The charter right of the Island of Nantucket, was bought by Thomas Mayhew, of Watertown, of Joseph Ferrick, steward to Lord Sterling, in 1641; and afterwards sold to Tristram Coffin, and his associates, who settled upon it in 1659. On the 10th of May, 1660, Sachems, Wonnook, and Nickannoose, for and in behalf of the nations of the Island, in consideration of the sum of 26l. sterling, conveyed by deed, about half of the Island, to the first ten purchasers, who afterwards took in other associates.
Whaling from Nantucket, was first carried on from the shore in boats. In 1672, James Loper entered into a contract with the inhabitants of the Island, for the purpose of prosecuting the whale fishery, by which it appears that James Loper agreed to be one third in the enterprize, and sundry other people of the Island, the other two thirds, in every thing connected with the undertaking. It was further stipulated, that for every whale killed by any one of the contracting party, the town should receive five shillings, and for the encouragement of James Loper, the town granted him ten acres of land in some convenient situation, and liberty for the commonage of three cows, twenty sheep and one horse, with necessary wood and water for his use, on condition that he should follow the trade of whaling for two years, build upon his land, &c. &c.
Thus it will be seen that the commencement of whaling at Nantucket, was on a very small scale, and practised only along the shores of the Island;—whereas, at this time, our ships leave no seas unexplored in pursuit of these monsters of the deep. We might pursue the subject through the various stages of improvement up to this time, but it would swell this introduction beyond the limits designed. It is proper, however, to observe that the present number of ships employed in the whale fishery from Nantucket, is about 70, averaging about 350 tons each, and manned by about 1500 seamen.
NARRATIVE, &c.
CHAPTER I.
The Ship Globe, on board of which vessel occurred the horrid transactions we are about to relate, belonged to the Island of Nantucket; she was owned by Messrs. C. Mitchell, & Co. and other merchants of that place; and commanded on this voyage by Thomas Worth, of Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard. William Beetle, (mate,) John Lumbert, (2d mate,) Nathaniel Fisher, (3d mate,) Gilbert Smith, (boat steerer,) Samuel B. Comstock, do. Stephen Kidder, seaman, Peter C. Kidder, do. Columbus Worth, do. Rowland Jones, do. John Cleveland, do. Constant Lewis, do. Holden Henman, do. Jeremiah Ingham, do. Joseph Ignasius Prass, do. Cyrus M. Hussey, cooper, Rowland Coffin, do. George Comstock, seaman, and William Lay, do.
On the 15th day of December, we sailed from Edgarton, on a whaling voyage, to the Pacific Ocean, but in working out, having carried away the cross-jack-yard, we returned to port, and after having refitted and sent aloft another, we sailed again on the 19th, and on the same day anchored in Holmes’ Hole. On the following day a favourable opportunity offering to proceed to sea, we got under way, and after having cleared the land, discharged the pilot, made sail, and performed the necessary duties of stowing the anchors, unbending and coiling away the cables, &c.—On the 1st of January 1823, we experienced a heavy gale from N. W. which was but the first in the catalogue of difficulties we were fated to encounter.—As this was our first trial of a seaman’s life, the scene presented to our view, “mid the howling storm,” was one of terrific grandeur, as well as of real danger. But as the ship scudded well, and the wind was fair, she was kept before it, under a close reefed main-top-sail and fore-sail, although during the gale, which lasted forty-eight hours, the sea frequently threatened to board us, which was prevented by the skillful management of the helm. On the 9th of January we made the Cape Verd Islands, bearing S. W. twenty-five miles distant, and on the 17th, crossed the Equator. On the 29th of the same month we saw sperm whales, lowered our boats, and succeeded in taking one; the blubber of which, when boiled out, yielded us seventy-five barrels of oil. Pursuing our voyage, on the twenty-third of February we passed the Falkland Islands, and about the 5th of March, doubled the great promontory of South America, Cape Horn, and stood to the Northward.
We saw whales once only before we reached the Sandwich Islands, which we made on the first of May early in the morning. When drawing in with the Island of Hawaii about four in the afternoon, the man at the mast head gave notice that he saw a shoal of black fish on the lee bow; which we soon found to be canoes on their way to meet us. It falling calm at this time prevented their getting along side until night fall, which they did, at a distance of more than three leagues from the land. We received from them a very welcome supply of potatoes, sugar cane, yams, cocoanuts, bananas, fish, &c. for which we gave them in return, pieces of iron hoop, nails, and similar articles. We stood off and on during the next day, and after obtaining a sufficient supply of vegetables and fruit, we shaped our course for Oahu, at which place we arrived on the following day, and after lying there twenty hours, sailed for the coast of Japan, in company with the whaling ships Palladium of Boston, and Pocahontas of Falmouth; from which ships we parted company when two days out.—After cruising in the Japan seas several months, and obtaining five hundred and fifty barrels of oil, we again shaped our course for the Sandwich Islands, to obtain a supply of vegetables, &c.