The Northern star, and farmers' and mechanics' advocate. [volume] (Warren, R.I.) 1830-1834, 1831-03-19
" ARR I'm.

A
.ae THE WHALE FISHERY.
ba,saf sSAl [Coutinued. ass
Having now given concise view ol
the viss and progress Of the whale fishing
in thls country, ! propose to say some-
thing Of che method Of fitting ships, the
manner Of taking the whale, and the man
,ufacturs Of the stock into oil and candles,
and siaAa few fitting Of ships to the Pa
ciac O. 1nsfxl erm oil, would remark
that shosS d1Sl for that employment
are generally y N average tonnage lin
the present day. Of about $50 measure.
msnt, and Of : capacity Of from 2 to 5000
barrels. That part Of the features which
relateS 70 the hull I gsnerally about one
third heavier than tlI PES Of ships
employed in the mefeI ice; this Is
necsssarily the case 70 yqlbles them to
stand the great length ofthe voyage
When the hull ofths ship il prepared and
nicely coppered with sheet copper to the
bends, they commence taking IN their arr
ticlss for the voyage. It 10 usual to 6lI
.tohe ships full OF empty casks from 60 to
400 gallons, enough of which are filed
With fresh water to allow . gallon per day
10 each man, until they get into the Pa
oi6c Ocean, where they are designed to
stop and recruit. And then the articles
of provisions are put on board, say 600
barrels Of 6ou,, 100 Of which it 10 usual
20 bake into hard bread, and the rest il
put into larger casks, barrel and all, and
then headed tight to exclude the air; then
snA A...>l- cc -. - knoc >..l Al.
same quantity of mess pork--tbe -four sl.
- 10 superfins and Of best brands. The
average Of meat and -four il in the pro-
portion ofabout pound per day Of each
per man, allowing about 80 men for three
.years, (which is about the compliment, and
the average sfthe voyage in respect to
Gme. The whaling materials are COM
posed Of too great variety, and too nu-
snsrous to. mention in small compass,
such % hsrpoons, lances, whale spades,
&C.; and also the small articles Of provis-
ions would be tedious to give in deta;l,
and must be omitted. g /
AAer all these articles are nicely stow
ed ON board, they fill = sufficient number1
Of The empty casks with salt water to
bring the ship in ballast trim for the pas
sage; they are now fitted with four or five
whaling boats, built Of cedar boards, very
light, and manned by five men and steers
man; with this prospect they set sail, the
wide ocean before them, and nothing but
the needle and qusdrant to direct their
course. One would be led to suppose
that some heavy longings for homo, sweet
home,' would be likely to steal upon their
imaginations, this undoubtedly is the case
--lhese hardy sons of Neptune are far
from being inssnsible 10 the enjoyments
Of home; but they know too well their an
tsrvsGs 70 suffer these considerations 10
rest with undue weight, thus they direct
their course with thoughtful and steady !
views to the object oftheir search. They
are under the necessity Of FIRST shaping
their course for the Western Islands or
Asores, contiguous to the coust of Africa,
ii order to enable them the better to fetch
BY Caps Rougua, on the coast Of South : :
America. To those who arc not acquaint =
ID with the navigation Of the Atlantic, il
night appear strange that they should di- .
'ect their course 20 far to the eastward.
,ut when they take view Of the chart, :,
no ySs0ty WIZ O0 Ga psos"OoS snO SOtSII- 4
,ed succession Of south east trade winds =
,lowing continually from one point, unless =
his pvecaution was taken they could not = "
stch by the most prominent point Of South -
america; but by this course Of procedure o. o.
hey run down the whole coast with SAFE :.
~ They generally double Cape Horn y =:
, the latitude Of about 60 degrees, and Z,
. not often get sight Of land once ,sound n
b Csps; shsy now direct their course 81 ~
~ tns 6endwrh Islands, which they are C g
nse!ed te make ia the course Of 4 or FIVE 9
'onths after leaving home. BY THE time a. o.
necemce oecessary 70 recruit with some p
ddtionaI ssorss, such % pot latoes, water, u
ssh meat, go. A wssk IL Rsucrallyl r..
slseisst - sbsain oil they wsot; shsir 81
esl course p on The coast OF Jspsp, or "r
~ laiis6ss belwssa, ,Jspsa ga ticscl es
ossdss ksss b ths'sxtsss se lhsis d. po
h 10 usual ofIass yssrs, when Tho boa.s 's:g