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A richly illustrated sketchbook that documents the techniques, equipment, and daily life of traditional whaling through detailed plates and diagrams. Sequential images and captions depict fitting out, sail handling, whaleboats, harpooning and lancing, the struggle of the chase, cutting-in and rendering blubber, shipboard trades and tools, and shore activities such as gams and recruiting. A foreword frames the material by contrasting the romantic image of sail whaling with mechanized modern whaling, while the artwork emphasizes technical accuracy, danger, and the labor and culture of the whalemen.
Instead of sailing for home when the ship was full, many whalers discharged their oil at the Hawaiian Islands or San Francisco and set out for more.
This oil was put aboard large cargo ships capable of carrying the catch of several whalers, and taken round the Horn to New York, Boston, or the whaleships’ home port.
But at last the “spouter” was filled up and ready for the long passage home, the captain served grog, and all hands were hailed aft to “splice the main brace.”