1. The spermaceti whale found by the _Nantuckois_, in the
neighborhood of the Western Islands, to which they had gone in pursuit
of other whales, retired thence to the coast of Guinea, afterwards to
that of Brazil, and begins now to be best found in the latitude of
the Cape of Good Hope, and even of Cape Horn. He is an active, fierce
animal, and requires vast address and boldness in the fisherman. The
inhabitants of Brazil make little expeditions from their coast, and take
some of these fish. But the Americans are the only distant people, who
have been in the habit of seeking and attacking him, in numbers. The
British, however, led by the _Nantuckois_, whom they have decoyed into
their service, have begun this fishery. In 1785, they had eighteen ships
in it; in 1787, thirty-eight; in 1788, fifty-four, or, as some say,
sixty-four. I have calculated on the middle number, fifty-nine. Still
they take but a very small proportion of their own demand; we furnish
the rest. Theirs is the only market to which we carry that oil, because
it is the only one where its properties are known.
Pages:
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866