The Yankee Whaler

Clifford Ashley

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9780486144283
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Marine Transportation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

"He went whaling prepared as no man had been before him, and he went with an eager and an open mind. He describes as no other author has done the multifarious duties of the cooper, the whalecraftsman, the rigger, the subtleties of boat gear and of stowage, the homely whims and prejudices of the most conservative and practical of men … he has returned unsoured from his voyaging, and now lays his booty before us." — Robert Cushman Murphy, in the Introduction
Since the days of Moby Dick, whaling has been the subject of countless books, articles and works of art. Few books on the subject, however, have attained the classic stature of the present volume. Written by a famed marine artist, born in the whaling center of New Bedford, Massachusetts, this book presents whaling from the vantage point of one who not only sailed aboard a whaler himself, but possessed the observant eye of an artist and the literary skill to record what he saw and thought as the great age of whaling drew to a close.
Salted with wit and wisdom of a Yankee seaman, Ashley's engrossing account presents the "bloody and desperate quest" for the great whales and their valuable meat and oil. It offers detailed, evocative pictures of whaling traditions, life aboard ship, the myriad details of whaleship construction, rigging and navigation, gear and craft; much whalemen's lore concerning methods of attack and the behavior of the quarry, as well as sidelights on the unique personalities of whalemen from New Bedford, Nantucket, and Long Island ports.
Enhanced with 150 superb illustrations, The Yankee Whaler is perhaps the definitive treatment of 19th- century whaling. Not only a complete and well-documented picture of every aspect of the topic, the book at the same time evokes the excitement and drama of the chase and the romance of the high seas.

A GLOSSARY OF WHALING TERMS

TO WHICH ARE ADDED CERTAIN WORDS APPLYING TO THE TRADES OF COOPER, CAULKER, AND RIGGER

ADVANCE: Money allowed to whalemen before starting on a voyage, for the purchase of outfits and for settlements with the boarding-master. It is charged against their subsequent earnings.

ADZE, COOPER’S: A small short-handled adze, similar to a brickmason’s hammer.

AFTER HOUSE: The whaler’s “Round house.”

AFTER OAR: The stroke oar of the whaleboat. He sits on the port side of his thwart, and his rowlock is on the starboard gunwale.

AGENT: The managing owner of a whaleship.

AH! BLOWS! See “There she blows!”

AIR UP, TO: To blow up stronger, said of the wind.

ALL GONE, SIR! The sailor’s reply after obeying the order “Cast off!” or “Let Go!”

ALOW FROM ALOFT! The lookout is called to deck with this order.

ALOW: The deck, as distinguished from Aloft. The hail from the masthead to the deck is “Alow, there!” There is little doubt that the landsman’s hail, “Halloa!” is a corruption.

AMBERGRIS: A foreign substance found in the alimentary canal of a Sperm Whale, used as an agent in perfumes.

APEAK: The position of the oars when the boat is fast to a whale.

ARTICLES: The ship’s papers. Signed by all hands when shipping.

AWAY: Said of the boats when lowered, as, 4 ‘They lowered away”; “Three boats were away.” More stress is put on the second syllable than is customarily employed.

BAILER: A long-handled copper dipper, holding about two gallons. For removing oil from try-pots.

BAILING: Process of removing spermaceti from the case, or head of the Sperm Whale.

BAILING-BUCKET: See Case-Bucket.

BALEEN: Black whalebone from the mouths of toothless whales.

BALEEN WHALE: All whales, except Sperm, that were commercially hunted.

BARREL: A barrel exists aboard a whaleship only as a unit of measure for oil, 31½ gallons. Everything is carried in large casks.

BEARDS: also called stop-withers. Small reverse barbs on an English two-flued harpoon. See illustration.

BEARERS: Upright stanchions between the davits upon which the boat cranes are hinged.

BECKETS: Chest-handles of rope, often elaborately knotted.

BEETLE: A caulker’s heavy driving-mallet.

BELLOW: The sound made by the Right Whale when in violent action. Whales have no vocal cords. The sound may be in the lungs or it may be abdominal.

BESET: Progress stopped by the closing-in of ice.

BIBLES, or BIBLE LEAVES: See Books,

BILGE-HOLE: Bung-hole.

BILGE OF A CASK: The fat or bulging part, the waist.

BISCAY WHALE: North Atlantic Right Whale.

BLACKFISH: A small cetacean. The forehead or “melon” makes the finest lubricant known. Used exclusively for watch oil.

BLACKSKIN: The thin slimy outer covering of a whale, so tender that it is easily scraped off with the finger-nail.

BLACK WHALE: An inclusive term for all commercially hunted whales except Sperm and Fin whales; that is, Bowhead, Right, and Humpback.

BLANKET, or BLANKET-PIECE: A long strip of blubber hoisted from the whale to the maintop. Subsequently cut into smaller horse-pieces before being minced.

BLASTED WHALE: Swollen from the formation of gas in the belly. Also a decomposed whale.

BLINK: “Halation” over ice and show.

BLOW, A: A spout. The moist visible breath of a whale.

BLOWS! See “There she blows!”

BLOW, TO: To spout. The whale’s act of breathing.

BLOW UP! The order given when the time has arrived to inflate the poke.

BLUBBER: Thick oily outer casing of the whale which serves as protection and insulation against pressure and cold.

BLUBBER-FORK: Along-handled fork for tossing blubber-“books” into the try-pots.

BLUBBER-GAFF: A short-handled hook for dragging blubber about deck.

BLUBBER-HOOK: An iron hook, from fifty to one hundred pounds in weight, suspended from the cutting-tackle, for hoisting blubber.

BLUBBER-HUNTER: A whaler.

BLUBBER-PIKE: A single-pronged instrument for pushing and forking blubber about deck.

BLUBBER-ROOM: The space in the upper hold near the main hatch reserved for the temporary storage of blubber, when deck space is insufficient. If a whale is small and the weather good, the blubber-room is not used.

BLUBBER-TOGGLE: An oaken pin buttoned to a strap in the blanket-piece, used instead of a blubber-hook.

BLUE WHALE: A Sulphur-Bottom.

BOARD HO! The warning shouted from the gangway when a blanket-piece is about to swing inboard.

BOARDING-KNIFE: The two-edged long-handled sword-like knife which severs the blanket-piece.

BOARDING-MASTER: A crimp who housed and supplied men for the crews of whalers.

BOAT-CREW: The six men who comprise her full complement, or the four men who row a whaleboat, generally the former.

BOAT-CREW WATCH: When on the whaling grounds instead of the starboard and port watches serving “watch and watch,” boat-crew watches were established. As there were four boats, a quarter of the crew instead of one half was kept on deck. The men were fresher and more alert as a result.

BOAT-CROTCH: A forked upright in a whaleboat on the starboard gunwale forward, to hold the “live irons”; that is, the first and second irons. Called a “mik” in the British Greenland Fishery.

BOAT-DAVITS: The curved wooden arms that suspend a whaleboat overside.

BOAT-FALLS: The hauling ends of the davit tackles.

BOAT-GEAR: Everything in a whaleboat except the crew and the tools of capture; that is, not the guns, harpoons, lances, and spades.

BOAT-HEADER: The man who steers the boat in going on a whale, and afterwards kills it. Generally a mate, but sometimes an experienced whaleman with no ship duties save masthead and cutting-stage, whose only title is boat-header.

BOAT SKIDS: Stern davits for a spare boat. Sometimes called “tail feathers.” Also an unroofed frame formerly used instead of a forward house.

BOAT-SPADE: A short-handled spade ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Acknowledgment
• Foreword to Second Edition
• Foreword
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Introduction
• Preface
• I. The Blubber-Hunters
• II. The Blubber-Hunters, Concluded
• III. The Greenland Fishery
• IV. Cape Cod, Long Island, and Nantucket
• V. New Bedford
• VI. The Whaler
• VII. The Whaleboat
• VIII. The Whale
• IX. Gear and Craft
• X. The Whaleman
• XI. Scrimshaw
• XII. The Last Days of Whaling
• Epilogue
• A Glossary of Whaling Terms
• A List of Books Concerning Whales and Whaling
• Index