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6: Description of the Island of Martha's Vineyard; and of the Whale Fishery
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This island is twenty miles in length, and from seven to eight miles
in breadth. It lies nine miles from the continent, and with the
Elizabeth Islands forms one of the counties of Massachusetts Bay,
known by the name of Duke's County. Those latter, which are six in
number, are about nine miles distant from the Vineyard, and are all
famous for excellent dairies. A good ferry is established between
the Edgar Town, and Falmouth on the main, the distance being nine
miles. Martha's Vineyard is divided into three townships, viz.
Edgar, Chilmark, and Tisbury; the number of inhabitants is computed
at about 4000, 300 of which are Indians. Edgar is the best seaport,
and the shire town, and as its soil is light and sandy, many of its
inhabitants follow the example of the people of Nantucket. The town
of Chilmark has no good harbour, but the land is excellent and no
way inferior to any on the continent: it contains excellent
pastures, convenient brooks for mills, stone for fencing, etc. The
town of Tisbury is remarkable for the excellence of its timber, and
has a harbour where the water is deep enough for ships of the line.
The stock of the island is 20,000 sheep, 2000 neat cattle, beside
horses and goats; they have also some deer, and abundance of sea-
fowls. This has been from the beginning, and is to this day, the
principal seminary of the Indians; they live on that part of the
island which is called Chapoquidick, and were very early
christianised by the respectable family of the Mahews, the first
proprietors of it. The first settler of that name conveyed by will
to a favourite daughter a certain part of it, on which there grew
many wild vines; thence it was called Martha's Vineyard, after her
name, which in process of time extended to the whole island. The
posterity of the ancient Aborigines remain here to this day, on
lands which their forefathers reserved for themselves, and which are
religiously kept from any encroachments. The New England people are
remarkable for the honesty with which they have fulfilled, all over
that province, those ancient covenants which in many others have
been disregarded, to the scandal of those governments. The Indians
there appeared, by the decency of their manners, their industry, and
neatness, to be wholly Europeans, and nowise inferior to many of the
inhabitants. Like them they are sober, laborious, and religious,
which are the principal characteristics of the four New England
provinces. They often go, like the young men of the Vineyard, to
Nantucket, and hire themselves for whalemen or fishermen; and indeed
their skill and dexterity in all sea affairs is nothing inferior to
that of the whites. The latter are divided into two classes, the
first occupy the land, which they till with admirable care and
knowledge; the second, who are possessed of none, apply themselves
to the sea, the general resource of mankind in this part of the
world. This island therefore, like Nantucket, is become a great
nursery which supplies with pilots and seamen the numerous coasters
with which this extended part of America abounds. Go where you will
from Nova Scotia to the Mississippi, you will find almost everywhere
some natives of these two islands employed in seafaring occupations.
Their climate is so favourable to population, that marriage is the
object of every man's earliest wish; and it is a blessing so easily
obtained, that great numbers are obliged to quit their native land
and go to some other countries in quest of subsistence. The
inhabitants are all Presbyterians, which is the established religion
of Massachusetts; and here let me remember with gratitude the
hospitable treatment I received from B. Norton, Esq., the colonel of
the island, as well as from Dr. Mahew, the lineal descendant of the
first proprietor. Here are to be found the most expert pilots,
either for the great bay, their sound, Nantucket shoals, or the
different ports in their neighbourhood. In stormy weather they are
always at sea, looking out for vessels, which they board with
singular dexterity, and hardly ever fail to bring safe to their
intended harbour. Gay-Head, the western point of this island,
abounds with a variety of ochres of different colours, with which
the inhabitants paint their houses.
The vessels most proper for whale fishing are brigs of about 150
tons burthen, particularly when they are intended for distant
latitudes; they always man them with thirteen hands, in order that
they may row two whale-boats; the crews of which must necessarily
consist of six, four at the oars, one standing on the bows with the
harpoon, and the other at the helm. It is also necessary that there
should be two of these boats, that if one should be destroyed in
attacking the whale, the other, which is never engaged at the same
time, may be ready to save the hands. Five of the thirteen are
always Indians; the last of the complement remains on board to steer
the vessel during the action. They have no wages; each draws a
certain established share in partnership with the proprietor of the
vessel; by which economy they are all proportionately concerned in
the success of the enterprise, and all equally alert and vigilant.
None of these whalemen ever exceed the age of forty: they look on
those who are past that period not to be possessed of all that
vigour and agility which so adventurous a business requires. Indeed
if you attentively consider the immense disproportion between the
object assailed and the assailants; if you think on the diminutive
size, and weakness of their frail vehicle; if you recollect the
treachery of the element on which this scene is transacted; the
sudden and unforeseen accidents of winds, etc., you will readily
acknowledge that it must require the most consummate exertion of all
the strength, agility, and judgment, of which the bodies and minds
of men are capable, to undertake these adventurous encounters.
As soon as they arrive in those latitudes where they expect to meet
with whales, a man is sent up to the mast head; if he sees one, he
immediately cries out awaite pawana, here is a whale: they all
remain still and silent until he repeats pawana, a whale, when in
less than six minutes the two boats are launched, filled with every
implement necessary for the attack. They row toward the whale with
astonishing velocity; and as the Indians early became their fellow-
labourers in this new warfare, you can easily conceive how the
Nattick expressions became familiar on board the whale-boats.
Formerly it often happened that whale vessels were manned with none
but Indians and the master; recollect also that the Nantucket people
understand the Nattick, and that there are always five of these
people on board. There are various ways of approaching the whale,
according to their peculiar species; and this previous knowledge is
of the utmost consequence. When these boats are arrived at a
reasonable distance, one of them rests on its oars and stands off,
as a witness of the approaching engagement; near the bows of the
other the harpooner stands up, and on him principally depends the
success of the enterprise. He wears a jacket closely buttoned, and
round his head a handkerchief tightly bound: in his hands he holds
the dreadful weapon, made of the best steel, marked sometimes with
the name of their town, and sometimes with that of their vessel; to
the shaft of which the end of a cord of due length, coiled up with
the utmost care in the middle of the boat, is firmly tied; the other
end is fastened to the bottom of the boat. Thus prepared they row in
profound silence, leaving the whole conduct of the enterprise to the
harpooner and to the steersman, attentively following their
directions. When the former judges himself to be near enough to the
whale, that is, at the distance of about fifteen feet, he bids them
stop; perhaps she has a calf, whose safety attracts all the
attention of the dam, which is a favourable circumstance; perhaps
she is of a dangerous species, and it is safest to retire, though
their ardour will seldom permit them; perhaps she is asleep, in that
case he balances high the harpoon, trying in this important moment
to collect all the energy of which he is capable. He launches it
forth—she is struck: from her first movements they judge of her
temper, as well as of their future success. Sometimes in the
immediate impulse of rage, she will attack the boat and demolish it
with one stroke of her tail; in an instant the frail vehicle
disappears and the assailants are immersed in the dreadful element.
Were the whale armed with the jaws of a shark, and as voracious,
they never would return home to amuse their listening wives with the
interesting tale of the adventure. At other times she will dive and
disappear from human sight; and everything must give way to her
velocity, or else all is lost. Sometimes she will swim away as if
untouched, and draw the cord with such swiftness that it will set
the edge of the boat on fire by the friction. If she rises before
she has run out the whole length, she is looked upon as a sure prey.
The blood she has lost in her flight, weakens her so much, that if
she sinks again, it is but for a short time; the boat follows her
course with almost equal speed. She soon re-appears; tired at last
with convulsing the element; which she tinges with her blood, she
dies, and floats on the surface. At other times it may happen that
she is not dangerously wounded, though she carries the harpoon fast
in her body; when she will alternately dive and rise, and swim on
with unabated vigour. She then soon reaches beyond the length of the
cord, and carries the boat along with amazing velocity: this sudden
impediment sometimes will retard her speed, at other times it only
serves to rouse her anger, and to accelerate her progress. The
harpooner, with the axe in his hands, stands ready. When he observes
that the bows of the boat are greatly pulled down by the diving
whale, and that it begins to sink deep and to take much water, he
brings the axe almost in contact with the cord; he pauses, still
flattering himself that she will relax; but the moment grows
critical, unavoidable danger approaches: sometimes men more intent
on gain, than on the preservation of their lives, will run great
risks; and it is wonderful how far these people have carried their
daring courage at this awful moment! But it is vain to hope, their
lives must be saved, the cord is cut, the boat rises again. If after
thus getting loose, she re-appears, they will attack and wound her a
second time. She soon dies, and when dead she is towed alongside of
their vessel, where she is fastened.
The next operation is to cut with axes and spades, every part of her
body which yields oil; the kettles are set a boiling, they fill
their barrels as fast as it is made; but as this operation is much
slower than that of cutting up, they fill the hold of their ship
with those fragments, lest a storm should arise and oblige them to
abandon their prize. It is astonishing what a quantity of oil some
of these fish will yield, and what profit it affords to those who
are fortunate enough to overtake them.
The river St. Lawrence whale, which is the only one I am well
acquainted with, is seventy-five feet long, sixteen deep, twelve in
the length of its bone, which commonly weighs 3000 lbs., twenty in
the breadth of their tails and produces 180 barrels of oil: I once
saw 16 boiled out of the tongue only. After having once vanquished
this leviathan, there are two enemies to be dreaded beside the wind;
the first of which is the shark: that fierce voracious fish, to
which nature has given such dreadful offensive weapons, often comes
alongside, and in spite of the people's endeavours, will share with
them their prey; at night particularly. They are very mischievious,
but the second enemy is much more terrible and irresistible; it is
the killer, sometimes called the thrasher, a species of whales about
thirty feet long. They are possessed of such a degree of agility and
fierceness, as often to attack the largest spermaceti whales, and
not seldom to rob the fishermen of their prey; nor is there any
means of defence against so potent an adversary. When all their
barrels are full, for everything is done at sea, or when their
limited time is expired and their stores almost expended, they
return home, freighted with their valuable cargo; unless they have
put it on board a vessel for the European market. Such are, as
briefly as I can relate them, the different branches of the economy
practised by these bold navigators, and the method with which they
go such distances from their island to catch this huge game.
The following are the names and principal characteristics of the
various species of whales known to these people:
The St. Lawrence whale, just described.
The disko, or Greenland ditto.
The right whale, or seven feet bone, common on the coasts of this
country, about sixty feet long. The spermaceti whale, found all over
the world, and of all sizes; the longest are sixty feet, and yield
about 100 barrels of oil.
The hump-backs, on the coast of Newfoundland, from forty to seventy
feet in length.
The finn-back, an American whale, never killed, as being too swift.
The sulphur-bottom, river St. Lawrence, ninety foot long; they are
but seldom killed, as being extremely swift.
The grampus, thirty feet long, never killed on the same account.
The killer or thrasher, about thirty feet; they often kill the other
whales with which they are at perpetual war.
The black fish whale, twenty feet, yields from eight to ten barrels.
The porpoise, weighing about 160 lb.
In 1769 they fitted out 125 whalemen; the first fifty that returned
brought with them 11,000 barrels of oil. In 1770 they fitted out 135
vessels for the fisheries, at thirteen hands each; four West-
Indiamen, twelve hands; twenty-five wood vessels, four hands;
eighteen coasters, five hands; fifteen London traders, eleven hands.
All these amount to 2158 hands, employed in 197 vessels. Trace their
progressive steps between the possession of a few whale-boats, and
that of such a fleet!
The moral conduct, prejudices, and customs of a people who live two-
thirds of their time at sea, must naturally be very different from
those of their neighbours, who live by cultivating the earth. That
long abstemiousness to which the former are exposed, the breathing
of saline air, the frequent repetitions of danger, the boldness
acquired in surmounting them, the very impulse of the winds, to
which they are exposed; all these, one would imagine must lead them,
when on shore, to no small desire of inebriation, and a more eager
pursuit of those pleasures, of which they have been so long
deprived, and which they must soon forego. There are many appetites
that may be gratified on shore, even by the poorest man, but which
must remain unsatisfied at sea. Yet notwithstanding the powerful
effects of all these causes, I observed here, at the return of their
fleets, no material irregularities; no tumultuous drinking
assemblies: whereas in our continental towns, the thoughtless seaman
indulges himself in the coarsest pleasures; and vainly thinking that
a week of debauchery can compensate for months of abstinence,
foolishly lavishes in a few days of intoxication, the fruits of half
a year's labour. On the contrary all was peace here, and a general
decency prevailed throughout; the reason I believe is, that almost
everybody here is married, for they get wives very young; and the
pleasure of returning to their families absorbs every other desire.
The motives that lead them to the sea, are very different from those
of most other sea-faring men; it is neither idleness nor profligacy
that sends them to that element; it is a settled plan of life, a
well founded hope of earning a livelihood; it is because their soil
is bad, that they are early initiated to this profession, and were
they to stay at home, what could they do? The sea therefore becomes
to them a kind of patrimony; they go to whaling with as much
pleasure and tranquil indifference, with as strong an expectation of
success, as a landsman undertakes to clear a piece of swamp. The
first is obliged to advance his time, and labour, to procure oil on
the surface of the sea; the second advances the same to procure
himself grass from grounds that produced nothing before but hassocks
and bogs. Among those who do not use the sea, I observed the same
calm appearance as among the inhabitants on the continent; here I
found, without gloom, a decorum and reserve, so natural to them,
that I thought myself in Philadelphia. At my landing I was cordially
received by those to whom I was recommended, and treated with
unaffected hospitality by such others with whom I became acquainted;
and I can tell you, that it is impossible for any traveller to dwell
here one month without knowing the heads of the principal families.
Wherever I went I found a simplicity of diction and manners, rather
more primitive and rigid than I expected; and I soon perceived that
it proceeded from their secluded situation, which has prevented them
from mixing with others. It is therefore easy to conceive how they
have retained every degree of peculiarity for which this sect was
formerly distinguished. Never was a bee-hive more faithfully
employed in gathering wax, bee-bread, and honey, from all the
neighbouring fields, than are the members of this society; every one
in the town follows some particular occupation with great diligence,
but without that servility of labour which I am informed prevails in
Europe. The mechanic seemed to be descended from as good parentage,
was as well dressed and fed, and held in as much estimation as those
who employed him; they were once nearly related; their different
degrees of prosperity is what has caused the various shades of their
community. But this accidental difference has introduced, as yet,
neither arrogance nor pride on the one part, nor meanness and
servility on the other. All their houses are neat, convenient, and
comfortable; some of them are filled with two families, for when the
husbands are at sea, the wives require less house-room. They all
abound with the most substantial furniture, more valuable from its
usefulness than from any ornamental appearance. Wherever I went, I
found good cheer, a welcome reception; and after the second visit I
felt myself as much at my ease as if I had been an old acquaintance
of the family. They had as great plenty of everything as if their
island had been part of the golden quarter of Virginia (a valuable
track of land on Cape Charles): I could hardly persuade myself that
I had quitted the adjacent continent, where everything abounds, and
that I was on a barren sand-bank, fertilised with whale oil only. As
their rural improvements are but trifling, and only of the useful
kind, and as the best of them are at a considerable distance from
the town, I amused myself for several days in conversing with the
most intelligent of the inhabitants of both sexes, and making myself
acquainted with the various branches of their industry; the
different objects of their trade; the nature of that sagacity which,
deprived as they are of every necessary material, produce, etc., yet
enables them to flourish, to live well, and sometimes to make
considerable fortunes. The whole is an enigma to be solved only by
coming to the spot and observing the national genius which the
original founders brought with them, as well as their unwearied
patience and perseverance. They have all, from the highest to the
lowest, a singular keenness of judgment, unassisted by any
academical light; they all possess a large share of good sense,
improved upon the experience of their fathers; and this is the
surest and best guide to lead us through the path of life, because
it approaches nearest to the infallibility of instinct. Shining
talents and University knowledge, would be entirely useless here,
nay, would be dangerous; it would pervert their plain judgment, it
would lead them out of that useful path which is so well adapted to
their situation; it would make them more adventurous, more
presumptuous, much less cautious, and therefore less successful. It
is pleasing to hear some of them tracing a father's progress and
their own, through the different vicissitudes of good and adverse
fortune. I have often, by their fire-sides, travelled with them the
whole length of their career, from their earliest steps, from their
first commercial adventure, from the possession of a single whale-
boat, up to that of a dozen large vessels! This does not imply,
however, that every one who began with a whale-boat, has ascended to
a like pitch of fortune; by no means, the same casualty, the same
combination of good and evil which attends human affairs in every
other part of the globe, prevails here: a great prosperity is not
the lot of every man, but there are many and various gradations; if
they all do not attain riches, they all attain an easy subsistence.
After all, is it not better to be possessed of a single whale-boat,
or a few sheep pastures; to live free and independent under the
mildest governments, in a healthy climate, in a land of charity and
benevolence; than to be wretched as so many are in Europe,
possessing nothing but their industry: tossed from one rough wave to
another; engaged either in the most servile labours for the smallest
pittance, or fettered with the links of the most irksome dependence,
even without the hopes of rising?
The majority of those inferior hands which are employed in this
fishery, many of the mechanics, such as coopers, smiths, caulkers,
carpenters, etc., who do not belong to the society of Friends, are
Presbyterians, and originally came from the main. Those who are
possessed of the greatest fortunes at present belong to the former;
but they all began as simple whalemen: it is even looked upon as
honourable and necessary for the son of the wealthiest man to serve
an apprenticeship to the same bold, adventurous business which has
enriched his father; they go several voyages, and these early
excursions never fail to harden their constitutions, and introduce
them to the knowledge of their future means of subsistence.
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