven to them. This species of whale, so far as known, has never been found except in the Ochotsk Sea and Arctic Ocean.