The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-04-28
wLa,e.hip and Steamship Co.ma.aer.

IrLNassEzs AT SEA-Captains Of whaleships in
form Us. that when the mail steamer Golden -Ags
was passing Margarits Bay about February 5, some
SIX OF eight American vhsleships set their ensigns,
but the noble ship steamed past, disdaining TO notice
the oily blubber-hunters. We are more surprlsed AZ
the discourtesy from the high reputation Of CON-
Watkins Yankee sailoxS, even with their hands
greasy, do not forget to be civil 10 their countrymen,
aaoat or on shore-P- c. -ifrertlSsr, March "a
Ma. EDIToR The Mote" in your last -7drsr-
fiSsr, headed . III Manners at Sea-" deserves some
notice. The ineiyility Of the commander Of the
Golden .1ge, in taking no notice Of the signals of the
whaleships in Margarita Bay, is an instance Of i'll
breeding too often shown by the siIk-stocking, poma-
tum-anointed, vhite-gloved, musk-.eented gentle
men () that command most ocean-steamers, and
not a few Of the clipper ships Of the day. to COM
manders of whaleships- A jewel in a pigs nose
would be no more out of place than are many of these
elegant commanders in the positions they disgrace
They are not gentlemen, and sailors they never can
be- Good sailors are almost universally gentlemen-
I mean the sailor that goes : through the hasse-
hole" and thence through every grade Of his profes
sion, from Jack 10 Captain, as his ability and energy
merit-not the lu5ber who learns nautical tactics and
navigation on shore, and obtains a position that heis
not fit to occupy, through the influence Of opulent
relatives and other equally valuable qualifications.
Such men are no more entitled TO be ranked among
sailors than is an ourang-outang to be styled a gen
tleman, or q fshmonger from Billingsgate TO be
classel among ladies' If evidence, other than the
statement Of the fact by the writer of this communi-
cation is wanted by the uninitiated, just take a look
at the enormously increased rates of insurance on the
merchant marine almost the world over, notwith-
standing the superiority Of the ships Of the present
day, both in structure and strength, to those Of less
II
systens Of making captains on shore has been un-
wisely introduced. Take the history, for example, Of
ocean steam navigation on the coast of California, for
the past ten years, where about the whole science of
navigation by steamer from San Francisco to the
Isthmus consists in keeping a man on the lockout
and figure up the number of steamers wrecked, the
amount of treasure lost, and the sacrifice of human
life, and then Judge with how much propriety these
gentlemanly Cd captains disdain to acknowledge the
eiviliiies OF Hn6EeT-hzniers-men who, almost to a
man, have attained the positions they hold, and do
honor to, both as commanders ard gentlemen, by
sterling merit and perseyering industry These men
are salors-every inch sailors they know q ship
from stem 10 stern, from keel to truck, and can han
die a vessel in . style as only a good sailor can.
The very acme Of perfection in seamanship is dis
played in laying 4 ship properly alongside Of n dead
whale. I'd Ike to see some Of the silk-stocking gentry
undertake such q job. IL requires a professional
knowledge that not one out Of a hundred Of them are
possessed Of, and but very few of them are capable of
attaining, for it needs brains and requires skill to do
IL in q seamanIke manner.
The history Of the whaling feet, particularly Of
the United States, deserves to be written by some one
able 20 do the subject justice. 1t would develop facts
known to but few at the present time. The writer of
this article was once making q passage from Hong
kong to San Francisco, with IN experienced captain.
At daylight, one morning, the officer Of the deck
reported q sail in sight. OF course, captain and pas
seugers went on deck, and, sure enough, We saw
what for a time we supposed to be a sail but. on
nearing the object, it proved to be a high rock. not
laid down on the vessels charts We congratulated
ourselves on having made an important discovery
took drawings, and located the island by observation,
as near as We could. to its actual position, for the
benefit Of future travellers on the same route. Arrived
in San Francisco, big with the Importance of the sup
posed discovery. we related the circumstance to an
cid whaling captain Judge Of our chagrin when the
old gentleman informed us that he had "fshed
many a day around that rock more than twenty years
ago." defining its latitude and longitude within three
miles of its location as we had placed it. So il Is all
through the Indian and Pacific Oceans the charts
of whalemen are dotted with islands, reefs and shoals,
unknown TO any other navigators; and, what is more,
when one finds a dot on a vhaleman's chart, he nav
depend ii is made in the right place.
OF the whaling feet, there is no ocean that its
keels have not vexed, no sea that has not witnessed
its broad spread canvas From the torrid to the
frigid zones, the whalemen pursue their hardy calling,
knowing no fear, unappal:ea by any danger ON un-
known seas and around unsurveyed coasts, where no
other class Of vessels ever 60. is q large portion Of
their cruising grounds; and Jet the rate of insur-
ance on these vessels is much lower than on frst
class vessels in the merchant service. although some
Of them are fitted out for Eve years. and with .
"God-speed from the owners at home, are left
solely to the management Of the masters from the
commencement to the completion of the voyage.
| I have known many Of the masters Of the whaling
feet long and ntimasely-hase vintered and sum-
nered With them, both ashore and afoaf-snd can
beax te1imony that, with bat few exceptions, they
srs m o. sterling merit that they possess an ex-