New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-07-30
xxxIIp CONGRESS. d.. FIRST SESSION..

90, 81 mo Hcmes,ssd Law
A number Of resolutions were offered.
The bill 10 authorize an exploration anu
recon poissspce Of the e0urses 81 naggstoo 49,
wbslers H. the regions II Behring's stf.i sr snS Jsva
Earn ~ the Chos Seas. Strst's Of G"per 81. It, 10
ses ss Ne directly 10 the route OF vessel" p'''''s
and from ChiDs, was taken up
Mr. srwARD's SPEECH
Ma. President: Some years ago. ~uen
ascending the AIabarna, saw stag plunge 'nto
A.. i've, and calamity gain the western BANK,
ia. IN, despondng spor 'smaD, whose rifle he had
....,.a sat down 10 mourn his III luck under the
Am magnolia forest that shrouded the eastern
.hore. You. Sir, are a dweller IN that region. and
a,e. az all the world knows, gentleman Of cal
tysted taste and liberal fortunes. Perhaps, then,
you may have been that unfortunate hunter.
Howsoever that may have been, wish 10 converse
with you now Of the chase, and yet not OF deer,
or hawk, or hound but Of chase upon the seas
and stIll not Of angling trolling nor Of the busy
toll OF those worthy fishermen who seem likely TO
embroil us, certainly without reluctance on our
part, in a controversy about their nights IN the
Bay Of fuDdy, but OF nobler sport and more I'D
venturous spoftsmen than Izaak Walton, or YOU
or Daniel Boone or even Nimrod, the m'gnne'' !"
well mn most ancient of hsnters, ever dreamed OF
the chase Of the whale his broad range o' ''i'
universal ocean.
Do no, hnstiIy pronounce the subject out OF or
der or improbable, or unworthy OF ms h'sn P'''
enes. The Pho ncisns, the earliest fnefcaht'o ""'
t;o, known 10 us, enriched themselves by schng
the eelebrnted Tyrian dye, aud glass madc ~ r"''
taken from the and they ncqnTeo nov ohy
these sources Of wealth but the hft 9' haV,sa.'o"
nl lHaff
Gsb, rneD. A thousand yenrs ago kng aIfrn
wa. having the foundations Of empire Tor Dung
England. as we are now doing for Young Amer
ca The monarch whom men justly have sur
named the Wise NJ well as the Great, did not dis
dan 10 listen 10 Octhcr, who related tho ndven-
tures Of a vo, age along the coust Of Norway, 40
far north M commonly the winnie hunters used to |
travel ~ nor was the stranger suffered To depart |
until he had submitted TO the kmg n most JUST
survey and description" Of the Northern Seas not
only NJ they extended upward to the Nlrth
Cane but also Us they declined downward along |
the sonth.enst coast Of LupiaDd, and 80 following
the icy beach Of Russia TO where the river DwIna
discharged it's winters into the White Sea- or as
was then called the Sea Of Archangel. Fer
hsps my poor speech may end IN some sn'lhr les
poD. The Incident have related N the bn'dcn
of the earliest historical notice Of the subugd-
tiop of the monster Of the seas To the uscs of
man. The f,hcfy was carried on then, aud near
fix hundred years atcrward, by the Basqnes,
Bi,cn,abs, and NOrwcgiane, for the food yielded
by the tongue, and the oil obtained from the tat
OF the animal, Whalobono entered into commerce
in the fifteenth CO injury, aud at FIRST commanfcd
the enormous p,ice Of seven hundred pounds
sterling per tun. exceeding n value IN this ago Of
ten thousand dollars. Those were merry TINES.
IL not for science, at least for royalty, when al
though the material for stays aud hoops were
taken from the mouth, the law appropriated the
tail Of every whale taken by an Engsh subject
10 h. .uft bo FIR no afr Ina
Royal wardrobe.
In I4SG, the Portuguese reached tho Cape OF
Storms, and, in happy augury OF an ultimate
passage To India, changed it's ill.om"ncd name To |
that of "Good Hope" aud imme iatel, there.
after the States Of Europe, especially England
and Holland began that series oi voyages, not |
even vet ended, in search of passage To the !
East through the floating fields aud mountains Of
ice in the Arctic Ocean The unsuccessful search |
the refuge Of the whales ia the bays aud
creeks Of SpItzbeigen. In 1873, London mer-
chant wrote 10 II foreign correspondent Tor aivcc
and direction as TO the course of killing the whale,
and received instructions how TO build and equip
n vessel Of two hundred tuns nnd to man II -x-
clusvey with experienced whale hunters OF BIS
cay. The attraction Of Dominion was stronger IN
that age than the lust Of profit. The English now
claimed Spitzbergen, and all ia surrounding zee
and waters, by discovery. The Dutch, with truth,
allie ged mn earlier exploration, while the Danes |
claimed the whole region as part oi Trcenltnda
pi, 1. nsion that could not then he dsprovcd; aud
all ihcte parties sent armed forces upon the fish
ing ground, less TO protect their e" fish, rmcn, |
than 20 establish exclusive rights there After |
seme fifty years these nations discovered, first, |
that IL was absurd To claim jurisdiction where no
permanent possession could ever be established,
nv reason OF the rgors of the climate; aud second
IL, that there were hsh enough and room enough !
for all competitors. Th.nceforward, the whao |
fishery in the Arctic Ocean has been roe 90 all mn
tions.
The Dutch perfected the harpoOn, the reel, the !
line, and the spear, as well as the art Of using |
them. Aud they established, also, the system
which We have since found ndls> onsablo, OF 70
warding all the officers aud crew employed IN the |
fisher, not with direct wages or salaries. but With
shares in the spots of the game, proport'oned TO
skill and experience. ComDinng with these this
advantages of favorable position, and of trug atty |
and perseverance, quite prOvcrolai the Dutch cvrn |
founded FISHING settlement called Sncerrnhurgh, |
on the coast ct Sp,tzhergcn, within eleven de !
grces Of the North Pole. and they took whale, IT,
its vicinity in such abundance that ships were
needed to so out in ballast To carry hoNe hs sur
plus oil aud bone above the capacity ot the what
ing vessels. The whales, thus originally attacked
ngain chang, d their lurking place. Sptzenhcigcn
was abandont by the fisher mon. aud the very site
of SmcsrcnbuTgh is now unSnOwp. la the year
1896, Sebastian Cabot IN the spirit OF that age,
seeking a north western passage II the Indies
gave To the world the discovery OF Pima Nists,
OF, az We Cau II, Newfoundland aud the BasQueS,
Blsca,ans Dutch, aud English, immediately
their after commenced the chase for whales in the
waters surrounding il.
Scared, had the colonists of Massachusetts, !
planted themselves at Plymouth. before the stcr-
ity Of the soil and the Ilgor of the climate
forced them 20 resort 10 the 10 exc ont thoic
subsistence. Pursuing the whales out from their
ewn bays, in vessels OF only forty tuns huraen,
the, appeared ON the fishing greuui of New
ioandlald IN the year 100, PrO6ting by near
ness OF position aud economy IN building and
equ,pping ships, and sharing also IN the oounties
NAh Which England was Iaed gLaASllng tae
whale fishery, they soon elcelled all their malls
on the Newfoundland waters, Ms we'll as IN Bsihns
Bsy ell the coast of Greenland. Thus en-.
coursged, they ran down the coasts of America
and Auica, and IN the sste rolling between them
thnA dlscnNnrrd the hl,ch Nhnlr a nn.v ant ,,t..-