THE COOPER
When a whaleship set out on a voyage she was loaded from keel to deck with casks of various sizes, from the largest, of fourteen barrel capacity, to long, narrow ones, known as “ryers,” used to fill empty spaces and odd corners. Many of them were filled with fresh water to serve as ballast, and all the spare sails, food, clothing (slops) and other reserve articles were headed up in casks.
In due course they were emptied and filled with oil, and the cooper’s task was to keep them in good condition, and, if need arose, to construct new ones from the staves, heads and hoops which he had in reserve.
The term “barrel” was only used as a unit of measure:—a cask was spoken of as an eight barrel cask or a whale’s size was reckoned in so many barrels.
An average whaler carried in the neighbourhood of five hundred casks of all sizes, and the keeping of them in serviceable condition involved constant watchfulness and work on the cooper’s part.