I-NRLF 
 
 *B 2Mfl 522 
 
 3 
 
 H. 
 
 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
ENTERPRISE, INDUSTRY, 
 
 AND 
 
 ART OF MAN. 
 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & CO. 
 
J c =>asr\'\ i C-J 
 
 ENTERPRISE, 
 
 INDUSTRY AND ART 
 
 OF MAN, 
 
 AS DISPLAYED IN 
 
 FISHING, HUNTING, COMMERCE, 
 
 NAVIGATION, MINING, 
 
 AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 PETER PARLEY'S TALES. 
 
 'The world must be circumnavigated before a washerwoman can take 
 her tea." 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & CO. 
 
Printed by T. K. & P. G. Collins. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I WAS dozing by my evening fire-side, when one of those hasty 
 visions passed before my mind, which sometimes seem to reveal 
 the contents of volumes in the space of a few seconds. It appeared 
 as if every article of furniture in the room became suddenly ani- 
 mated with life, and endowed with the gift of speech ; and that 
 each one came forward to solicit my attention and beseech me to 
 write its life and adventures. 
 
 The portly piano, advancing with a sort of elephantine step, 
 informed me that its rosewood covering was violently torn from 
 its birth-place in the forests of Brazil; its massive legs of pine 
 grew in the wilds of Maine ; the iron which formed its frame 
 was dug from a mine in Sweden; its strings were fabricated at 
 Rouen ; the brazen rods of the pedals were made of copper from 
 Cornwall mixed with silver from the mines of Potosi ; the cover- 
 ing of the keys was formed of the tusks of elephants from Africa ; 
 the varnish was from India ; the hinges from Birmingham, and the 
 whole were wrought into their present form at the world-renowned 
 establishment of Messrs. Chickering & Co., Washington street, 
 Boston. 
 
 While I was musing on the singular fact that the four quarters 
 of the globe had been ransacked for the materials of which to 
 construct this single instrument, I heard an extraordinary rattling 
 in the china closet. On opening the door and looking in, I beheld 
 with amazement, every article, plates, platters, bowls and tumblers, 
 castors and cream-pots, salvers and salt-dishes attitudinizing, as 
 if inspired with some extraordinary emotion. All began to speak 
 at once, and a confusion, worse than that of Babel, saluted my ears. 
 Amid the din, I could gather only a few detached sounds. The 
 set of phials in the castor-stand seemed to have the advantage of 
 lungs, and I therefore gathered the following sentences : " I," said 
 Mustard, "was raised by an old woman in France, and manufac- 
 tured in Paris." "And I," said Pepper, "was cultivated by the 
 swarthy Malays of Sumatra, and have made a voyage half round the 
 world to get here !' " And I," said Ketchup, " came into existence 
 as a mushroom, and was pickled by Underwood of Boston." " And 
 I," said Soy, " was reared and manufactured in Japan ! " " And J," 
 
 M36811O 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 said Sweet Oil, " came from the sunny climes of Italy." " And I," 
 said Vinegar, with a scowl and a scream, " I came from hard cider ! " 
 
 Bewildered by the clamors of the china closet, I shut the door in 
 the face of the insurgents ; but if I had silenced one source of an- 
 noyance, another was before me. The carpet rose and fell like waves 
 beneath my feet, and at length one of the large circular figures stood 
 erect, and with goggling eyes and enormous mouth, addressed me as 
 follows : " I was born upon the backs of sheep that were fed in 
 Asia Minor ; I was spun by those who pray five times a day to 
 Mahomet ; the colors that decorate me were gathered from the 
 three kingdoms of nature, and I was woven iu a machine, the inven- 
 tion of which consumed twenty centuries ! " 
 
 Scarcely was this speech ended, when I saw the mirror swaying 
 rapidly back and forth, and after a moment it exclaimed : " Listen 
 to me ! The glass which forms my face was once the waste sand 
 of the pit : this was purified and exalted by fire. I was then pol- 
 ished by the artisans of Paris. The quicksilver which gives me my 
 magical power, was dug from the mines of Almaden, a thousand feet 
 below the surface of the earth : the gold which gilds my frame 
 was washed from the Mountains of the Moon by the Niger, and 
 having passed through the purse of the king of Ashantee, was 
 beaten to the thinness of the thirty thousandth part of an inch." 
 Hardly was this burst of rhetoric ended, when the Argand lamp de- 
 clared that its oil once dwelt in the head of a whale seventy feet in 
 length, and which had ploughed the Pacific for half a century. A 
 book that lay upon the table, spoke of containing in its leaves a va- 
 riety of rags, gathered from the four winds, each of which could tell 
 a tale : and a sofa said something of hair from the tails of wild 
 horses caught on the Pampas of South America, and lofty trees of 
 mahogany cut down amid the mighty forests of Campeachy. The 
 scene grew more and more bewildering and as each object seemed 
 to be endowed with a fiercer aspect and a louder tone, my heart 
 beat violently and I awoke ! Looking around, I saw before me a 
 note from the printing office, which ran thus : 
 
 " Dear Sir, Please furnish us copy for the preface to the c Enter- 
 prise, Industry, and Art of Man. 5 Yours, J. R." 
 
 If the kind and considerate reader will bear in mind that a pre- 
 face, though placed at the beginning, is the last thing written ; and 
 if, moreover, he has the patience to peruse the following pages he 
 may come to the conclusion that the preceding dream was neither 
 unnatural, nor a very unapt interpretation of the contents of the 
 volume. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 FISHERIES, . t . 7 
 
 Whale Fishery, . .7 
 
 S^al Fishery, 49 
 
 Cod Fishery, 6 
 
 Herring Fishery, 63 
 
 Mackerel Fishery, 67 
 
 Pearl Fishery, 67 
 
 Coral Fishery, 70 
 
 General remarks on Fisheries, .... 73 
 
 HUNTING, 74 
 
 Cattle Hunting, 74 
 
 Buffalo Hunting, 95 
 
 Bear Hunting, 103 
 
 The Fur Trade, 116 
 
 Bird Catching, . . 125 
 
 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION, 135 
 
 Discoveries and Commercial Establishments of the Por- 
 tuguese in India, 143 
 
 Voyages and Discoveries of Columbus, . . . 156 
 Voyage and Discoveries of Magellan, . . . 159 
 
 Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, 171 
 
 Voyages of the English toward the North Pole, . 178 
 Voyages of the Dutch toward the North Pole, . . 186 
 Spanish American Commerce, .... 205 
 
 English East India Commerce, 210 
 
 Commerce of the North-west Coast of America, . 215 
 Commerce by Caravans, 219 
 
 1* 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 MINING, 236 
 
 Coal Mines, 247 
 
 Iron Mines, 262 
 
 Silver Mines, 269 
 
 Gold Mines, 276 
 
 Platina Mines, . 277 
 
 Diamond Mines, 278 
 
 Salt Mines, 285 
 
 Mines of Tin, Lead, Quicksilver, &c., . . . 288 
 General Remarks on Mining, 290 
 
 WOOD-CUTTING, 294 
 
 Lumbering in Maine, 294 
 
 Logwood, 298 
 
 Mahogany, 302 
 
 AGRICULTURE, 305 
 
 Tea, 309 
 
 Sugar, 312 
 
 Coffee, 314 
 
 Tobacco, . . 318 
 
 Cotton, 322 
 
 Wool, 324 
 
 Products of the United States, . . . . .326 
 
 MANUFACTURES, 327 
 
 Cotton, 327 
 
 Manufactures of Lowell, 328 
 
 Woollen Manufactures, 329 
 
 Silk, 330 
 
 Linen, 330 
 
 Iron, 331 
 
 CONCLUSION, ' . . . .333 
 
FISHERIES. 
 
 THE WHALE FISHERY 
 
 IT is the opinion of most writers on the subject of 
 the Whale Fishery, that the Biscayans were the first 
 people who exercised their courage in attacking- the 
 great monster of the deep. These people, dwelling 
 along the sea-coast, were chiefly fishermen. A par- 
 ticular species of whale used to be a frequent visiter 
 to the shores of France and Spain, and, in pursuit of 
 herrings and other small fry, would naturally cause 
 serious damage among the nets of the fishermen of 
 
S THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 Biscay and Gascony. Concern for the preservation 
 of their nets, which constituted their principal prop- 
 erty, would naturally suggest the necessity of driving 
 these intruders from their coast. 
 
 "When the Basques and Biscayans first ventured to 
 attack a whale with their spears and arrows, they 
 were doubtless surprised to find that, instead of being 
 the ferocious and formidable monster which they had 
 imagined him, he was in fact timorous and compara- 
 tively inoffensive. This observation doubtless had a 
 tendency so far to encourage them, that some of the 
 most adventurous were induced to approach a whale 
 in the extravagant hope of vanquishing him in fight. 
 Observing that after receiving their weapons he evinced 
 no intention of resistance, but on the contrary, imme- 
 diately dived to the bottom of the sea, and that on 
 his return to the surface, he was quite exhausted and 
 apparently in a dying state, they doubtless soon con- 
 ceived the possibility of so entangling him as to en- 
 sure his capture. 
 
 The precise period at which the whale fishery thus 
 originated, is not known ; but as early as the six- 
 teenth century, the Biscayans pursued the whale into 
 distant seas. The English, in 1594, fitted out an ex- 
 pedition to Cape Breton, to fish for the whale and the 
 walrus or sea-horse, and in succeeding years pursued 
 the latter into high northern latitudes. In 1611, the 
 English first attacked the whale near the shores of 
 Spitzbergen. After this, the Dutch and other nations 
 of Europe became participators in the risks and ad- 
 vantages of these northern expeditions. 
 
 The Greenland whale fishery was not an imme- 
 diate result of the discovery of Spitzbergen, but arose 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 9 
 
 out of the enterprising character of the adventurers 
 employed in commercial speculations, at this period. 
 Whatever importance was attached to the discovery 
 of this frozen region, its value was eclipsed by 
 that of the whale fishery in the prolific seas adjacent, 
 as it proved, in a short time, the most lucrative, and 
 the most important branch of national commerce 
 which had yet been offered to the industry of man. 
 The whales captured by the Biscayans were not so 
 large as those taken in the Polar Seas, nor so produc- 
 tive of oil. Moreover they soon ceased to frequent 
 the Bay of Biscay, and the fishers were obliged to 
 pursue their prey along the banks of Newfoundland 
 and the coast of Iceland, in consequence of which the 
 French whale fishery greatly declined. 
 
 The voyages of the Dutch and English to the 
 Northern Ocean, in the attempt to discover a western 
 passage through it to India, though they failed of their 
 main object, laid open the haunts of the whale. The 
 companions of Barentz, who discovered Spitzbergen 
 in 1596, and of Henry Hudson, who soon after ex- 
 plored the same seas, represented to their countrymen 
 the amazing number of whales with which they were 
 crowded. Vessels were in consequence fitted out for 
 the northern whale fishery by the English and Dutch, 
 the harpooners and a part of the crew being Biscayans. 
 They did not, however, confine their efforts to a fair 
 competition with each other as fishers. The English 
 Muscovy Company obtained a Royal Charter, pro- 
 hibiting the ships of all other nations from fishing in 
 the seas round Spitzbergen, on pretence of its having 
 been discovered first by Sir Hugh Willoughby. The 
 

 10 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 Company finding the Dutch whalers frequenting this 
 neighborhood, attempted to vindicate their pretensions 
 by force, and several hostile encounters took place 
 between the vessels of the two nations. The convic- 
 tion at length became general that there was room 
 enough for all parties in the northern seas, and in 
 order to avoid the chance of coming into collision with 
 each other, they parcelled Spitzbergen and the adja- 
 cent ocean into districts which were respectively 
 assigned to the English, Dutch, Hamburgians, French, 
 Danes, &c. The Dutch being thus left to prosecute 
 the whale fishery unmolested, soon acquired a decided 
 superiority over all their competitors. 
 
 "When the Europeans first began to prosecute this 
 fishery on the coast of Spitzbergen, whales were 
 everywhere found in vast numbers. Ignorant of the 
 strength and stratagems of the formidable foe by whom 
 they were now assailed, instead of betraying any 
 symptoms of fear, they surrounded the ships and 
 crowded all the bays. Their capture was in conse- 
 quence a very easy task, and the whalers killed many 
 which they were obliged to abandon in consequence 
 of their ships being full. While the fishes were thus 
 easily obtained, it was the practice to boil the blubber 
 on shore in the north, and to bring home only the oil 
 and the whalebone. Perhaps nothing can give a more 
 vivid idea of the extent and importance of the Dutch 
 fishery in the middle of the seventeenth century than 
 the fact that the men established a considerable village, 
 the houses of which were previously prepared in Hol- 
 land, on the northern coast of Spitzbergen. This place 
 was called by the appropriate name of Smeerenberg or 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 11 
 
 "Grease-mountain." It was the grand rendezvous of 
 the Dutch whale ships, and was amply provided with 
 boilers, tanks, and every kind of apparatus requisite 
 for preparing the oil and the bone. The fleets of 
 whalers were attended by a number of provision ships, 
 the cargoes of which were landed at Smeerenberg, 
 and this place abounded during the busy season, with 
 well-furnished shops, good inns, &c., so that many of 
 the conveniences and enjoyments of Amsterdam were 
 found within about eleven degrees of the north pole ! 
 It is particularly mentioned that the sailors and others 
 were supplied with what a Dutchman regards as a 
 very great luxury, namely, hot rolls for breakfast, and 
 that a signal was given by blowing a horn, when they 
 were ready to be drawn from the oven. Smeerenberg 
 was founded about the same period with the colony 
 of Batavia, and it was for a considerable time doubt- 
 ful whether the former was not the more important 
 establishment. 
 
 During the flourishing period of the Dutch fishery, 
 the quantity of oil made at Smeerenberg was so great 
 that it could not be carried home by the whale ships, 
 and every year vessels were sent out in ballast to assist 
 in importing the produce of this valuable fishery. 
 But the same cause that had destroyed the fishery of 
 the Biscayans ruined that of Spitzbergen. The whales 
 became scarce, shy, and difficult to catch. They re- 
 treated first to the open seas, and then to the great 
 banks of ice on the east coast of Greenland. When 
 the site of the fishery had been thus removed to a 
 distance from Spitzbergen, it was found most econom- 
 ical to send the blubber directly to Holland. Smeer- 
 
12 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 enberg was, in consequence, totally deserted, and its 
 exact position is now difficult to determine. 
 
 The right to carry on the fishery was, in 1614, grant- 
 ed by the Dutch government, exclusively to a com- 
 pany formed for that purpose. In consequence of this 
 monopoly, the fishery though very extensive, was not 
 highly profitable. But in 1642 the business was 
 thrown open to all adventurers, and soon, by a vast 
 increase of profit, exhibited a striking example of the 
 benefits of free competition. The private whale ships 
 of the Dutch were fitted out on a plan that secured 
 the utmost economy and vigilance on the part of 
 every one connected with them. The hull of the ves- 
 sel was furnished by an individual, who commonly 
 acted as captain ; a sailmaker supplied the sails ; a 
 cooper the casks, &c. The parties engaged as adven- 
 turers in the undertaking. The cargo being brought 
 to Holland and disposed of, each person shared in the 
 produce according to his proportion of the outfit. The 
 crew were engaged on the same principle, so that 
 every one had a motive to exert himself, to see that 
 all unnecessary expenses were avoided. The Dutch 
 whale fishery was in its most flourishing state about 
 the year 1680, at which time it employed 260 ships 
 and 14,000 sailors. At present it is entirely extinct : 
 in 1828 a solitary ship sailed from Holland, being the 
 last attempt of that nation to prosecute a trade for 
 which they were once so distinguished. 
 
 The English whale fishery, like that of Holland, 
 was originally carried on by an exclusive association. 
 The Muscovy Company was indeed speedily driven 
 from the field, but it was immediately succeeded by 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 13 
 
 others which did not prove more fortunate. In 1725 
 the South Sea Company embarked largely in the 
 business and prosecuted it for eight years, when, having 
 lost a large sum, they abandoned it. But the British 
 government, judging it highly important to suppoit 
 this trade, granted, in 1732, a bounty of a pound ster- 
 ling a ton to every ship of above 200 tons' burthen 
 engaged in it. In 1749 this bounty was doubled 
 Many ships were fitted out, as much for the purpose 
 of catching the bounty as of catching whales. Deceiv 
 ed by the prosperous appearance of the fishery, the.? 
 government imagined it was firmly established, and in 
 1775 the bounty was reduced to 30 shillings, which 
 caused the trade to fall off nearly two-thirds in five 
 years. The bounty continued to fluctuate from 40 to 
 20 shillings tilt 1824 when it entirely ceased. 
 
 The seas between Spitzbergen and Greenland are 
 now nearly abandoned by the whalers, who have 
 changed their fishing ground to Davis' Straits and 
 Baffin's Bay, and the sea which washes the coast of 
 West Greenland. The Dutch whalers first began to 
 frequent Davis' Straits in 1719, and as the whales 
 had not before that time been pursued into this vast 
 recess, they were found in greater numbers than in the 
 waters around Spitzbergen. It was not till a compara- 
 tively late period that Davis' Straits began to be fre- 
 quented by English whalers, and even so late as 1820, 
 when Captain Scoresby published his valuable work 
 on the whale fishery, the Greenland Sea was the 
 most frequented. But, within a few years the Green- 
 land fishery has been almost entirely abandoned. The 
 various discoveries made by Parry and Ross in the 
 xvin. 2 
 
14 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 seas and inlets to the west of Davis' Straits and 
 Baffin's Bay, have made the fishers acquainted with 
 several new and advantageous places for the prosecu- 
 tion of their business. What further revolutions the 
 northern whale fishery may be destined to undergo, 
 it is impossible to foresee ; but there can be little 
 doubt that the same results that have happened else- 
 where, will occur in Davis' Straits, and that it will be 
 necessary to pursue the whale to new, and perhaps to 
 still more inaccessible haunts. The sea in these 
 straits is less incommoded with field ice than the 
 Greenland and Spitzbergen waters, but it abounds 
 with icebergs ; and the fishery carried on in Baffin's 
 Bay and Lancaster Sound, is more dangerous perhaps 
 than any that has hitherto been attempted. 
 
 The British ships employed in the "northern whale 
 fishery, amounted, in 1789, to 161 ; at present, they 
 do not exceed half that number. The business has 
 for some time, partaken more of the nature of a lot- 
 tery than of a regular industrial pursuit. Frequently 
 the ships do not procure above half a cargo, and 
 sometimes nothing at all. The risk of shipwreck is 
 also very great. 
 
 Before proceeding farther in our history of the 
 whale fishery, it may be well to give a short descrip- 
 tion of the animal, and the methods of pursuing and 
 capturing him. There are two species of this mon- 
 ster of the deep which are valuable to the fisher, the 
 common Greenland, or right whale, as he is termed by 
 the sailors, and the spermaceti whale. The former, 
 when full grown, varies in length from fifty to sixty-five 
 feet, and sometimes reaches even eighty feet ; its great- 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 15 
 
 est circumference is from thirty to fifty feet. It is 
 thickest a little behind the fins, or in the middle, from 
 Whence it gradually tapers in a conical form, towards 
 the tail, and slightly towards the head. Its form is 
 cylindrical from the back to within ten feet of the tail, 
 beyond which it becomes somewhat quadrangular. 
 The head has rather a triangular shape. The under 
 part of this is flat; it measures sixteen or twenty 
 feet in length, and ten or twelve in breadth. The 
 lips extend fifteen or twenty feet in length, and open 
 to the width of five or six feet. A whale's mouth 
 is capable of containing a ship's jolly-boat full of men. 
 The fins, two in number, are from seven to nine 
 feet long, and two feet broad. There is no dorsal fin. 
 The tail, comprising in a single surface, eighty or one 
 hundred square feet, is a formidable instrument of 
 motion and defence. It is only five or six feet long, 
 but its width is from eighteen to twenty -six feet ; its 
 strength is enormous. The eyes of the whale are 
 remarkably small in proportion to the bulk of the ani- 
 mal's body, being little larger than those of an ox. 
 He has no external ear, nor can any orifice for the 
 admission of sound be discovered until the skin is 
 removed. On the highest part of the head are two 
 blow holes, six or eight inches apart ; these are the 
 proper nostrils of the whale, and by their spouting-, 
 often betray the course of the animal to those in pur- 
 suit. The mouth has no teeth, but in lieu of them, 
 two extensive rows of whalebone, which also lines the 
 roof of the mouth. * The skin of the body is slightly 
 
 * Whalebone, is the name given to the horny layers laid 
 lengthwise in the mouth of the whale. These have fringes 
 
16 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 furrowed, like the water lines on coarse paper. Im- 
 mediately under this, lies the blubber or fat, encom- 
 passing the whole body of the animal together witn 
 the fins and tail. Its color is yellowish white, yellow 
 or red ; its thickness all round the body is from eight 
 to twenty inches. The lips are composed almost 
 entirely of blubber, and yield from one to two tons 
 of pure oil each. The blubber and the whalebone are 
 the only valuable parts of the animal. The blubber 
 in its fresh state is without any unpleasant smell, and 
 it is not until after the termination of the voyage, when 
 the cargo is unstowed, that a Greenland ship offends 
 the nostrils. A stout whale of sixty feet weighs sev- 
 enty tons, and will yield six or seven thousand gallons 
 of oil. 
 
 The spermaceti whale or cachelot, differs in several 
 respects from the other species. It is somewhat 
 smaller, and feeds in a different manner. The Green- 
 along the edges, and as the animal has no teeth, he takes in a 
 mouthful of sea water, which contains a quantity of medusa? 
 and other small marine animals ; when the mouth is closed, 
 the water flows out between the fringes, which operate as a 
 sieve or screen, leaving the medusae behind, to be swallowed. 
 It is impossible to conceive of an apparatus more admirably 
 adapted to its purpose, than this. The laminae of whalebone 
 are compacted together, by what is called the gum. There are 
 about 300 of these plates or blades on each side of the 
 mouth ; the middle ones are the longest, and are sometimes 
 fifteen feet in length. The width at the root end is ten or 
 twelve inches, and the thickness four or five tenths of an inch. 
 This article is used for stays, frames of umbrellas, the frame 
 work of seats, dec. It sells in London for 50 to 150 ster- 
 ling, per ton. 
 
18 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 land whale is supplied with a curious and complicated 
 apparatus composed of numerous strips of what we 
 call whalebone, which operates as a kind of sieve 
 or screen, by means of which, it separates its food of 
 medusae and other small sea animals, from the water ; 
 thn rachelot, on the contrary, has sharp teeth, designed 
 for seizing its prey, which seems to consist chiefly of 
 the squid or sepia. It has also an external orifice for 
 hearing, which is wanting in the Greenland whale. 
 It does not supply whalebone, but yields spermaceti, 
 with a peculiarly fine kind of oil, both of which are 
 found in the head of the animal, in a thin membrane- 
 ous case. The head is enormously large, and the 
 quantity of these valuable materials which it contains, 
 renders it a special object of desire to the whalers. It 
 is gregarious, the herds being divided into two kinds, 
 one consisting of females, the other of young whales, 
 not fully grown. 
 
 These herds are called by whalers " schools" and 
 one of these sometimes contains as much as five or six 
 hundred. With each herd or school of females, are 
 always from one to three large bulls, the lords of the 
 herd, or as they are called, the " school-masters." 
 The full grown whales, or " large whales," almost 
 always go separately, in search of food ; when they ' 
 are seen in company, they are supposed to be migrat- 
 ing from one feeding ground to another. 
 
 The British whale-ships seldom attempt to penetrate 
 the northern seas before the month of April, when 
 the sun having entered the northern tropic, begins to 
 enlighten the polar regions throughout the twenty-four 
 hours. Storms and foggy weather usually prevail in 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 19 
 
 the spring, and these combined with the darkness of 
 night and crowded ice, produce as gloomy a combina- 
 tion of circumstances, as can well be imagined. 
 Usually, the fish are most plentiful in June. The 
 fishery usually terminates in July. 
 The northern whale-ships are built expressly for 
 the purpose, in a most substantial manner, to resist 
 exposure to the ice ; they are sometimes treble planked ; 
 the stern and bows are fortified in the strongest man- 
 ner by timber and iron plates. The crew of a ship 
 consists of forty or fifty men, all of whom go on 
 shares in the adventure. On reaching the fishing sta- 
 tion, the whale boats are prepared for service, and 
 slung over the ship's sides on davits or cranes ; they 
 are furnished with stores, harpoons, lances, &c., and 
 everything is kept in such readiness that they can be 
 manned and lowered into the water at a minute's 
 notice. Whenever there is a probability of seeing 
 whales, the master or some one of the officers takes 
 his station in the crowds nest. This is a sort of 
 watch-tower placed on the maintop-mast or topgallant- 
 mast head, to shelter the observer from the keen pierc- 
 ing wind of the north. Commanding from this ele- 
 vated point an extensive prospect of all the surrounding 
 sea, he keeps an anxious watch for the appearance of 
 a whale. The moment one is seen, he gives notice to 
 the watch on deck, part of whom leap into a boat, are 
 lowered down and push ofT in pursuit. If the whale 
 be large, a second boat is immediately despatched to 
 the assistance of the first. The harpooner and boat- 
 steerer keep a careful watch on all sides, while each 
 of the rowers looks out in the direction of his oar. 
 
20 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 Many precautions must be observed in approaching a 
 whale to prevent him from taking the alarm. As he 
 is dull of hearing, but quick of sight, the boat-steerer 
 always endeavors to get behind him. 
 
 A whale seldom abides longer on the top of the 
 water than two minutes, and generally remains from* 
 five to ten minutes below. In this interval, he some- 
 times swims half a mile or more ; and as the fisher 
 has very rarely any certain intimation of the place in 
 which he will re-appear, the difficulty of approaching 
 him sufficiently near during his short stay on the sur- 
 face, to reach him with the harpoon, may be readily 
 apprehended. It is, therefore, a primary considera- 
 tion with the harpooner always to place his boat as 
 near as possible to the spot in which he expects the 
 fish to rise, and he thinks himself successful in the 
 attempt when the fish comes up " within a start," that 
 is, within the distance of about 200 yards. When- 
 ever a whale lies on the surface of the water, uncon- 
 scious of the approach of his enemies, the hardy 
 fisher rows directly upon him, and the instant before 
 the boat touches, buries the harpoon in his back. 
 But if, while the boat is yet at a little distance, the 
 whale should indicate his intention of diving by lift- 
 ing his head and then plunging it under water, and 
 raising his body until it appears like the large segment 
 of a sphere, the harpoon is thrown from the hand, or 
 fired from a gun. The wounded whale, in the sur- 
 prise and agony of the moment, makes a convulsive 
 effort to escape. This is the moment of danger. The 
 boat is exposed to the most violent blows from his 
 head or fins, but particularly from his ponderous tail, 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 21 
 
 which sometimes sweeps the air with such tremen- 
 dous fury that boat and men are exposed to one com- 
 mon destruction. The first effort of a " fast fish," or 
 whale that has been struck, is to escape from the boat 
 by sinking under water. After this he pursues his 
 .course directly downward, or re-appears at a little dis- 
 tance, and swims with great celerity near the surface of 
 the water towards any neighboring ice, among which he 
 imagines he may obtain shelter, or he returns instantly 
 to the surface, and gives evidence of his agony by the 
 most convulsive throes, in which his fins and tail are 
 alternately displayed in the air and dashed into the 
 water with tremendous violence. 
 
 To the harpoon is attached the end of a very long 
 line, which is nicely coiled up in the bottom of the 
 boat, so that it may run out freely as the whale makes 
 off. But to retard as much as possible his flight, it is 
 usual for the harpooner to cast one, two, or more turns 
 of the line round a kind of post called a bollard. Such 
 is the friction of the line when running round the 
 bollard, that it frequently envelops the harpooner in 
 smoke, and if the wood were not frequently moistened, 
 it would take fire. During the capture of one whale, 
 a groove is sometimes cut in the bollard nearly an inch 
 in depth. When the line happens to become entan- 
 gled, it sometimes draws the boat under water, and if 
 no boat or piece of ice be at hand, the crew are in 
 danger of drowning. When the line is nearly run 
 out, and more is wanted, a signal is made for help by 
 elevating an oar, and sometimes two, three, or four, 
 according to the nature of the exigence. It is usual 
 
22 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 in order to prevent accidents, for two boats to go in 
 company. 
 
 The average stay under water, of a wounded whale 
 which steadily descends after being struck, is about 
 half an hour. The greater the velocity, the more con- 
 siderable the distance to which he descends, and the 
 longer the time he remains under water so much 
 greater in proportion is the extent of his exhaustion, 
 and the consequent facility of effecting his capture. 
 As soon as he re-appears, the assisting boats pull after 
 him with the utmost speed, and as they reach him, 
 each harpooner plunges his weapon into his back. 
 He is afterwards assailed with lances ; and at length, 
 when exhausted by numerous wounds and the loss of 
 blood, he begins to indicate the approach of death by 
 spouting blood from his nostrils. The sea to a great 
 extent around, is dyed with blood, and the boats and 
 men are someiimes drenched with the same. His 
 track is likewise marked by a broad pellicle of oil, 
 which exudes from the wounds and appears on the 
 surface of the sea. The death of the whale is some- 
 times preceded by a convulsive struggle in which his 
 tail is reared, whirled, and violently jerked in the air 
 with a noise that resounds to the distance of miles. 
 
 The ease with which some whales are subdued, and 
 the slightness of the entanglement by which they are 
 taken, are truly surprising. But with others it is 
 equally astonishing, that neither line nor harpoon nor 
 any number of these are sufficient to ensure their cap- 
 ture. Many instances have occurred where whales 
 have escaped from four, five, or even more harpoons, 
 while others equally large have been killed by only 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 23 
 
 one. Indeed, whales have been taken in consequence 
 of the entanglement of a line, without any harpoon at 
 all. The following anecdote to this effect is given by 
 Scoresby. 
 
 A whale was struck and killed by the boat of a 
 British ship in Davis' Straits. The line was detached 
 from the harpoon, and while the boat's crew were 
 hauling it in, on a sudden, to their great astonishment, 
 the line was pulled away from them with, the same 
 force and violence as by a whale when first struck. 
 They gave the signal and their shipmates flocked 
 toward them, every one expressing a degree of aston- 
 ishment equal to their own, but all agreeing that a 
 fish was fast to the line. In a few minutes they were 
 confirmed in their opinion, and relieved from suspense 
 by the rising of a large whale close by them, exhausted 
 by fatigue, and having every appearance of being 
 struck. He permitted himself to be attacked by sev- 
 eral harpoons at once, and was speedily killed. On 
 examination after death, they found the line belonging 
 to the above mentioned boat, in his mouth, where it 
 was still firmly held by the compression of the lips. 
 It appeared that the end of the line after being loos- 
 ened from the whale first killed, was in the act of 
 sinking in the water ; the fish in question, engaged in 
 feeding, was advancing with his mouth wide open, 
 and accidentally caught the line between his extended 
 jaws. A sensation so utterly new, had caused him to 
 shut his mouth and grasp the line which was the 
 cause of his alarm, so firmly that a harpoon could not 
 have attached it to him more effectually. 
 
 In July, 1813, Scoresby's ship lay by the edge of a 
 
24 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 large sheet of ice, in which were several thin parts, 
 and some holes. Here a whale was heard blowing ; 
 and a harpoon with a line connected with it was con- 
 veyed across the ice from a boat on guard, and the 
 harpooner succeeded in striking the whale at the dis- 
 tance of 350 yards from the verge. It dragged out 
 ten lines, (2400 yards,) and was supposed to be seen 
 blowing in different holes in the ice. After some 
 time he appeared on the exterior, and a harpoon was 
 thrown at the moment he was on the point of diving 
 beneath. About a hundred yards from the edge he 
 broke through the ice with his crown, where it was a 
 foot thick, and respired through the opening. He 
 then resolutely pushed forward, breaking the ice as he 
 advanced, in spite of the lances constantly directed 
 against him. He reached at length a kind of basin in 
 the field where he floated on the surface of the water 
 without any incumbrance from the ice. His back 
 being fairly exposed, the harpoon struck from the boat 
 on the outside, was observed to be so slightly fixed in 
 him that it was ready to drop out. Some of the offi- 
 cers lamented this, and expressed a wish that the har- 
 poon were better fastened, observing that if it should 
 slip out, either the fish would be lost, or they would 
 be under the necessity of cutting it up where it lay, 
 and dragging the pieces of blubber over the ice to the 
 ship, a labor which every one was anxious to avoid. 
 No sooner was the wish expressed, than one of the 
 sailors, a bold enterprising fellow, stepped forward 
 and volunteered his services to strike it farther in. 
 Not at all intimidated by the surprise which was mani- 
 fested in every countenance, by so daring a proposal, he 
 
THB WHALE FISHERY. 25 
 
 pulled out his jack-knife, leaped upon the back of the 
 living whale and cut the harpoon out. Stimulated by 
 his courageous example, one of his companions pro- 
 ceeded to his assistance. While one of them hauled 
 upon the line, and held it in his hands, the other set 
 his shoulder against the extremity of the harpoon, and 
 though it was without a stock, he contrived to strike 
 it again into the fish more effectually than it was at 
 first. The whale was in motion before they finished ; 
 after they got off his back, he advanced a considerable 
 distance, breaking the ice all the way, and survived 
 for a quarter of an hour. 
 
 When a ship approaches a considerable field of ice, 
 and finds whales, it is usual to moor to the lee side 
 of it. Boats are placed on the watch, and stationed at 
 intervals of 100 or 150 yards from one another, along 
 the edge of the ice. It is not uncommon for a great 
 number of ships to moor to the same sheet of ice. 
 When the whale fishery of the Dutch was in its most 
 flourishing state, above a hundred sail of ships might 
 sometimes be seen moored to the same field. 
 
 Fishing in storms never takes place except when a 
 gale arises immediately after a fish is struck ; but in 
 foggy weather, the fishery, though hazardous, is not 
 altogether impracticable. The fogs of the north in 
 June and July are generally thick and lasting. They 
 are so dense that objects cannot be seen at a hundred 
 yards' distance. When a whale is struck in one of 
 these fogs, and conducts favorably, that is, descends 
 almost perpendicularly, and on his return to the sur- 
 face, remains nearly stationary or moves round in a 
 small circle, he is usually captured without much haz- 
 xvin. 3 
 
26 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 ard or difficulty. But when, on the contrary, he pro- 
 ceeds with any considerable velocity in a horizontal 
 direction, or obliquely downwards, he soon drags the 
 boats out of sight of the ship, and shortly so con- 
 founds the fishers in the thick mist, that they lose all 
 knowledge of the direction of the vessel. If they get 
 beyond the reach of the sound of a bell, or a cannon, 
 they run great hazard of being lost. 
 
 " On the 25th of June, 1812," says Scoresby, " one 
 of the harpooners belonging to the Resolution, of 
 Whitby, under my command, struck a whale by the 
 edge of a small floe of ice. Assistance being 
 promptly afforded, a second boat's lines were attached 
 to those of the first boat in a few minutes after the 
 harpoon was discharged. The remainder of the boats 
 proceeded to some distance, in the direction the fish 
 seemed to have taken. In about a quarter of an hour 
 the fast boat, to my surprise, again made a signal for 
 lines. As the sKip was then within five minutes' sail, 
 we instantly steered towards the boat with the -view 
 of affording assistance. Before we reached the place, 
 however, we observed four oars displayed in signal 
 order, which by their number, indicated a most urgent 
 necessity for assistance. Two or three men were at 
 the same time seated close by the stern, which was 
 considerably elevated, for the purpose of keeping it 
 down, while the bow of the boat, by the force of the 
 line, was drawn down to the level of the sea, and the 
 harpooner by the friction of the line round the bollard, 
 was enveloped in smoky obscurity. At length, when 
 the ship was scarcely a hundred yards distant, we 
 perceived preparations for quitting the boat. The 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 27 
 
 sailors' pea jackets were cast upon the adjoining ice, the 
 oars were thrown down, the crew leaped overboard, the 
 bow of the boat was buried in the water, the stern rose 
 perpendicularly and then it majestically disappeared. 
 The harpooner having caused the end of the line to 
 be fastened to the iron ring at the boat's stern, was 
 the means of its loss, and a tongue of the ice on which 
 was a depth of several feet of water, kept the boat by 
 the pressure of the line against it, at such a consider- 
 able distance, as prevented the crew from leaping upon 
 the floe. Some of them were, therefore, put to the 
 necessity of swimming for their preservation, but all 
 of them succeeded in scrambling upon the ice, and 
 were taken aboard of the ship a few minutes after- 
 ward. 
 
 " Several ships being about us, there was a possi- 
 bility that some person might attack and make a prize 
 of the whale, when it had so far escaped us that we 
 no longer retained any hold of it. We set all sail the 
 ship could safely sustain, and crowded through several 
 narrow and intricate channels in the ice, in the direc- 
 tion I observed the fish had retreated. After a little 
 time, it was descried by the people in the boats at a 
 considerable distance to the eastward ; a general chase 
 immediately commenced, and in the space of an horn, 
 three harpoons were struck. We now imagined the 
 fish was secure, but our expectations were premature. 
 The whale resolutely pushed beneath a large floe that 
 had recently been broken to pieces by the swell, and 
 soon drew all the lines out of the second fast boat, the 
 officer of which, not being able to get any assistance, 
 tied the end of his line to a hammock of ice, and 
 
2S THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 oroke it. Soon afterward, the two other boats, still 
 fast, were dragged against the broken floe, when one 
 of the harpoons drew out. The line of only one boat 
 therefore, remained fast to the fish, and this, with six 
 or eight lines out, was dragged forward into the shat- 
 tered floe with astonishing force. Pieces of ice, each 
 of which was sufficiently large to have answered the 
 purpose of a mooring for a ship, were wheeled about 
 by the strength of the whale, and such was the tension 
 and elasticity of the line, that whenever it slipped 
 clear of any mass of ice, after turning it round into the 
 space between any two adjoining pieces, the boat and 
 its crew flew forward through the creek with the 
 velocity of an arrow, and never failed to launch several 
 feet upon the first mass of ice that it encountered. 
 
 " While we scoured the sea around the broken floe, 
 with the ship, and while the ice was attempted in vain 
 by the boats, the whale continued to press forward in an 
 easterly direction, toward the sea. At length, when 
 fourteen lines about 1680 fathoms were drawn 
 from the fourth fast boat, a slight entanglement of the 
 line broke it at the stern. The fish, then, again made 
 its escape, taking along with it a boat and twenty- 
 eight lines. The united length of these was 6720 
 yards, or upwards of three English miles and three 
 quarters ; value, with the boat, 150 sterling. The 
 obstruction of the sunken boat to the progress of the 
 fish, must have been immense, and that of the lines 
 likewise considerable, the weight of these alone being 
 3500 weight. 
 
 " So long as the fourth fast boat, through the medium 
 of its lines, retained its hold of the fish, we searched 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 29 
 
 the adjoining sea with the ship in vain ; but in a short 
 time after the line was divided, we got sight of the 
 object of pursuit, at the distance of near two miles to 
 the eastward of the ice and boats, in the open sea. 
 One boat only, with lines, and two empty boats, were 
 reserved by the ship. Having, however, fortunately, 
 fine weather, and a fresh breeze of wind, we immedi- 
 ately gave chase under all sail, though it must be con- 
 fessed, with the insignificant force by us, the distance 
 of the fish, and the rapidity of its flight considered, we 
 had but very small hopes of success. At length, after 
 pursuing it five or six miles, being at least nine miles 
 from the place where it was struck, we came up with 
 it, and it .seemed inclined to rest after its extraor- 
 dinary exertions. The two dismantled or empty 
 boats having been furnished with two lines each, a 
 very inadequate supply, they, together with the one in 
 a good state of equipment, now made an attack upon 
 the whale. One of the harpooners made a blunder ; 
 the fish saw the boat, took the alarm, and again fled. 
 I now supposed it would be seen no more ; neverthe- 
 less, we chased nearly a mile in the direction I imag- 
 ined it had taken, and placed the boats to the best of 
 my judgment, in the most advantageous situations. 
 In this case, we were extremely fortunate. The fish 
 rose near one of the boats, and was immediately har-' 
 pooned. In a few minutes, two more harpoons 
 entered its back, and lances were plied against it with 
 vigor and success. Exhausted by its amazing exer- 
 tions to escape, it yielded itself at length to its fate, 
 received the piercing wounds of the lances without 
 resistance, and finally died without a struggle." 
 3* 
 
30 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 The same writer describes the following singular, 
 yet unsuccessful chase. " The weather was fine, and 
 no ice in sight. A boat was despatched toward one 
 of the fish we saw, which was immediately struck. 
 The men were already considerably fatigued, but of 
 course proceeded in the boats to the chase of the fast 
 fish. It made its re-appearance before they all left the 
 ship. Three boats then approached it, unluckily at 
 the same moment. Each of these so incommoded the 
 others, that no second harpoon could be struck. The 
 fish then took the alarm, and ran off towards the east, 
 at the rate of about four miles per hour. Some of the 
 boats gave chase, and others took hold of the fast boat, 
 and were towed by it to windward. When two boats 
 by great exertions on the part of their crews, had got 
 very near to the fish, and the harpooners were 
 expecting every moment to be able to strike it, it sud- 
 denly shifted its course when under water, and in a 
 few minutes discovered itself in a southerly direction, 
 at least half a mile from any boat. It then -completed 
 a circuit round the fast boat with a sweep of nearly a 
 mile as a radius, and though followed in its track by 
 the boats, it dived before any of them got near it, and 
 evaded them completely. When it appeared again, it 
 was at least half a mile to windward of any of them, 
 and then continued arduously advancing in the same 
 direction. The 'lipper' on the water arising from a 
 strong breeze of wind, much impeded the velocity of 
 the boats, and rapidly exhausted the little remaining 
 strength of the crews. 
 
 " At various times during the pursuit, the boats 
 having the most indefatigable crews, reached the fish 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 31 
 
 within ten or fifteen yards, when, apparently aware of 
 their design, it immediately sunk and changed its 
 course, so that it invariably made its next appearance 
 in a quarter where no boats were near. The most 
 general course of the whale being to windward, it soon 
 withdrew all the boats many miles from the ship, not- 
 withstanding our utmost efforts under a pressure of 
 sail, to keep near them. After six or seven hours' pur- 
 suit, without success, the sky became overcast, and we 
 were suddenly enveloped for some time in a thick fog. 
 This, circumstance excited much alarm for the safety 
 of the boats ; we were soon, however, relieved by the 
 fog being dispelled. In this interval, the boats were 
 all moored to the fast boat, the men being fearful of 
 being dispersed ; but on the disappearance of the fog, 
 the pursuit was re-commenced with more determined 
 vigor. Still, the harpooners were not able to succeed. 
 They were now convinced of the necessity of using 
 every measure to retard the flight of the fish. For 
 this purpose, they slacked out new lines, a weight in 
 air of 11 cwt., while the crew of the fast boat 
 endeavored further to retard its progress, by holding 
 their oars firmly in the water as if in the act of back- 
 ing the boat astern ; but this plan did not succeed. 
 They then lashed two or three boats with their sides 
 to the stern of the fast boat, and these were dragged 
 broadside first, with little diminution of velocity for 
 some time. But the fish at length feeling the imped- 
 iment, suddenly changed its course, and again disap- 
 pointed the people in two of the boats, which had got 
 extremely near it. 
 
 " Several times the harpooners seized their wea- 
 
32 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 pons, and were on the point of launching them at the 
 fish, when in an instant, it shot from them with sin- 
 gular velocity, and then disappeared. In this way, 
 the chase was continued for fourteen hours, when the 
 fish again turned to leeward. But the men, exhausted 
 by such uncommon exertion, together with the hard 
 labor to which they had previously been subjected, at 
 the same time being without meat or drink, and spar- 
 ingly shielded from the inclemency of the weather 
 by clothes drenched in oil, were incapacitated from 
 taking advantage of the only chance they had jever 
 had of success, from the commencement of the chase ; 
 they did, it is true, make the attempt, but their efforts 
 were too feeble to be of any service. 
 
 " By this time, we had reached the boats with the 
 ship ; the wind had increased to a gale, and a consid- 
 erable sea had arisen. We had no hope, therefore, of 
 success ; as, however, we could not possibly recover 
 the lines at this time, stormy as the weather was, we 
 applied a cask as a buoy to support them, and moored 
 an empty boat leaving. a jack flying in it, to the cask, 
 with the intention of keeping near it during the storm, 
 and with the expectation of recovering our lines, and a 
 faint hope of likewise gaining the fish after the termi- 
 nation of the gale. The boat was then abandoned, 
 and all hands fatigued and oppressed with hunger 
 and thirst, and sore with cold, were safely, but 
 not without difficulty, taken on board the ship at the 
 expiration of 15f hours of 'unremitting labor under 
 circumstances particularly unfavorable. We made 
 an attempt to keep near the boat with the ship, 
 but the increasing force of the gale drove us, in spite 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 33 
 
 of every effort, about twenty mdles to leeward. On 
 the first cessation we made all sail and plied towards 
 the boat, and although the weather Was constantly 
 foggy, we succeeded in finding 1 it, recovered boat and 
 lines, but lost the whale. This disagreeable and un- 
 successful adventure occupied between three and four 
 days." 
 
 These perilous adventures are sometimes attended 
 by fatal consequences. In 1810, the Aimwell, a 
 British whaler, while in the Greenland seas struck a 
 fish by one of her boats. Instead of sinking imme- 
 diately on receiving the harpoon, as is usual, he only 
 dived for a moment and then rose beneath the boat, 
 struck it in the most furious manner with his fins and 
 tail, stove and upset it, and then disappeared. The 
 crew, seven in number, got on the bottom of the boat, 
 but the unequal action of the line which for some time 
 remained entangled with the boat, rolled it occasion- 
 ally over and thus plunged the crew repeatedly in the 
 water. Four of them after each immersion, recovered 
 themselves and clung to the boat, but the other three, 
 one of whom was the only person who could swim, 
 were drowned before assistance could arrive. The 
 four men in the boat being rescued, the attack was 
 renewed, and two more harpoons were struck. But 
 the whale, irritated instead of being alarmed by his 
 wounds, turned upon his assailants. The sea was all 
 in a foam from his furious motions ; his tail and fins 
 were in awful play : in a short time harpoon after 
 harpoon drew out, the whale was loosened from his 
 entanglement and escaped. 
 
 After the whale is properly secured alongside of the 
 
34 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 ship, the harpooners, having their feet armed with spurs 
 to prevent them from slipping, descend upon the fish. 
 Two hoats attend upon them and serve to hold their 
 knives and other apparatus. The harpooners divide 
 the fat into long slips which are stripped off the 
 whale by a tackle. This process is called flensing. 
 Where sharks are about the ship they generally help 
 themselves very plentifully during this operation, but 
 they often pay for their temerity with their lives. 
 Sea-fowl are also in attendance in immense num- 
 bers. They seize the fragments occasionally disen- 
 gaged by the knife, either in the water or on the wing. 
 After the blubber is received on board it is cut into 
 small pieces and put into casks through the bung-hole. 
 This process is called "making off." The blubber 
 which is originally in a state of firm fat, is found on 
 its arrival in a warm climate, to be in a great measure 
 resolved into oil. From the remainder, the oil is 
 extracted by boiling. 
 
 The decline of the British northern whale fishery 
 appears to be owing to three principal causes. In the 
 first place, the introduction of gas into general use in 
 Great Britain has materially lessened the demand for 
 whale oil. In the second place, the former fishing 
 fields round Spitzbergen have been greatly exhausted, 
 and whalers have been under the necessity of venturing 
 into more perilous latitudes for the object of their pur- 
 suit. In the third place, a loss of life and property in 
 this fishery has taken place of late years so extensive 
 and alarming, that mercantile men have been unwil- 
 ling to risk their capital, and seamen their existence 
 'm such ill-fated expeditions. In the year 1830, not 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. % 35 
 
 less than eighteen out of eighty-seven whale ships 
 were lost in the Davis' Straits fishery; and twenty- 
 four returned without taking any fish. This state of 
 things has been since growing worse, and in 1837, 
 several vessels were lost, and many others locked up 
 in the ice during the winter. The greater part of the 
 crews were lost, and the remainder experienced the 
 most cruel sufferings. 
 
 From the northern whale fishery we now turn to 
 that of the South, where this branch of industry is 
 pursued on the grandest scale. The fishery ground 
 there extends over the whole South Atlantic, the 
 Pacific and Indian Oceans ; it is in these waters that 
 the spermaceti whale is obtained. The method of 
 taking it is not materially different from that already 
 described in relation to the " right whale " ; but it is 
 attended by perils of another sort. Timid as it is, the 
 cachelot or spermaceti whale often causes such danger 
 by its convulsive efforts to escape, that its capture is 
 not less perilous than that of the northern whale 
 among the polar ice. Young bulls, as they are called, 
 in particular, frequently give enormous trouble to their 
 pursuers, and sometimes turn upon them with great 
 fury, intent on mischief, attacking them with teeth and 
 tail. While the British northern whale fishery has 
 fallen off, that of the south has much increased. As 
 in the case of the former, bounties were at first given 
 by government, but in 1821, these were withheld, and 
 the business was fairly left to private enterprise. 
 
 But the British, and indeed all the nations of 
 Europe have been far surpassed in -this fishery by 
 the people of the United States ; and the American 
 
36 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 whale fishery now constitutes one of the most impor- 
 tant branches of naval enterprise of this or any other 
 nation. The vessels employed in this fishery in 1844, 
 amounted to 696, a greater number by far than that 
 of all the European whale ships combined. The re- 
 markable enterprise of our countrymen in this depart- 
 ment of maritime adventure attracted the notice of 
 Mr. Burke at a very early period, and in 1774, he 
 uttered the following language ; " Look at the man- 
 ner in which the New England people carry on the 
 whale fishery. While we follow them among the 
 tumbling mountains of ice and behold them penetrat- 
 ing into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's Bay 
 and Davis' Straits ; while we are looking for them 
 beneath the Arctic Circle, we hear that they have 
 pierced into the opposite region of polar cold ; that 
 they are at the antipodes, and engaged under the 
 frozen serpent of the South. Falkland Island, which 
 seemed too remote and too romantic an object to the 
 grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and resting- 
 place for their victorious industry. Nor is the equi- 
 noctial heat more discouraging to them than the accu- 
 mulated winter of both the poles. We learn that while 
 some of them draw the line or strike the harpoon on 
 the coast of Africa, others run the longitude and pur- 
 sue their gigantic game along the coast of Brazil." 
 
 The first whaling expedition of the people of Nan- 
 tucket took place within twenty or thirty years of the 
 settlement of the island. A whale happened to ven- 
 ture into the harbor or was driven in by a storm. 
 This excited the curiosity of the inhabitants and led" 
 them to devise means to prevent his escape. Their 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 37 
 
 Yankee ingenuity, unassisted by any practical knowl- 
 edge, invented a harpoon with which they attacked 
 and killed this unexpected visitor. Such a success 
 encouraged them to undertake the whale fishery as a 
 permanent business, as the whales were very nume- 
 rous upon their shores. The pursuit of whales com- 
 menced in boat? from the island, and increased from 
 year to year, till it became the principal occupation of 
 the people. The Indians who remained in consider- 
 able numbers upon the island, had always been fond 
 of fishing, and readily joined with the whites in this 
 new pursuit, and willingly submitted to any station 
 assigned them. By their assistance the whites were 
 enabled to fit out and man a far greater number of 
 boats than they could have equipped of themselves. 
 Nearly every boat was manned in part, and many 
 almost entirely by natives. Some of the most skilful 
 were made steersmen, and some were allowed to head 
 the boats. Thus encouraged they soon became ex- 
 perienced whalemen and capable of conducting any 
 part of the business. Sometimes during the pleasant 
 days of winter they ventured off in their boats nearly 
 out of sight of land ; we are told that the winters 
 although equally cold, were not then so boisterous as 
 at present, but that the sea would sometimes continue 
 calm for a week or a fortnight at a time. 
 
 After being killed and towed to land, the whale was 
 flensed by drawing off the strips of blubber with a 
 capstan, and the oil "*was extracted in their " try- 
 houses," which at that early period adjoined their 
 dwellings. To enable the people to discover whales 
 at a distance, a mast was erected near the shore 
 XVIIL 4 
 
38 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 upon which they climbed, to look out for their game, 
 There appears to have been no decrease in the num- 
 ber of whales during the first thirty or forty years 
 from the beginning of the fishery. The greatest 
 number killed and brought to shore in one day was 
 eleven. This method of whaling continued till about 
 the middle of the last century, when the whales be- 
 came scarce, and it was by degrees abandoned. It is 
 remarkable that, although the people of Nantucket 
 were obliged to teach themselves this dangerous 
 occupation, and to carry it on under peculiarly hazard- 
 bus circumstances, not a single life was lost in the 
 business during the seventy years preceding 1760. 
 
 All the whales which were killed in this quarter 
 were of the "right" species. The first spermaceti 
 whale known to the inhabitants was driven ashore 
 dead on the south-west part of the island. There were 
 so many claimants of this prize that it was difficult to 
 decide who should have it. The Indians claimed the 
 whale, because they found it ; the whites claimed it 
 under their patent, which gave them the property of 
 the territory. An officer of the crown put in a claim 
 in behalf of the king, for according to ancient English 
 laws when a whale is driven ashore the head belongs to 
 the king and the tail to the queen a whimsical reg- 
 ulation, the origin of which is not known. After con- 
 siderable discussion among the contending parties, it 
 was settled that all treasure-trove of this sort should 
 belong to the parties who made the discovery. The 
 spermaceti at that time was esteemed to be worth its 
 weight in silver, as a universal medicine. 
 
 When the whales had become scarce, and appre- 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 39 
 
 hensions were felt that this branch of industry would 
 soon be extinct, it is said that an old man pointed to 
 the broad ocean, and exclaimed, " There is a green 
 pasture where our children's grandchildren will go for 
 bread." The first " deep whaling," as it was called, 
 to distinguish it from " shore whaling," was performed 
 in vessels of about thirty tons, which made cruises of 
 about six weeks. The business increased so rapidly 
 that in a short time Nantucket did not furnish seamen 
 enough to man the vessels, and recourse was had to 
 Cape Cod, and the shores westward as far as Long 
 Island. Larger craft were now employed, and they 
 ventured as far as the Azores, and even into Davis' 
 Straits, to the coast of Guiana and Brazil. As early 
 as 1768, the number of vessels had increased to 125, 
 and at the breaking out of the revolution, they 
 exceeded 150. Every person engaged in these 
 voyages, had a share in the property of the vessel ; 
 and while she was at sea, the owners at home were 
 busily employed in the manufacture of casks, iron- 
 work, cordage, blocks, &c., for the next voyage. 
 Thus, all the profits of the labor were widely distri- 
 buted, and the voyages were rendered advantageous, 
 even when the oil obtained was barely sufficient to 
 pay the outfits, estimating the labor as a part. This 
 mode of conducting the business was universal, and 
 has continued to a considerable extent down to the 
 present day. 
 
 The revolutionary war put an entire stop to the 
 Nantucket whale fishery; but with the return of 
 peace, it again revived. In 1791, the first Nantucket 
 whaler ventured into the Pacific Ocean. Some sue- 
 
40 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 cessful cruises had been made on the western coast of 
 South America, by British ships, which encouraged 
 the people of Nantucket to extend their fishery to that 
 quarter. The vessels first sent out, returned loaded 
 with oil, and reported that whales were plenty, the 
 seas favorable for fishing, and the climate of those 
 regions healthy. This was sufficient encouragement, 
 notwithstanding the length of the voyage ; and the 
 South Sea was soon frequented by a considerable fleet 
 of American whalers. The Spaniards threatened 
 hostilities against them for invading their seas, and 
 actually detained some of the ships, which put into 
 their harbors ; but these difficulties were soon removed, 
 and the South Sea whale fishery was pursued without 
 molestation. 
 
 The business again suffered an interruption by the 
 war of 1812 ; but it was re-commenced with new 
 spirit after the treaty of Ghent. Before this period, 
 the people of New Bedford had also engaged in it, and 
 subsequently, it extended to New London, Long 
 Island, and several other places. 
 
 The following adventure with a spermaceti whale, 
 is related by Mr. Beale. "On the morning of the 
 18th of June, 1832, while we were fishing off Japan, 
 we fell in with an immense sperm whale, which 
 happened to be just the sort we required to com- 
 plete our cargo. Three boats were immediately low- 
 ered to give him chase, but the whale from some cause 
 or other, appeared wild in its actions, long before it 
 had seen any of our boats, although it might have 
 been chased the day before, by some other ship. It 
 was greatly different in its actions from most other 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 41 
 
 large whales, because it never went steadily upon one 
 course. If he ' peaked his flukes,' or went down going 
 to the southward, we expected he would continue that 
 course under water, but when he again rose, perhaps 
 he was two or three miles away from the boats to the 
 northward. In this manner he dodged us about till 
 near 4 P. M., at which time the men were dreadfully 
 exhausted from their exertions in the chase, which had 
 been conducted under a broiling sun, with the ther- 
 mometer standing in the shade at 93. About half 
 past four, however, Captain Swain contrived by the 
 most subtle management, and great physical exertions, 
 to get near the monster, when he immediately struck 
 him with the harpoon with his own hands, and before 
 he had time to recover from the blow, he managed 
 with his usual dexterity, to give him two fatal wounds 
 with the lance, which caused the blood to flow from 
 the blow-holes in abundance. The whale after the 
 last lance, immediately descended below the surface, 
 and the captain felt certain that he was going to 
 * sound,' but in this he was much mistaken, for a few 
 minutes after his descent, he again rose to the surface 
 with great velocity, and striking the boat with the 
 front part of his head, threw it high into the air, with 
 the men and everything contained therein, fracturing 
 it to atoms, and scattering its crew widely about. 
 
 " While the men were endeavoring to save them- 
 selves from drowning, by clinging to the oars and 
 pieces of the wreck of the boat, the enormous animal 
 was seen swimming round and round them, appearing 
 as if meditating an attack with his flukes, which if he 
 had thought proper to do in return for the grievous 
 4* 
 
42 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 wounds that he had himself received, a few strokes of 
 his ponderous tail would soon have destroyed his ene- 
 mies ; but this was not attempted. They had now 
 nothing to hope for but the arrival of the other boats 
 to relieve them from their dangerous situation, ren- 
 dered more so by the appearance of several large 
 sharks attracted by the blood which flowed from the 
 whale, which were sometimes only a few feet from 
 them, and also by the inability of one of the boat's 
 crew to swim, by which three or four of his mates 
 were much exhausted in their efforts to save him. 
 This they succeeded in doing, after having lashed two 
 or three oars across the stern of the boat, which hap- 
 pened to be not much fractured, upon which they 
 placed their helpless fellow-adventurer. After they 
 had remained in the water about three quarters of an 
 hour, assisting themselves by clinging to pieces of the 
 wreck, one of the other boats arrived and took them 
 in. But although these brave men had been so 
 defeated, they were not subdued. The moment they 
 entered the boat, their immediate determination was 
 for another attack upon the immense creature which 
 remained close by, while the other boat which was 
 pulling towards them with all the strength of its 
 rowers, would still be a quarter of an hour before it 
 could arrive. 
 
 " Captain Swain with twelve men in one boat, 
 therefore, made another attack upon the whale with 
 the lance, which caused it to throw up blood from the 
 blow-holes in increased quantities. We who were on 
 board the ship and had observed from a great distance 
 by means of the telescope, the whole of the occur- 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 43 
 
 rence, were employed in beating the ship towards 
 them ; but they were far to windward, and the wind 
 being rather light, we had even our royal-sails set. 
 Soon after the arrival of the third boat, the whale 
 went into its flurry, and soon died ; when to the dis- 
 may of the boat's crew, it sunk, and never rose again ; 
 an occurrence which is not very unfrequent, owing, 
 of course, to the greater specific gravity of the indi- 
 vidual. Such were the adventures of that day, in the 
 evening of which the crews returned to the ship, 
 worn out and dispirited, having lost a favorite boat, 
 with the whole of her instruments, besides the last 
 whale wanted to complete the cargo, and worth at 
 least, 2500 dollars." 
 
 Numerous stories are told of fighting whales, many 
 of which are probably much exaggerated. A large 
 whale called Timor Jack, is the hero of many strange 
 tales, such as of his destroying every boat which was 
 sent out against him, until a contrivance was hit upon 
 by lashing a barrel to the harpoon, by which he was 
 struck, and whilst his attention was divided among 
 several boats, means were found to give him his death 
 wound. In the year 1804, the ship Adonis being in 
 company with several others, struck a large whale off 
 the coast of New Zealand, which stove and destroyed 
 nine boats before breakfast, and the chase conse- 
 quently was given up. After destroying boats 
 belonging to many ships, this whale was at last 
 captured, and the numerous harpoons of the vari- 
 ous boats that had from time to time been sent out 
 against him, were found sticking in his body. This 
 
44 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 whale was called New Zealand Tom, and the tradi- 
 tion is carefully preserved by the whalers. 
 
 The following account of the attack of a whale upon a 
 ship, is perfectly well authenticated. The ship Essex, 
 Captain George Pollard, sailed from Nantucket, on 
 the 12th of August, 1819, on a whaling voyage to the 
 Pacific Ocean. On the 20th of November, whales 
 were discovered. In pursuing them, the mate's boat 
 was stove, which obliged him to return to the ship, 
 when they commenced repairing the damage. The 
 captain and the second mate were left with their boats 
 pursuing the whale. During this interval, the mate 
 discovered a large spermaceti whale near the ship, but 
 not suspecting any danger, it gave the crew no alarm, 
 till they saw the whale coming with full speed towards 
 them. In a moment, they were astonished by a tre- 
 mendous crash. The whale had struck the ship a lit- 
 tle forward of the fore-chains. It was some minutes 
 before the crew could recover from their astonishment 
 so far as to examine whether any damage had been 
 sustained. They tried their pumps and found that 
 the ship was sinking ; a signal was immediately made 
 for the boats. The whale was now seen again making 
 toward the vessel. He came on with great velocity, 
 causing the water to foam all around him, and si ruck 
 the ship a second blow, which nearly stove in her 
 bows. 
 
 There was now no hope of saving the ship, and the 
 only resort was to leave her in all possible expedition. 
 They hastily collected a few things, threw themselves 
 into the boat, and shoved off. The ship immediately 
 fell upon one side, and sunk to the water's edge. 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 45 
 
 When the two other boats joined them, such was the 
 consternation that for some time not a word was 
 spoken by any one. The danger of their situation at 
 length aroused the men as from a terrific dream to a 
 no less terrific reality. They remained by the wreck 
 two or three days, in which time they cut away the 
 masts, which caused her to right a little. By cutting 
 holes in the deck they obtained bread, water, and some 
 other articles. They then left the ship with as gloomy 
 a prospect before them as can well be imagined. The 
 nearest land was about a thousand miles to windward 
 of them : their boats were leaky, and their supply of 
 bread and water short for so long a voyage. They 
 steered southerly by the wind, in hopes of falling in 
 with some ship, but in this they were disappointed. 
 
 After being in their boats twenty-eight days, suffer- 
 ing much from gales of wind, want of water, &c., 
 they reached Dacre's Island, where they found water, 
 but little food. Three of the crew chose to stay here 
 and take their chance of the arrival of a ship. The 
 others left the place and steered for Easter Island, but 
 missed it by falling to leeward. They then directed 
 their course to Juan Fernandez, which lay about 2000 
 miles to the E. S. E. One of them died on the 10th 
 of January, and on the 12th, the mate's boat sepa- 
 rated from the other two ; and on the 19th, these like- 
 wise separated. 
 
 One of the boats was never afterwards heard of. 
 The other two were taken up by ships after the most 
 dreadful sufferings, of such of the crew as survived, 
 who were only five. The men on the island were 
 fortunately taken off. 
 
46 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 Notwithstanding occasional accidents, however, 
 which have led some persons to imagine that the 
 whale fishery is a most perilous pursuit, involving the 
 sacrifice of much property, and the destruction of 
 many lives, yet such have been the personal courage, 
 firmness, skill and nautical experience brought into 
 action in this branch of American commerce, that the 
 losses of the past year, 1844, have not exceeded one 
 half of one per cent, upon the amount of navigation 
 comprised in the business. 
 
 The following are the Statistics of the American 
 whale fishery for 1844 : 
 
 NUMBER OF VESSELS EMPLOYED. 
 
 Ships, 504 
 
 Barques, 140 
 
 Brigs, 33 
 
 Schooners, 19 
 
 Total, 696 
 
 PRODUCTS. 
 
 Sperm Oil, 138,595 barrels. 
 
 Black or Whale Oil, 267,082 
 
 Whalebone, 3,015,145 pounds. 
 
 It is stated that the French have but twelve or 
 fifteen ships now engaged in this branch of enterprise. 
 The whale ships of Great Britain, amounted in 1839, 
 to about 150, and the quantity of oil obtained, was 
 about 16,885 tons. It is generally believed that the 
 whale fishery throughout the world is on the decline, 
 owing in part to the diminution of the whales, and partly 
 from the substitution of other articles for whale oil. 
 
THE WHALE FISHERY. 47 
 
 It is a curious fact that the swine of our western 
 states, are now supplying great quantities of lard oil, 
 and are thus coming into competition with the great 
 monsters of the deep. 
 
 There is no human pursuit, which more strikingly 
 exhibits the enterprising character of man, than this 
 of the whale fishery. The first idea of attacking and 
 capturing an animal many thousand times his weight 
 and strength, and in his own element, must have 
 been deemed even more extravagant than the fabled 
 exploits of Hercules or Theseus. The actual priva- 
 tions and dangers of the whaleman, would appal the 
 heart of most landsmen, could they see them assem- 
 bled in a single picture. Many of these adventurers 
 leave their families for one, two, and even three years. 
 During this period, they are alone upon the briny 
 desert; and while separated from the charities of 
 home, they are often contending with the tempest and 
 the wave, or engaged in deadly encounter with the great 
 leviathan of the deep. It is probable that few persons 
 living upon the land, have any adequate practical 
 conception of the wild adventures, the imminent peril, 
 and the stern hardships, experienced by the whale- 
 men during every voyage. 
 
 But if the dangers and privations of the whale fish- 
 ery are great, its beneficent results are an adequate 
 compensation. It is impossible to compass in a single 
 view, the blessings bestowed upon mankind by this 
 branch of enterprise. There is no member of society 
 who is not indebted to this source for many of his en- 
 joyments. Let the ladies consider that the perfection of 
 their stays, is derived from whalebone, and let him who 
 
48 THE WHALE FISHERY. 
 
 carries an umbrella, make a similar reflection. Let the 
 traveller who glides along twelve miles an hour in a 
 steamboat, or twenty-five in a locomotive, consider that 
 he is under obligation to the whaler for the oil, which 
 thus smooths his way and expedites his journey. Let 
 the man who buys cotton for a shirt at ten cents a 
 yard, thank the whaler, for it was whale oil that lubri- 
 cated the machinery which produced it. Let every 
 human being that wears cloth, or consumes any other 
 article produced by machinery, acknowledge the obli- 
 gation he owes to the daring perseverance of the 
 Avhaler, for these are all, in some degree, the result of 
 his toil and his enterprise. Let even the dainty read- 
 ers of books, consider that by the light which is the pro- 
 duct of the whalemen's skill, its pages are, perhaps, 
 composed ; and let every family circle, happy and cheer- 
 ful in the blaze of the astral lamp, remember that they, 
 too, owe their enjoyment, in part, to these adventurous 
 men of the harpoon. Let even the members of the 
 brilliant evening party remember, that the light which 
 gleams from ranges of spermaceti tapers, and bestows 
 on beauty more bewitching charms, is the fruit of the 
 seaman's danger and the seaman's privation. Alas, 
 how " little do one part of the world consider in what 
 manner the rest live !" While the dance and song 
 enthral the gay circle of the saloon how far are the 
 joyous throng from reflecting that thousands of their 
 fellow-beings are upon the treacherous wave, toiling 
 and suffering, to provide a luxurious light to shine 
 upon their pleasures ! 
 
THE SEAL FISHERY. 49 
 
 THE SEAL FISHERY. 
 
 THE seal belongs to the class of animals called by 
 naturalists Amphibia, and is of the same genus as the 
 walrus, manatus, sea lion, sea cow, &c. It resembles 
 at once a fish and quadruped. Its head is round, and 
 its eye full and sparkling, giving its countenance a 
 human like expression. It has four feet, but they are 
 stuck on like fins and are covered with a membrane, so 
 as to make it look like a child with a shirt on, 
 covering the hands and feet. It swims with great 
 dexterity, but moves awkwardly on land. The seal 
 gives a large quantity of oil, which is similar to fish 
 oil ; but its skin is the chief object of pursuit. It has 
 a coat of fine compact fur, covered by coarse glossy 
 hair. To the Esquimaux, the seal is the great source 
 of life and comfort ; in civilized countries, its skin is 
 used for caps, gloves, collar and cuffs of coats, and a 
 variety of other uses. 
 
 This animal is found on all the Arctic coasts, and 
 also on some of the Antarctic islands. Great numbers 
 have formerly been killed on the Falkland and South 
 Shetland Islands, and several vessels from New Eng- 
 land were formerly engaged in catching them there. 
 The great resort of them, at present, is in the seas 
 adjacent to the northern coasts of North America, and 
 in the region of Spitzbergen. They are gregarious, 
 and fond of collecting upon the ice ; on the masses 
 which drift southward in March and April, from the 
 Arctic seas, thousands of them journey from these 
 colder to somewhat warmer latitudes. These migrat- 
 
 D XVIII. 5 
 
50 THE SEAL FISHERY. 
 
 ing herds are the great resource of the Newfoundland 
 seal fishers. 
 
 Those who are acquainted with the terrific gran- 
 deur of the lofty islands and mountains of ice, cover- 
 ing often from two to three hundred miles of the 
 ocean, and occasionally arrested by the coasts or shoals 
 in this quarter, will have some adequate idea of the 
 dangers of such a pursuit. From three to four hun- 
 dred vessels of 60 to 120 tons, are sent out from the 
 different ports of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, to 
 carry on the seal fishery. They are prepared for 
 sea with necessary stores and fire-arms, poles to 
 defend themselves from the ice, &c., before the feast 
 of St. Patrick, which occurs on the seventeenth of 
 March. Immediately after, the crews at the harbors 
 then frozen over, collect together, with assistance from 
 the shoremen, and dividing into two rows on the ice, 
 mark out a channel wide enough for their largest ves- 
 sels to pass. Then with axes and large saws, each 
 party cuts along its line and divides the solid mass of 
 ice into squares, which are shoved underneath at the 
 sides by long poles. By this laborious operation a 
 channel is opened and the vessels pass out. 
 
 On getting to sea, the fishermen find themselves 
 surrounded by drift ice ; but they push their way 
 through the openings, until they meet with the herds of 
 seal that accompany the frozen masses, which at this 
 season, drift southward from the polar seas. These 
 are called "seal meadows." The animals are sur- 
 prised while sleeping on the ice, and shot with mus- 
 kets, or knocked down with clubs. The old ones 
 sometimes turn upon their assailants and make resist- 
 
THE SEAL FISHERY. 51 
 
 ance. The hooded-seals will draw their hoods, which 
 are bullet-proof, over their heads. The skins, with 
 the fat surrounding the bodies, are stripped off 
 together, and the scalped carcasses left on the ice. 
 The pelts, or scalps, are carried to the vessel, and 
 packed closely in the hold ; but the weather is often 
 such as to leave no time to scalp the seals on the ice, 
 and they are then carried whole to the vessel. The 
 situation of the seal-hunters during the storms of 
 snow and sleet, which are unavoidable at that season, 
 is most hazardous. Many vessels have been crushed 
 in pieces by masses of ice closing on them, and their 
 crews have perished. 
 
 The fat, or seal-blubber, is separated from the 
 skins, cut in pieces, and put into frame-work nets, 
 through which and small boughs inside, the oil oozes 
 on being exposed to the heat of the sun. In three or 
 four weeks, it runs rapidly off, and becomes the seal 
 oil of commerce. Seals are also caught at Newfound- 
 land and Labrador, by strong nets set across such nar- 
 row channels as they are in the habit of passing 
 through. 
 
 The seal fishery is extensively pursued in the Arctic 
 regions. The best situation is in the neighborhood 
 of Jan Mayen's Island ; and the most favorable sea- 
 son is March and April. When the boats from the 
 seal ships arrive on the ice, the men attack the animals 
 with clubs, and stun them, by a single blow over the 
 nose ; by this means, one person is able to capture a 
 large number of seals. When they are seen on pieces 
 of drift ice, they are hunted in boats, each boat pursu- 
 ing a different herd. Should the seals attempt to 
 
52 THE SEAL FISHERY. 
 
 leave the ice before the arrival of the boat, the men 
 shout as loud as possible, and produce such amaze- 
 ment among them by this uproar, as to delay their 
 flight till the boat arrives, and the work of destruction 
 is begun. When the seals are very numerous, the 
 sealers stop not to flay those they have killed, but set 
 off to another ice-field to attack others, leaving merely 
 one man behind, to take off the skins and fat. When 
 the condition of the ice forbids the use of boats, the 
 hunter is obliged to pursue the seals over it, jumping 
 from fragment to fragment, till the prey is overtaken. 
 
 Whale ships have sometimes accidentally fallen in 
 with herds of seals, and secured two or three thousand 
 of them. The business is pursued even to the borders 
 of the Spitzbergen ice, but it is very hazardous, and 
 many ships with all their crews have been destroyed 
 by the sudden storms which spring up in that danger- 
 ous neighborhood. 
 
 The Esquimaux hunt the seal in various ways, 
 according to circumstances. This animal is pecu- 
 liarly vigilant, and whenever a herd of them visit the 
 shore, some are always on the lookout ; and a seal 
 when alone, is observed very frequently to raise its 
 head for the purpose of discovering the approach of 
 enemies. Should they be on a large field of ice, they 
 are always careful to secure a retreat by lying near the 
 edge of it, or keeping a hole in the ice always open 
 before them. In the high northern latitudes during 
 winter, the seal is found many miles from any open 
 water, and he makes a circular hole through the ice, 
 even where it is several feet thick. This opening is 
 continually kept clear, and allows the entrance of the 
 
THE SEAL FISHERY. 53 
 
 animal's body, the top being permitted partially to 
 freeze over. These breathing-places bear a consider- 
 able resemblance to mole-hills, and have a small 
 crack through their upper part. 
 
 When this breathing-place is discovered by the 
 Esquimaux, he raises near it a small wall about four 
 feet high, of slabs of snow, to shelter himself from the 
 wind, and sits under the lee of it, having deposited his 
 spear, lines, and other implements, upon several little 
 forked sticks set up in the snow, in order to avoid 
 making the slightest noise in moving them when they 
 are wanted. The most curious precaution taken with 
 a similar design, is that of tying his own knees 
 together with a thong, to prevent any rustling of his 
 dress, which would alarm his vigilant prey. In this 
 situation, the Esquimaux will frequently sit for many 
 hours, when the thermometer is below zero, atten- 
 tively listening to ascertain whether the animal is 
 working below. When he thinks the hole is almost 
 completed, he carefully raises his spear, to which the 
 line is previously tied, and the moment the breathing 
 of the seal is distinctly heard, the ice being then, of 
 course, very thin, he strikes the spear into him with 
 both hands, and cuts away the ice with his knife to 
 repeat the blow. At other times, having enlarged the 
 breathing-place, the hunter takes his position behind 
 the shelter, and the animal, when he next comes to the 
 hole, rises fearlessly out of the water, exposing his 
 head and shoulders, and repeats this action with 
 increased confidence. As he is not in haste to dive 
 again, the hunter now starts up suddenly, and drives 
 his spear forcibly into him. Another method consists 
 5* 
 
54 THE SEAL FISHERY. 
 
 f 
 
 in covering the breathing-hole with light snow, and 
 making an opening through the top of it with the 
 spear-handle, about as large as the mouth of a bottle. 
 The hunter then withdraws his spear and takes his 
 place behind the snow-screen, listening carefully till 
 he hears the seal breathing through the snow, when 
 he silently rises and plunges his weapon through the 
 covering into the body of the animal. 
 
 When a company of seals are seen on the edge of 
 the ice, next to the open sea, the hunters dispose them- 
 selves in single file, so as to conceal their number and 
 appear as few as possible, when viewed from the point 
 towards which they are moving. In this manner, 
 they creep cautiously towards the edge of the ice. 
 When nearly close enough to throw the spear, they 
 all crouch low, and remain in this position for a 
 quarter of an hour, during which time, they get all 
 their implements ready for immediate service. Then, 
 when the seals are intercepted from view, they creep 
 forward, gaining a few paces at a time, until they 
 approach close enough to throw the spear, which is 
 done suddenly, and with full force. This mode of 
 hunting is occasionally attended by fatal consequences 
 to the Esquimaux, especially if the ice be of recent 
 formation, as large cakes are detached at times, by 
 the force of the tide, and swept out to sea, without 
 allowing the slightest opportunity for escape. 
 
 The extent of the seal fishery is matter of surprise 
 to those who have not investigated the subject. A 
 single vessel will sometimes secure five thousand 
 skins, and more than a hundred tons of oil, in one 
 season. In 1829, 280,613 seals were taken by the 
 
THE SEAL FISHERY. 55 
 
 Newfoundland fishermen. In 1830, 553,435 ; in 1831, 
 748,735; making 1,582,783 animals, caught in three 
 years ! The value of the undressed skins in London, 
 is about twenty-two to thirty-five cents, each ; the oil 
 is there worth from $110, to $120, per tun. 
 
 We are little apt to consider the romance which is 
 involved in the history of many of our commonest 
 comforts. The boy with his seal skin cap is content 
 to feel its warmth in the bitter breath of winter, with- 
 out reflecting upon the tale that cap could tell, if it 
 were gifted with speech. Its original owner was born 
 and nursed upon an Arctic shore, where winter holds 
 an almost eternal dominion. There, amid fields of ice, 
 and in daily familiarity with the whale, the walrus, 
 and the white bear, it pursued its joyous and sportive 
 career. Diving in the depths of the sea, or migrat- 
 ing on floating fields of ice, it seemed forever happy in 
 companionship with its fellows, and gave even to the 
 ghastly scenes of the Arctic world, an aspect of cheer- 
 fulness. At length it was slain by the spear of the 
 Esquimaux, or the club of the sealer ; the skin was 
 stripped off, and transported to Europe. Having 
 undergone a process of dressing, it crossed the Atlan- 
 tic, passed under the hammer of the auctioneer, 
 reached the shop of the furrier, and after due confor- 
 mation from the sheers and needle, arrived at its 
 ultimate destination on the school boy's pate ! 
 
56 THE COD FISHERY. 
 
 THE COD FISHERY. 
 
 THE cod belongs to the migrating fishes, and is found 
 only in northern seas. Its food consists of small fish, 
 worms, crabs and other Crustacea. It is very vora- 
 cious, and has been known to weigh seventy-five 
 pounds. It is found along the New England coasts, 
 but its chief place of resort is the banks of Newfound- 
 land. These seem to be the top of a sea mountain, 
 five hundred miles in length, and surrounded by a 
 deep sea. Hither, in early spring, the cod annually 
 repair in countless numbers, to feed on the worms 
 which are found on the banks, and here the fishermen 
 pursue them. 
 
 The Newfoundland cod fishery commences early in 
 June. The " bankers," or vessels fishing on the banks, 
 usually anchor where they find plenty of cod, which they 
 catch with hook and line. The fish are salted in bulk 
 in the vessel's hold, till the cargo is completed. The 
 fish caught on the banks, are larger than those taken 
 by the boats employed in the shore fishery, but they 
 do not look so well when cured, owing to their lying 
 so long in salt before drying. They are, however, 
 preferred in some markets, on account of their size. 
 
 The boats which the Newfoundlanders use for the 
 shore fishery are of different sizes, some requiring 
 only two hands, while others have four, which is the 
 general number. It is not uncommon to see boys and 
 girls, when the cod are plentiful, fishing in these 
 boats. Every fisher is provided with two lines, each 
 having two hooks. Both lines are thrown out at the 
 
THE COD FISHERY. 57 
 
 same time, one on each side of the boat, to which one 
 man attends. They use such kind of bait as happens 
 to be in season, as herring, mackerel, caplins, squids, 
 clams, &c., and when none of these are to be had, the 
 flesh of birds. Many fish are also taken by the 
 jigger ; this is a piece of lead made into the form of a 
 small fish, with two hooks fixed into its mouth, and 
 turned outward, in opposite directions. It is made 
 fast to a line which is thrown over into the sea, and by 
 jerking it up and down, the hooks fasten into such 
 fish as they happen to strike. The cod, which is one 
 of the least dainty of the finny tribes, also darts at 
 and swallows the artificial fish with the hooks fastened 
 to it. Vast quantities of cod are also caught with 
 seines. 
 
 When the boats are stationed on the fishing-ground, 
 which is sometimes within the harbors, and in the 
 early season near, the shore, the men sit or stand at 
 equal distances from the gunwales, and each attends 
 to his own lines. So abundant are the fish at times, 
 that a couple of cod are hooked on each line before 
 the lead reaches the bottom ; and while one line is 
 running out, the fisherman has only to turn round and 
 pull in the other with a fish on each hook. In this 
 way they fill the boat in a very short time. They 
 then proceed to the stage on shore with the fish, when 
 the operations of splitting and salting succeed. Fish 
 should be brought on shore within forty-eight hours 
 after being caught ; but when plentiful, the boats often 
 return in two or three hours, and push away again, 
 immediately after the fish is thrown on the stage. 
 This is a building erected on posts jutting out into the 
 
58 THE COD FISHERY. 
 
 sea far enough to allow the boats to come close to its 
 end. On the same platform stands the salt-house, in 
 which there are tables with strong wooden stools for 
 four important personages, called, cut-throat, header, 
 splitter and salter. 
 
 The fish is thrown with a kind of pike upon the 
 stage, and carried generally by boys or women to the 
 long table. The business of the cut-throat, as his 
 name implies, is to cut the throat of the fish to the 
 bone, and rip open its bowels ; he then passes it 
 quickly to the header, who, with a sudden wrench, 
 pulls off the head and tears out the entrails, passing 
 the fish instantaneously to the splitter, and at the same 
 moment separating the liver and precipitating the head 
 and entrails through a hole in the platform into the 
 sea under the stage floor. The splitter, with one cut, 
 lays the fish open from head to tail, and almost in the 
 twinkling of an eye, with another cut, takes out the 
 sound-bone, which, if the sounds are not to be pre- 
 served, he lets fall through a hole into the sea, throw- 
 ing the fish at the same moment into a barrow. Such 
 is the surprizing quickness of the operation of heading 
 and splitting, that it is not unusual to despatch six fish 
 in a minute. The process is essentially the same on 
 board the American banker fishers; the superfluous 
 parts of the fish are tossed overboard, and it is said 
 that expert operators will keep a cod's head perpetually 
 in the air. 
 
 The business of the salter is most important, as the 
 value of the whole cargo depends on his care and 
 judgment. Some fish are dry-salted, and others 
 cured in vats with pickle ; these require less salt and 
 
THE COD FISHERY. 59 
 
 surpass the others in weight; but they do not look so 
 well, nor sell for so high a price. After salting, the 
 fish are dried by spreading them in " flakes" on stag- 
 ings, composed of small sticks, raised a few feet above 
 the ground. The Newfoundlanders sometimes raise 
 them twenty feet high, as the air aloft is believed to 
 be purer. The fish are spread out in the morning, 
 with the fleshy side uppermost, and turned about noon 
 or oftener, if the weather be hot. In the evening, they 
 are gathered into small heaps, which are increased in 
 size as the fish dry, from four or five to twenty or 
 more. When nearly cured, they are made into large 
 circular piles, much in the form of a haystack, with 
 the skin uppermost. These piles are thatched with 
 the rinds of spruce fir, or with tarpaulins or circular 
 wooden frames, which are pressed down with heavy 
 stones. After remaining some time in these piles to 
 " sweat," they are spread out again to complete the 
 drying, and then removed into the warm houses. As 
 the least rain will spoil the fish, nothing can exceed 
 the hurry of men, women, and children, on the shores 
 of Newfoundland, when showers are approaching; 
 they abandon every other occupation, and even run 
 out of the church on Sunday, to pile up the fish. 
 
 The quality of the fish is effected by the least inat- 
 tention or error in curing. If the weather is hot and 
 calm, it is affected with fly-blows, and becomes mag- 
 goty ; a few fish of this description may contaminate 
 a whole cargo. If too much salt is used, the fibres 
 break in drying, and the fish easily falls to pieces ; in 
 this state it is called " salt-burnt," and is unfit for 
 market. When too long exposed to the sun, without 
 
60 THE COD FISHERY. 
 
 turning, it is affected much in the same manner, and 
 is then called " sun-burnt." In damp weather, putrefac- 
 tion is apt to commence, and then it becomes slimy ; 
 and when piled in this state it sometimes takes a 
 brownish color, and is called dunfish, which although 
 excellent for immediate use, is not fit for shipping. 
 Previous to exportation, the fish are again spread out 
 to dry, when they are culled or sorted into four quali- 
 ties. 
 
 The sounds are generally taken from the bones, 
 and the tongues are cut out of the head by women, 
 children and old men. They are pickled in kegs. The 
 livers of cod are put into vats or barrels and exposed 
 to the sun, by the heat of which they are melted into 
 oil. 
 
 The greater part of the cod fishery is carried on by 
 the Americans, from the New England States. By a 
 treaty with Great Britain, vessels of this country 
 are allowed to fish all along the coast of British Amer- 
 ica, and to cure fish in such harbors and bays as are 
 uninhabited, or if inhabited, with the consent of the 
 people. The active and industrious New England- 
 ers, ever fertile in expedients, and always alert in the 
 pursuit of gain, know well how to take advantage of 
 so important a concession. They, frequently occupy 
 the whole of the Newfoundland and Labrador fishing- 
 ground, to the exclusion of the British. No other 
 people prosecute the fishery with such assiduity and 
 profit. There are two modes which they follow in 
 fitting out for this business. The one is when six or 
 seven farmers or their sons, combine to build a 
 schooner during winter, which they man themselves, 
 
THE COD FISHERY. 61 
 
 as all the New Englanders of the small towns on the 
 seacoast are more or less seamen, as well as farmers. 
 After fitting the vessel with necessary stores, they 
 proceed to the banks, the Gulf of St. Lawrence or 
 Labrador, and loading their vessel with fish, make a 
 voyage between spring and the time for getting in 
 their crops. The proceeds they divide after paying 
 for outfit. They remain at home to assist in gather- 
 ing the harvest, and proceed again for another cargo 
 which is salted down and not afterwards dried ; this is 
 termed mud-fish, and kept for home consumption. 
 
 The other method is this ; a merchant or other per- 
 son owning a vessel, lets her to ten or fifteen men on 
 shares. He finds the vessel and nets ; the men pay 
 for the provisions, hooks and lines, and for the salt 
 necessary to cure their proportion of fish. One of the 
 number officiates as master, but he is compelled to 
 catch fish as well as the others, and receives but 
 trifling wages. The crew have commonly five eighths 
 of the fish taken, and the owner three eighths. The 
 first spring voyage is made to the banks ; the second 
 either to the banks, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or 
 Labrador ; the third to the banks, and sometimes a 
 fourth to the same place. 
 
 The produce of the cod fisheries throughout the 
 world, is immense, as will be seen by the following 
 statement. 
 
 In the French cod fishery, in 1831, there were en- 
 gaged 302 ships, employing 6,243 men, and yielding 
 12,317,943 killograms of dried fish, and 1,163,229 
 killograms of oil. 
 
 The exports of the British cod fishery, carried on by 
 xvm. 6 
 
62 THE COD FISHERY. 
 
 boats from the coasts of Newfoundland and Nova 
 Scotia, produced in 1832, with the seal and salmon 
 fishery, about $860,000. Besides this, the fisheries 
 along the Labrador coast are extensive. 
 
 The American cod fishery, in 1833, employed ves- 
 sels of 60.977 tons; their exports of fish, alone, 
 amounted to over a million of dollars. 
 
 It is impossible to tell the actual number of these 
 fish annually taken, but it amounts to many millions, 
 and constitutes a material article of food throughout 
 Christendom. The dried cod are dispersed all over 
 Europe, and find their way by means of railroads, 
 steamboats and canals, to the settlements along the 
 great lakes and the waters of the upper Mississippi. 
 
 Whoever in crossing the Atlantic, has chanced to 
 come across some of the vessels of the cod fishers on 
 the " Banks" and remarked the dreariness of the 
 scene, amid those chill regions of fog and tempest, 
 cannot but have experienced emotions similar to those 
 expressed by the poet. 
 
 " A perilous life and sad as life can be, 
 Hath the lone fisher on the lonely sea, 
 In the wild waters laboring far from home, 
 For some bleak pittance e'er compelled to roam ! 
 Few friends to cheer him in his dangerous life, 
 And none to aid him in his stormy strife j 
 Companion of the sea and silent air, 
 The lonely fisher thus must ever fare ; 
 Without the comfort hope, with scarce a friend, 
 He looks through life, and only sees its end. 
 
 Eternal ocean! old majestic sea! 
 Ever love I from shore to look on thee, 
 And sometimes on thy billowy back to ride, 
 
THE HERRING FISHERY. 
 
 And sometimes o'er thy summer breast to glide ; 
 But let me live on land where rivers run, 
 Where shady trees may screen me from the sun ; 
 Where I may feel, secure, the fragrant air j 
 Where, whate'er toil or wearying pains I bear, 
 Those eyes, which look away all human ill, 
 May shed on me their still, sweet, constant light, 
 And the little hearts I love, may day and night 
 Be found beside me, safe and clustering still. 
 
 THE HERRING FISHERY. 
 
 HERRINGS are perhaps the most abundant of all the 
 finny tribes. They are found in the highest northern 
 latitudes yet visited by man, and as far south as the 
 coast of France in Europe, and Carolina in America. 
 They are met with in the seas of Kamtschatka, and pro- 
 bably they reach the isles of Japan. Their great win- 
 ter rendezvous is within the arctic circle. There they 
 continue many months in order to recruit themselves 
 after the fatigue of spawning. The seas within that 
 space, swarm with insect food in a far greater degree 
 than those of warmer latitudes ; the mighty army of 
 herrings begin to put themselves in motion in spring. 
 They appear first off the Shetland Islands in April and 
 May ; but these are only the forerunners of the grand 
 shoal which comes in June, and their appearance is 
 marked by certain signs, such as numbers of sea-fowl 
 which bear them company, being thus sure of a per- 
 petual feast. When the main body advances, its 
 breadth and depth are such as to alter the appearance 
 of the very ocean. It is divided into distinct columns 
 
64 THE HERRING FISHERY. 
 
 of five or six miles in length, and three or four in 
 breadth, and their motion causes a strong rippling in 
 the water. Sometimes they sink for the space of ten 
 or fifteen minutes, and then rise again to the surface. 
 In fine weather they reflect a variety of splendid 
 colors like a field of the most precious gems. 
 
 The first check which this great army meets in its 
 march southward, is from the Shetland group of islands, 
 which divides it into two parts. One wing takes to the 
 east and the other to the western shores of Great 
 Britain, filling every bay and creek with their numbers. 
 The former proceed toward Yarmouth, the great and 
 ancient mart of herrings ; they then pass through the 
 British channel, and for the most part disappear. 
 Those which steer toward the west after coasting the 
 Hebrides, where there is a great stationary fishery, 
 proceed to the north of Ireland, where they meet 
 with a second interruption, and are obliged to make 
 another division. The one portion deviates to the 
 western side, and is scarcely perceived, being soon 
 lost in the broad Atlantic; but the other half that 
 passes into the Irish sea, is welcomed by the inhabit- 
 ants of the coasts, who feed upon its countless mul- 
 titudes. These brigades as we may call them, which 
 are thus separated from the greater columns, are often 
 capricious in their motions, and do not show an inva- 
 riable attachment to their common haunts. 
 
 This instinct of migration was given to the herrings 
 that they might deposit their spawn in warmer seas, 
 which mature and vivify it more effectually than those 
 of the frozen zone. It is not from a deficiency of food 
 that they leave the regions of the north; for they 
 
THE HERRING FISHERY. 65 
 
 come to us very fat, and on their return are generally 
 observed to be lean. They are full of roe toward the 
 end of June, and continue in perfection till the begin- 
 ning of winter when they deposit their spawn. 
 
 The herring appears to have been unknown to the 
 ancients, being rarely, if ever, found in the Mediterra- 
 nean. The Dutch are said to have engaged in the 
 fishery in 1164. The invention of pickling or salting 
 herrings is ascribed to one Berukels of Biervliet near 
 Sluys, who died in 1397. The emperor Charles V. 
 visited his grave, and ordered a magnificent tomb to be 
 erected to his memory. Since this early period, the 
 Dutch have uniformly maintained their ascendency in 
 the herring fishery ; but owing to the Reformation, and 
 the lax observance of Lent in Catholic countries, the 
 demand for herrings upon the continent is now far less 
 than it was in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 
 
 The herring fishery of the British Islands is prac- 
 tised by drift-nets, and principally at night, as the fish 
 strike the nets in much greater numbers during the 
 darkness. It is supposed that in the daytime, the nets 
 scare the fish, and drive them away from the grounds. 
 Fishing with these by day is strictly prohibited. 
 The darkest nights and those in which the surface of 
 the water is ruffled by a breeze, are considered the 
 most favorable. The food of the herring consists 
 principally of the various kinds of Crustacea, but they 
 have been known to devour the fry of their own spe- 
 cies. About 400,000 barrels of herring are annually 
 taken and cured in Great Britain. 
 
 In the United States, particularly on the New Eng- 
 land coast, the herring are also taken in great nun> 
 E 6* 
 
66 THE HERRING FISHERY. 
 
 bers. During the season of spawning, the rivers, both 
 large and small, abound with them. In Passama- 
 quoddy Bay and the neighborhood, they are taken by 
 scooping them up with hand-nets. This fishing, as in 
 England, is mostly carried on during dark nights, 
 and often displays the most striking and picturesque 
 appearance to the spectator on shore. The fishermen 
 go in small light boats, each carrying a flaming torch. 
 The boats row with great swiftness through the water, 
 and the herring, attracted by the glare of the light, 
 crowd after the boat in such numbers, that those sta- 
 tioned in the stern for this purpose, scoop them up by 
 thousands. The fish frequently throng together with 
 such eagerness, as to throw one another out of the 
 water. When there are large numbers of boats toge- 
 ther upon the water, with the strong red glare of their 
 birchen torches reflected from the surface, the lights 
 swiftly crossing and re-crossing each other, now sud- 
 denly disappearing and again appearing among the 
 islands as if by enchantment, the whole contrasted 
 with the darkness that shrouds every other object, 
 produce a scene of the most novel and romantic char- 
 acter. 
 
 It is impossible to give any authentic statement of 
 the number and amount of herrings taken ; but in 
 Great Britain alone, 439,371 barrels were inspected 
 and branded by %he government, during the year 
 1831. It is probable that this was less than half the 
 whole number caught in Europe and America. If 
 we suppose that a million of barrels are annually 
 taken, and that each barrel contains 500, we shall see 
 that the consumption of this fish in Europe and Ame- 
 rica, is 500 millions a year ! 
 
THE PEARL FISHERY. 67 
 
 THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 
 
 THE Mackerel are a migratory fish like the herring, 
 and are caught in considerable numbers, both in Eu- 
 rope and America. They appear on the coast of 
 New England early in the summer, and pass to the 
 south. Those caught early in the season are lean 
 and indifferent eating, but before they leave our coast, 
 they become fat, and afford a choice dish for the 
 table. Besides a supply for daily consumption in the 
 markets of the seaport towns, vast numbers are taken 
 for curing and exportation. The mackerel fishery is 
 pursued in small craft called chebacco-boats, of from 
 15 to 30 tons' burthen ; the crews of which go upon 
 shares, as in the cod fishery. The fishermen throw 
 great quantities of bait overboard around the boats, 
 which attract the swarms or schools, as they are called, 
 of mackerel, and they are then caught with hook and 
 line. After being pickled and brought on shore, they 
 are sorted into three different qualities, put up in bar- 
 rels and branded according to quality by a public 
 inspector. They are exported to the West Indies, 
 South America, and the southern and western States 
 of the Union. 250,000 barrels are sometimes taken in 
 a year, exclusive of those sold fresh in the markets. It 
 is probable that the mackerel fishery may amount to 
 nearly half that of the herring fishery. 
 
 THE PEARL FISHERY. 
 
 PEARLS were in the highest estimation among the 
 ancient Romans, and bore an enormous price. Their 
 
68 THE PEARL FISHERY. 
 
 value in modern times has very much declined, partly 
 no doubt, from changes of manners and fashions, but 
 more, probably, from the successful imitations of pearls 
 which are sold at a low price. A handsome necklace 
 of Ceylon pearls smaller than a large pea, costs from 
 800 to 1500 dollars ; a necklace of other pearls of the 
 size of peppercorns, may be bought for 70 dollars. 
 The pearls in the former are valued at five dollars 
 each ; those in the latter at 30 cents. Pearls of the 
 size of small shot are called " seed pearls," and are of 
 little value ; these are mostly sent to China. One of 
 the most remarkable pearls of which we have any 
 authentic account, was bought by the French travel- 
 ler Tavernier at Catifa in Arabia, where pearl fishery 
 has long been famous, for the enormous sum of half a 
 million of dollars. It is two or three inches long and 
 about half an inch thick, and is of a regular pear-like 
 shape, without blemish. 
 
 The pearl oyster is sought in various parts of the 
 world, particularly on the west coast of Ceylon ; at 
 Tuticoreen on the coast of Coromandel ; at the Bahrein 
 Islands in the Gulf of Persia ; at the Sooloo Islands ; 
 on the coast of Algiers ; at Margarita in the West 
 Indies, and in the Bay of Panama in the South Sea. 
 The most extensive fisheries are those of the Persian 
 Gulf. The entire monopoly of this is in the hands 
 of the Sheik of Bushire, who appears to consider all 
 the islands in the Gulf as his immediate property. 
 The fisheries best known are those of Ceylon. The 
 principal one is on the western coast, off the bay of 
 Condatchy, about twelve miles south of the island of 
 Manaar. This part of the country is sandy, and at 
 
THE PEARL FISHERY. 69 
 
 other times is scarcely inhabited, but when the fishery 
 begins, a town suddenly springs up here, with nume- 
 rous streets a mile long. 
 
 The banks on which the pearl oysters are found are 
 fifteen miles out at sea. The boatmen with their attend- 
 ants, to the number of 6000, are roused a little before 
 midnight with immense bustle, and after performing 
 their ablutions and incantations to charm away the 
 sharks, they set sail. About half-past six in the morn- 
 ing the operation begins. A sort of scaffolding is 
 projected from each side of the boat, from which the 
 diving tackle is suspended, consisting of three stones, 
 fifty-six pounds in weight on one side, and two on the 
 other. The diving stone hangs by a rope and slip- 
 knot, and just above the stone is a strong loop to 
 receive the foot like a stirrup. A basket for the oysters 
 is added, and when all is ready, the driver grasps his 
 nostrils with one hand and descends. The moment 
 he reaches the bottom he disengages his foot from the 
 rope, which is immediately drawn up to be ready for 
 the next diver. The one at the bottom throws him- 
 self on his face and collects eveything he can lay hold 
 of into his basket. When ready to ascend, he gives a 
 jerk to the basket-rope, and is drawn up. Some of 
 the divers accomplish the dip in one minute. Double 
 that time is the utmost that any one remains under 
 water. These persons usually bleed at the nose and 
 ears after rising, but they seem to enjoy the occupa- 
 tion and regard it as a pleasant pastime, never com- 
 plaining of fatigue unless the banks are poor in 
 oysters. 
 
 Pearl shells, commonly called mother of pearl shells, 
 
70 
 
 THE CORAL FISHERY. 
 
 are imported from various parts of the East, and con- 
 sist principally of the shells of the pearl oyster from 
 the gulf of Persia and other places, particularly the 
 Sooloo Islands, situated between Borneo and the 
 Philippines, the shores of which afford the largest 
 and finest shells hitherto discovered. On the inside 
 the shell is beautifully polished, and of the whiteness 
 and water of pearl itself; it has the same lustre on the 
 outside, after the external laminaB have been re- 
 moved. Mother of pearl shells are extensively used 
 in the arts, particularly in inlaid work, and in the 
 manufacture of handles for knives, buttons, toys, snuff 
 boxes, &c. The Chinese manufacture them into 
 beads, fish counters, spoons, &c., giving them a finish 
 to which European artists have not been able to 
 attain. 
 
 THE CORAL FISHERY. 
 
 THE Coral of commerce is a marine production, of 
 which there are many varieties. It was well known 
 
THE CORAL FISHERY. 71 
 
 to the ancients, but it was reserved to the moderns to 
 discover its real nature. It is, in fact, the nidus or 
 nest of a certain species of vermes which has the same 
 relation to coral that a snail has to its shell. As an 
 ornament, black coral is most esteemed, but the red is 
 also very highly prized. 
 
 Coral is found in very great abundance in the Red 
 Sea, the Persian Gulf, in various places in the Med- 
 iterranean, on the coast of Sumatra, &c. It grows on 
 rocks and many solid submarine bodies ; and it is 
 necessary to its production, that it should remain fixed 
 to its place. It has, generally, a shrub-like appear- 
 ance. In the Straits of Messina, where a great deal is 
 fished up, it usually grows to nearly a foot in length, 
 and its thickness is about that of the little finger. It 
 requires eight or ten years to attain its greatest size. 
 
 The depth at which it is obtained is various from 
 10 to 100 fathoms or more ; but it seems to be neces- 
 sary to its production, that the rays of the sun should 
 readily penetrate to the place of its habitation. Its 
 value depends upon its size, solidity, and the depth and 
 brilliancy of its color ; and is so very various, that 
 while some of the Sicilian coral sells for eight or ten 
 guineas an ounce, other descriptions of it will not 
 fetch one shilling a pound. It is highly prized by 
 the opulent natives of India, as well as by the fair sex 
 throughout Europe. The inferior or worm-eaten coral 
 is used in some parts of the Madras coast, in the 
 celebration of funeral rites. It is used also medicinally. 
 Besides the fishery in the Straits of Messina already 
 alluded to, there are valuable fisheries on the coasts of 
 Majorca and Minorca, and on the coasts of Provence. 
 
72 THE CORAL FISHERY. 
 
 A good deal of Mediterranean coral is exported to 
 India, which, however, draws the largest portion of its 
 supplies from the Persian Gulf. The produce of the 
 fishery at Messina is stated hy Spallanzani, to amount 
 to 12 quintals of 250 pounds each. 
 
 The manner of fishing coral is nearly the same 
 every where. That which is most commonly prac- 
 tised in the Mediterranean is as follows : Seven or 
 eight men go in a boat, commanded by the proprietor ; 
 the caster throws his net, if we may so call the 
 machine which is to tear up the coral from the bot- 
 tom of the sea ; and the rest work the boat, and help to 
 draw in the net. This is composed of two beams of 
 wood tied crosswise, with lead fixed to them to sink 
 them ; to these beams is fastened a quantity of hemp, 
 twisted loosely round and intermingled with some loose 
 nettles. In this condition the machine is let down 
 into the sea, and when the coral is pretty strongly en- 
 twined in the hemp and nets, they draw it up with 
 a rope, which they unwind according to the depth, and 
 which it sometimes requires half a dozen boats to 
 draw. If this rope happens to break, the fishermen 
 run the hazard of being lost. Before the fishers go to 
 sea, they agree for the price of the coral ; and the 
 produce of the fishery is divided at the end of the sea- 
 son, into thirteen parts ; of which the proprietor has 
 four, the caster two, and the other six men one each ; 
 the thirteenth belongs to the company, for boat- 
 hire, &c. 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON THE FISHERIES. 73 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS ON THE FISHERIES. 
 
 IN the preceding sketches, we have only noticed 
 those fisheries which make a prominent figure in com- 
 merce.^ We have said nothing of those which have 
 for their object the supply of the table with fresh sal- 
 mon, shad, trout, turbot, sole, perch, alewives, smelt, 
 white bait, carp, pout, eels, lobsters, clams, oysters, 
 crabs, prawns, shrimps, and multitudes of others. 
 Fishing not only constitutes one of the great branches 
 of human industry and enterprise, but it supplies a 
 large portion of the food of the entire human race. 
 Along the sea coasts, which are the most thickly set- 
 tled part of the world ; on the banks of rivers, and the 
 borders of lakes, the inhabitants of every zone look to 
 the waters for a considerable portion of their subsist- 
 ence. Of course, we have no means of making 
 reliable estimates as to the consumption of the whole 
 world, but we suppose that if we include all species, 
 and the smaller kinds, it can hardly be less than an 
 annual average of fifty to each person ; and if we 
 estimate the population of the globe at 800,000,000, 
 we shall have an aggregate of 40 thousand million 
 fishes, devoured every year by mankind ! 
 
 * The number of oysters consumed in Great Britain is 
 probably not less than 50,000,000, annually. Salmon fisheries, 
 says Marshall, rank next to agriculture, as a means of supply- 
 ing food. The value of the salmon, caught in Scotland alone, 
 is $750,000 a year. Our own shad fisheries are immense. The 
 exports of cured fish from the United States are valued at 
 about $750,000 a year! 
 
 xvin. 7 
 
HUNTING. 
 
 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 THE Pampas of South America are vast plains ex- 
 tending from the banks of the La Plata to Chili ; their 
 northern boundaries are not distinctly known, but they 
 stretch to the south as far as the rivers of Patagonia. 
 These immense level territories like the steppes of 
 Russia, having scarcely any elevations, exhibit a pros- 
 pect resembling that of the sea, terminated only by the 
 horizon. They are somewhat diversified with paths 
 and clefts or ditches, which collect the rain water and 
 which commonly end in lakes, as there is no declivity 
 of surface to carry the streams to the sea. Yet there 
 are wide tracts in which no water is found ; and trees 
 are extremely rare except a few small ones around the 
 lakes. The soil is generally a black earth of little 
 depth, lying on a bed of coarse white chalk, so that it 
 is difficult to dig wells. 
 
 These plains exhibit a sea of waving grass, some- 
 times 900 miles in extent, with hardly an interruption 
 of wood or hill. The succulent and nutritive herbage 
 of the soil affords pasture to many of those countless 
 herds of cattle that rove unowned and unvalued over 
 a great portion of South America, and whose hides 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 75 
 
 and tallow form a principal article of the trade of 
 Buenos Ayres. Wild horses also abound in these 
 natural meadows. They wander from place to place, 
 against the current of the winds, and are sometimes 
 met with in such numbers that travellers across the 
 plains are surrounded by them for weeks together. 
 Sometimes dense troops of them sweep over the coun- 
 try at full speed for hours, and it is with the greatest 
 difficulty that the traveller can avoid being run over 
 and trampled to death. 
 
 Troops of savages are sometimes scouring these 
 plains and occasionally attack travellers, but their at- 
 tempts are only successful when made by surprise, or 
 when a few individuals of the party straggle from 
 the main body. The route across this country is often 
 pursued by the compass, as there are few landmarks 
 or traces by which the road can be discovered for many 
 hundred miles. Travellers go in covered carts or 
 caravans, made almost as commodious as a house, 
 with doors to shut, and windows on each side. Mat- 
 tresses are laid on the floor> on which the passengers 
 sleep for the greater part of the journey. These vehicles 
 are drawn by oxen, and accompanied by baggage 
 horses and mules. They set out in the afternoon, two 
 hours before sunset, travel all night, and till an hour 
 after sunrise. They then rest and partake of the pro- 
 visions brought with them or taken by hunting on the 
 journey, for which purpose many travellers carry dogs 
 and hunting horses. During the day excessive heats 
 prevail, from which they can get no shelter except 
 what their vehicles afford. Sometimes no water is to 
 be met with during several days' journey, and they 
 
76 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 often suffer for drink unless relieved by showers of 
 rain. Travelling 1 is sometimes impeded by violent 
 showers which lay the whole country under water. 
 The westerly winds, too, or Pamperos, which de- 
 scend from the lofty Cordilleras, not meeting with 
 anything 1 to check their impetuosity, acquire here an 
 inconceivable degree of fury, and are a great annoy- 
 ance to the traveller. 
 
 To this general account we may add the graphic 
 description of the Pampas furnished by Capt. Head. 
 On leaving Buenos Ayres, the first of these regions is 
 covered for one hundred and eighty miles with clover 
 and thistles ; the second region which extends for four 
 hundred and fifty miles, produces long grass ; and the 
 third region which reaches the base of the Cordilleras, 
 is a grove of low trees and shrubs. The second and 
 third of these regions have nearly the same appearance 
 throughout the year, for the trees and shrubs are ever- 
 greens, and the immense plain of grass only changes its 
 color from green to brown : but the first region varies 
 with the four seasons of the year in a most extraordi- 
 nary manner. In winter the leaves of the thistles are 
 large and luxuriant, and the whole surface of the coun- 
 try has the rough appearance of a turnip field. The 
 clover in this season is extremely rich and strong, and 
 the sight of the wild cattle grazing in full liberty in 
 such pasture, is very beautiful. In spring, the clover 
 has vanished, the leaves of the thistle have extended 
 along the ground, and the country still looks like a 
 rough crop of turnips. In less than a month the 
 change is most extraordinary : the whole region be- 
 comes a luxuriant wood of enormous thistles, which 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 77 
 
 have suddenly shot up to a height of ten or eleven 
 feet, and are all in full bloom. The road or path is 
 hemmed in on both sides : the view is completely ob- 
 structed ; not an animal is to be seen, and the stems 
 of the thistles are so close to each other and so strong, 
 that independent of the prickles with which they are 
 armed, they form an impenetrable barrier. The sud- 
 den growth of these plants is quite astonishing, and 
 although it would be an unusual misfortune in mili- 
 tary history, yet it is really possible that an invading 
 army, unacquainted with this country, might be im- 
 prisoned by these thistles before they had time to 
 escape from them. The summer is not over before 
 the scene undergoes another rapid change; the this- 
 tles suddenly lose their sap and verdure, their heads 
 droop, the leaves shrink and fade, the stems become 
 black and dead, and they remain rattling in the breeze 
 one against another, till the violence of the pampero 
 or hurricane levels them with the ground, where they 
 rapidly decompose and disappear ; the clover rushes 
 up, and the scene is again verdant. 
 
 The Spanish inhabitants who are thinly scattered 
 over this wide region are called Gauchos : they are a 
 wild, semi-barbarous race, with less civilization than 
 the backwoodsmen of the United States. The Pampas 
 Indians frequently attack the Gauchos for two objects, 
 to steal cattle, and for the pleasure of murdering the 
 people. In their invasions, they generally ride all 
 night, and hide themselves on the ground during the 
 day ; or if they travel in the daytime, they crouch 
 almost under the bellies of the horses, who by this 
 means appear at a distance to* be without riders. They 
 7* 
 
78 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 usually approach the huts of the Gauchos under cover 
 of the night at full gallop, uttering loud shrieks and 
 striking their mouths with the hand ; and this cry 
 which intimidates their enemies, is continued through 
 the whole of the assault. Their first act is to set fire 
 to the roof of the hut, and it is dreadful to fancy 
 what the feelings of a family must be, when, after 
 having been alarmed by the barking of the dogs, 
 which the Gauchos always keep in great numbers, 
 they first hear the wild cry which announces their 
 doom, and in an instant afterwards, find the roof 
 burning over their heads. As soon as the family rush 
 out, which they are compelled to do, the men and 
 women are struck with the lances of the Indians, 
 which are eighteen feet long ; all are instantly butch- 
 ered except young and beautiful girls who are carried 
 off into captivity. 
 
 The hunting of wild oxen on the Pampas is per- 
 formed chiefly in the following manner. A number 
 of hunters repair on horseback to the places frequented 
 by wild cattle. Each one is provided with a long pole, 
 the extremity of which is armed with a sharp iron 
 blade crossing the shaft obliquely. With this weapon 
 the hunter dexterously rips open the throat of the bul- 
 lock. This method is preferred, as by piercing the 
 body with lances or bullets, the hide would be spoiled. 
 Another method is by using a sharp iron crescent, the 
 points of which are about a foot across, which is fixed 
 at the end of the pole, and with which, the hunter 
 hamstrings the beast. Both these operations are per- 
 formed without checking the horse, and when the 
 prey has fallen, the hunter leaves it to pursue another 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 79 
 
 beast, which he attacks in the same manner. After 
 having struck a sufficient number, or fatiguing him- 
 self with the exercise, he returns and finds out the 
 place where the animals lie, which he is careful to 
 impress on his memory. Subsequently the animals 
 are skinned, and the fat or suet wrapped up in the 
 hide, to which is sometimes added the tongue ; the 
 carcass is left a prey to the wild dogs and vultures. 
 
 The immense herds of cattle which the Spaniards 
 keep on their estancias, or grazing farms, are in a wild 
 state, by reason of the extent of the pastures in which 
 they range, and they are hunted and caught in the 
 same manner as the cattle of the Pampas. Some- 
 times, however, they are driven into an enclosure to 
 be killed. At the gate are the peasants on horseback 
 with their crescent spears. As many beasts are then 
 turned out as there are men in waiting, and each pur- 
 sues his prey. They are inwiediately hamstrung, 
 despatched, and flayed; and this exercise continues 
 daily till all the cattle appointed for the year's slaugh- 
 ter, are killed. It is surprising not only to witness 
 their dexterity in hamstringing the beasts when both 
 are on full speed, but also to see one man go through 
 the whole work with so much regularity and despatch 
 for each skins his beast, takes out the tallow, and cuts 
 up the flesh for salting and drying. He then wraps 
 the fat in the hide, and loading it on the horse, carries 
 it off to the farm. If the bullock be too swift for the 
 horse, the hunter has recourse to his noose, or laso 
 and halters him by throwing it round his neck, or 
 entangles one or two of his legs. 
 
 Another method is as follows. Two persons mount 
 
80 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 their horses with their lasos, which are thirty or forty 
 yards long, having one end fastened to the saddle. 
 One of tne men rides in among the cattle, and select- 
 ing a beast, throws his noose round his horns and gal- 
 lops away. The rope being run out, the other is 
 ready with his noose, and swinging the rope several 
 times round his head, he watches the opportunity when 
 the beast is kicking and struggling, and entangles one 
 of the hind legs. Both the horses immediately draw 
 the rope tight, in opposite directions, and being well 
 trained to the exercise, stand so firm that the beast 
 cannot move. A third man now advances and ham- 
 strings, with a large knife, the hind leg that is not 
 secured, upon which the animal immediately falls, 
 and his throat is cut. Though this may seem to a 
 stranger a tedious process, it is finished in four or five 
 minutes. Another mode is sometimes pursued at 
 these matanzas. A machine with a pulley and winch 
 at the extremity of the enclosure is erected. A bul- 
 lock's horns are entangled in a rope which draws him 
 on and thrusts his head through an opening in the 
 paling, where a man stands ready with a stout dagger, 
 with which he stabs the beast in the back of the neck, 
 between the horns, so that he falls instantly dead. 
 
 Wild horses are taken with the laso in the same man- 
 ner as oxen. It is very seldom that the hunters miss 
 their aim, although at full speed ; and even a man, 
 however cautious, can no more avoid being taken 
 thus, than a horse or an ox. The laso is one of the 
 weapons which the South Americans use in their pri- 
 vate quarrels, and they also exercised it with great 
 effect during the wars of the revolution, singling out 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 81 
 
 the Spanish officers in battle. The straggling robbers 
 who infest the roads remote from the towns, also use 
 the laso to entrap their victims. In an open country, 
 the only chance for safety, is for the traveller attacked 
 in this manner, to throw himself on the ground, keep- 
 ing his legs and arms as close as possible, so that the 
 rope may get no hold upon him. Among trees or under- 
 wood, the laso is not dangerous : and if by a rapid 
 advance toward the robber, the distance can be 
 reduced to ten or fifteen yards before he throws it, his 
 dexterity may be ineffectual ; but at twenty or thirty 
 yards' distance it is almost impossible to escape. The 
 Indians, when they apprehend an attack of this kind, 
 carry a lance with which they are equally dexterous 
 in parrying it. The laso rope is made of thongs of 
 bullock's hide, cut round the skin ; these thongs are 
 twisted, and rendered supple by grease. They are so 
 strong that though when twisted, they are not thicker 
 than the little finger, they will hold the wildest bull 
 whose efforts to escape would break a hempen rope of 
 much larger dimensions. 
 
 A large part of the trade of Buenos Ayres, consists 
 in the hides of the wild horses and cattle, taken upon 
 the pampas. In 1832, the export alone, amounted 
 to about 925,000 hides of cattle; 4071, of horses; 
 and 2,049,000 horns. This must be considered as 
 probably not more than one half of the number actually 
 taken every year in South America. 
 
 The Jesuit missionary Dobrizhoffer, who, during 
 the last century, resided many years in Paraguay, 
 writes as follows. " The whole world does not contain 
 a country more numerously supplied with oxen, 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 horses, mules and sheep, which were formerly brought 
 to Paraguay, and in the course of two hundred years 
 increased marvellously, both on account of the rich- 
 ness of the pastures, and the unbounded liberty they 
 possessed of wandering up and down the plains. The 
 quantity of kine which exists there is scarcely credible 
 to a European. Fifty years ago, when all the plains 
 were covered with wild oxen, travellers were obliged 
 to send horsemen before them, to clear the way by 
 driving off the beasts which stood threatening them 
 with their horns. It is therefore no wonder that at that 
 time a full grown ox was sold for a real (12 cents,) 
 as appears from the old books of valuations. Every 
 Spaniard who intended to enlarge his estate, hired a 
 troop of horse which brought him eight, ten or more 
 thousands of cows and bulls from the country within 
 a few weeks. Do you desire to be made acquainted 
 with the shape of the Paraguayan oxen ? In height 
 they equal those of Hungary, and surpass them in 
 general size, although their color is different. With 
 a sort of ferocious arrogance they imitate stags in the 
 manner of holding their lofty heads, and almost equal 
 them in swiftness. Unless the pastures are impover- 
 ished by a long drought, every ox yields such a 
 weight of fat, that two strong men are scarcely able to 
 carry it. The fat of oxen is always used for butter in 
 culinary preparations, for the cows are very seldom 
 milked on account of their ferocity; the taming of 
 them is a long and laborious process, and consequently 
 no way congenial to the slothful temper of the Spani- 
 ards and Indians. When tamed, they will not suffer 
 themselves to be milked unless their feet are tied, and 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 83 
 
 their calves are standing by them. A butcher and 
 shambles are words unknown in Paraguay ; every 
 man slays his own oxen. The poorer people do not 
 buy pounds of meat, as is customary in Europe, but 
 receive large parts of slaughtered oxen from the liber- 
 ality of the rich. 
 
 " The ox-hides are carefully fastened to the ground 
 to be dried, with wooden pegs, under shelter in a 
 place where the fresh air is admitted ; and lest moths 
 should gnaw them or strip them of their hairs, they 
 are carefully beaten with sticks for a week or fort- 
 night. The Spaniards finding that the trade in hides 
 was more profitable to them than all others, were 
 seized with a blind rage for killing all the oxen they 
 could lay their hands on. The flesh, after being 
 stripped, and which would suffice to feed a numerotf^ 
 army in Europe, is left on the plains to be devoured 
 by dogs, wild beasts and birds ; and indeed one might 
 fear lest the air should be corrupted by such a quan- 
 tity of carrion. 
 
 " This custom of hunting and slaughtering oxen be- 
 ing continued for a century, exhausted almost all the 
 plains of wild cattle. You no longer saw those public 
 and immense herds of oxen which belonged to nobody 
 in particular, but might he appropriated to the use of 
 any one. It must be ascribed to the nature and 
 extent of these plains, that in Paraguayan estates, the 
 oxen are still so numerous that Europe may envy, 
 but cannot hope to equal them. I have known Span- 
 iards who possessed 100,000 oxen. "Who can reckon 
 the number of hides daily employed in manufacturing 
 ropes, building hedges and houses, making trunks, 
 
84 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 saddles, and inwrappers for the herb Paraguay, tobac- 
 co, sugar, wheat, cotton and other things ? The com- 
 mon people among the Spaniards have no other bed 
 than an ox-hide spread on the ground, which is also 
 the case with an innumerable crowd of negro slaves. 
 Beef is the principal, and almost the only food of the 
 lower orders in Paraguay. Moreover that quantity 
 of meat which would overload the stomach of a Euro- 
 pean, is scarcely sufficient to satisfy the appetite of an 
 American. A Guarany after a very few hours' fast 
 will devour a young calf. An Indian before he lies 
 down to sleep, places a piece of meat to roast at the 
 fire, that he may fall immediately to eating when he 
 wakes. Place food before him, and the rising and the 
 setting sun will behold him with his jaws at work 
 and his mouth full, but with an appetite still unsati- 
 ated. Such being the voracity of the inhabitants, and 
 so continual the slaughter of innumerable oxen, you 
 will agree with me that Paraguay may be called the 
 devouring grave, as well as the nursery of cattle. 
 
 " Besides this incredible multitude of oxen, Paraguay 
 breeds an infinite number of horses, all sprung from, 
 seven mares which the Spaniards brought with them. 
 The whole of that plain country extending from the 
 La Plata full two hundred leagues in every direction, 
 is covered with droves of wandering horses, of which 
 any person may catch as many as he likes. Some 
 horsemen within a few days, bring home more than a 
 thousand horses from the plains. A hunt of this kind 
 is performed in various ways, some catch every horse 
 they come near with a rope of hide ; others construct 
 a hedge with a wide entrance, like the sleeve of a 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 85 
 
 garment, through which they drive a herd of horses 
 separated from the rest, into an inclosed space, where 
 after they have been confined for some time, hunger 
 and thirst render them gentle, and they are easily led 
 away in company with the tame horses. Sometimes 
 a part of the plain is set on fire, and a new growth of 
 grass springing up, the horses crowd into the spot to 
 graze, where they are surrounded by the hunters." 
 
 The voyager Dampier gives the following descrip- 
 tion of the manner of hunting wild cattle, or hocksing, 
 as he calls it, in Campeachy. " This way of hocksing 
 bullocks seems peculiar to the Spaniards, especially 
 to those that live hereabout, who are very dexterous at 
 it. For this reason some of them are constantly em- 
 ployed in it all the year, and so become very expert. 
 The hockser is mounted on a good horse bred up to 
 the sport, who knows so well when to advance or 
 retreat upon occasion, that a rider has no trouble to 
 manage him. His arms are a hocksing-iron, which is 
 made in the shape of a half-moon, with a very sharp 
 edge. This iron is fastened by a socket to a pole 
 about 14 or 15 feet long. When the hockser is 
 mounted, he lays the pole over the head of his horse 
 with iron forward, and then rides after his game, and 
 having overtaken it, strikes his iron just above the 
 hock, and hamstrings it. The horse presently wheels 
 off to the left, for the wounded beast makes at him pre- 
 sently with all his force, but he scampers away a good 
 distance before he comes about again. If the ham- 
 string is not quite cut asunder with the stroke, yet the 
 bullock by continual springing out his leg, certainly 
 breaks it, and then can go but on three legs, yet still 
 xviu. 8 
 
8b CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 limps forward to be revenged on his enemy. Then 
 the hockser rides up softly to him and strikes his 
 iron into the knee of one of his forelegs, and then he 
 immediately tumbles down. He gets off his horse, 
 and taking a sharp pointed strong knife, strikes it into 
 his poll a little behind the horns so dexterously, that 
 at one blow he cuts off the string of his neck, and 
 down falls his head. This they call polling. Then 
 the hockser immediately mounts arid rides after more 
 game, leaving the other to the skinners who are at 
 hand and ready to take care of his hide. The right 
 ear of the hocksing horse by the weight of the pole 
 laid constantly over it when on duty, hangs down 
 always, by which you may know it from other horses. 
 " The Spaniards pick and choose only the bulls 
 and old cows, and leave the young cattle to breed, by 
 which means they always preserve their stock entire. 
 On the contrary, the English and French kill without 
 distinction, yea, the young rather than the old, with- 
 out regard of keeping up their stock. Jamaica is a 
 remarkable instance of this our folly in this particu- 
 lar, for when it was first taken by the English, the 
 savannas were well stocked with cattle, but they 
 were soon destroyed by our soldiers. Our English 
 hunters have much lessened the numbers of the cattle 
 in Campeachy, and those that are left, by constant 
 shooting are grown so wild and desperate, that it is 
 dangerous for a single man to fire at them or to venture 
 through the savannas. For the old bulls that have 
 been formerly shot, will make at him ; and they will 
 all draw up in battalia to defend themselves upon our 
 approach, the old bulls in the front, behind them the 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 87 
 
 cows in the same manner, and behind them the young 
 cattle. And if we strive to wheel about to get in the 
 rear, the bulls will certainly face about that way and 
 still present a front to us. Therefore we seldom 
 strive to shoot any out of a. great herd, but walk about 
 in the woods close by the savanna, and there we 
 light of our game. The beast makes directly at the 
 hunter if it be desperately wounded, as I have experi- 
 enced myself, but if but slightly, they commonly run 
 away. 
 
 " The old hunters tell us that a cow is more danger- 
 ous of the two. because, they say, she runs at her 
 enemy with her eyes open ; but the bull shuts his, so 
 that you may easily avoid him. But this I cannot 
 affirm of my own knowledge, and rather doubt the 
 truth of it, for I knew one shrewdly gored by a bull. 
 He was a consort with Mr. Baker in the West 
 Lagoon, where having tired themselves cutting log- 
 wood, they took an occasion to go in their canoe to 
 Beef Island, to refresh themselves there a fortnight or 
 three weeks, because here were several sorts of fruits, 
 and plenty of cabbage to eat with their fresh beef, 
 which they could not fail to meet with. They came to 
 a place called the Salt Creek, and there they built them 
 a hut. About 4 o'clock, while Mr. Baker lay down to 
 sleep, his consort marched out into the savanna about 
 a mile from their hut, and there coming within shot 
 of a bull, wounded him desperately ; but yet the bull 
 had still so much strength left, as to pursue and over- 
 take his adversary, trampling on him and goring his 
 thigh so that he was not able to rise. The bull by 
 this time was spent and fell down dead by him ; and 
 
88 
 
 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 there the man had also perished, if Mr. Baker had not 
 come the next morning to seek him, who, finding him 
 by the dead beast, took him on his back and lugged 
 him home to their hut. 
 
 "The cattle in this country are large and fat in 
 February, March and April ; at other times of the 
 year they are fleshy but not fat, yet sweet enough. 
 When they have killed a beef, they cut it into four 
 quarters, and taking out all the bones, each man 
 makes a hole in the middle of his quarter, just big 
 enough for his head to go through, then puts it on like 
 a frock, and trudgeth home ; and if he chances to tire, 
 he cuts off some of it and flings it away. It is a 
 diversion pleasant enough, though not without some 
 danger, to hunt in a canoe ; for then the cattle hav- 
 ing no other feeding-places than the sides of the 
 savannas, which are sometimes higher ground than 
 the middle, they are forced sometimes to swim. So 
 that we may easily come to shoot them when they are 
 thus in the water. The beast, when she is so hard 
 pursued, that she cannot escape, turns about and 
 comes full tilt at the canoe, and striking her head 
 against the prow, drives her back twenty or thirty 
 paces ; then she scampers away again. But if she 
 has received a wound, she commonly pursues us till 
 she is knocked down. Our chiefest care is to keep 
 the head of the canoe towards her, for if she should 
 strike against the broadside, it would endanger over- 
 setting it, and consequently wetting our arms and 
 ammunition. Besides, the savannas at this time 
 swarm with alligators, and are, therefore, the more 
 dangerous on that account. 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 89 
 
 " When we killed a beef, if there were more than 
 four of us, the overplus went to seek fresh game, while 
 the rest dressed it. I went out the first Sunday and 
 complied very well with my master's order, which was 
 only to help drive the cattle out of the savannas into 
 the woods, where two or three men lay to shoot them ; 
 and having killed our game, we reached home with 
 our burthens. The next Saturday after, I went with 
 a design to kill a beef myself, thinking it more honor 
 to try my own skill in shooting, than only to drive the 
 game for others to shoot at. We went now to a place 
 called the Upper Savanna, going four miles in our 
 canoes, and then landing, walked one mile through 
 the woods, before we came into the savanna, and 
 marched about two miles in it before we came to any 
 game. Here I gave my companions the slip, and 
 wandered so far into the woods that I lost myself; 
 neither could I find the way into the open savanna, 
 but instead of that, ran directly from it through small 
 spots of savannas and skirts of woods. This was 
 some time in May, and it was between ten o'clock and 
 one, that I was (as we called it, I suppose from the 
 Spaniards,) marooned, or lost, and quite out of the 
 hearing of my comrades' guns. I was somewhat sur- 
 prised at this, but however, I knew I should find my 
 way out as soon as the sun was a little lower. So I 
 sat down to rest myself, resolving, however, to run no 
 farther out of my way, for the sun being so near the 
 zenith, I could not distinguish how to direct my course. 
 Being weary, and almost faint fo'r want of water, I 
 Was forced to have recourse to the wild pines, and 
 was by them supplied, or else I must have perished 
 8* 
 
90 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 with thirst. About three o'clock I went due north, as 
 near as I could judge, for the savanna lay east and 
 west, and I was on the south side of it. 
 
 " At sunset, I got into the clear open savanna, being 
 about two leagues wide in most places, but how long 
 I know not. It is well stored with bullocks, but by 
 frequent hunting, they grow shy and remove farther 
 up the country. Here I found myself four or five 
 miles to the west of the place where I straggled from 
 my companions. I made homewards with all the 
 speed I could, but being overtaken by the night, I lay 
 down on the grass a good distance from the woods, for 
 the benefit of the wind to keep the moschetoes from 
 me ; but in vain ; for in less than an hour's time I was 
 so persecuted, that although I endeavored to keep them 
 off by fanning myself with boughs, and shifting my 
 quarters three or four times, yet still they haunted me 
 so that I could get no sleep. 
 
 " At daybreak, I got up and directed my course to 
 the creek where we landed, from which I was then 
 about two leagues. I did not see one beast of any 
 sort whatever, in all the way, though the day before, 
 I saw several young calves that could not follow their 
 dams, but even these were gone away, to my great 
 vexation and disappointment, for I was very hungry. 
 But about a mile further, I spied ten or twelve quams, 
 perching on the boughs of a cotton tree. These were 
 not shy ; therefore, I got well under them, and having 
 a single bullet, but no shot about me, fired at one of 
 them, but missed it, though I had before often killed 
 them so. Then I came up with, and fired at, five or 
 six turkeys, but with no better success ; so that I was 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 91 
 
 forced to march forward, still in the savanna, toward 
 the creek ; and when I came to the path that led to it 
 through the woods, I found to my great joy, a hat 
 stuck upon a pole, and when I came to the creek, I 
 found another. These were set up by my consorts 
 who were gone home in the evening, as signals that 
 they would come and fetch me. Therefore, I sat 
 down and waited for them ; for although I had not 
 then above three leagues home by water, yet it would 
 have been very difficult, if not impossible, to have got 
 thither by land, by reason of those vast impassable 
 thickets abounding everywhere along the creek's side, 
 wherein I have known some puzzled for two or three 
 days, and have not advanced half a mile, though they 
 labored extremely every day. Neither was I disap- 
 pointed in my hopes, for within half an hour after my 
 arrival at the creek, my consorts came, bringing every 
 man his bottle of water and his gun, both to hunt for 
 game, and to give me notice by firing, that I might 
 hear them ; for I have known several men lost in the 
 like manner, and never heard of afterwards. 
 
 " Such an accident befel one Captain Hall of New 
 England, who came hither in a Boston ship, to take 
 in logwood, and was freighted by two Scotchmen; and 
 one Mr. W. Cane, an Irishman, who designed to go 
 with goods from Jamaica to New England. For that 
 reason, when his logwood was aboard, he tarried at 
 Trist with the ship, and hunted once in two or three 
 days for beef to lengthen out his salt provision. One 
 morning, the captain designing to hunt, took five of 
 his men, with his mate, as also his merchant, Mr. 
 Cane, along with him. They landed at the east end 
 
92 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 of the island, which is low mangrove land; the 
 savanna is a considerable distance from the sea, and 
 therefore it is troublesome to get to it. However, 
 unless they would row four or five leagues further, 
 they could not find a more convenient place ; besides, 
 they doubted not of Mr. Cane's skill to conduct them. 
 After they had followed him a mile or two into the 
 woods, the captain seeing him to make a halt, as 
 being in some doubt, to consider of the way, told him 
 in derision, that he was but a sorry woodsman, and 
 that he would swing him but twice round and he 
 should not guess the way out again; and saying no 
 more to him, went forward and bid his seamen follow 
 him, which they did accordingly. Mr. Cane, after he 
 had recollected himself, struck off another way, and 
 desired them to go with him ; but instead of that, they 
 were all for following the captain. In a short time, 
 Mr. Cane got out of the woods into the savanna, and 
 there killed a good fat cow, and quartering it, made it 
 fit for carriage, supposing the captain and crew would 
 soon be with him. But after waiting three or four 
 hours, and firing his gun several times without hear- 
 ing any answer, he took up his burden and returned 
 toward the sea-side ; and upon giving a signal, a boat 
 came and brought him aboard. 
 
 " In the mean time, the captain and his men, after 
 four or five hours' ranging the woods, began to grow 
 tired, and then his mate, happily trusting more to his 
 own judgment, left him and the four seamen, and 
 about four or five o'clock, being almost spent with 
 thirst, got out of the woods to the sea-shore, and as 
 weak as he was, fired his gun for the boat to fetch 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 93 
 
 him, which was immediately done. When he came 
 aboard, h% gave an account whereabout, and in what a 
 condition, he left the captain and his men ; but it being 
 then too late to seek him, the next morning very 
 early Mr. Cane and two seamen taking directions from 
 the mate, who was so fatigued that he could not stir, 
 where he had left the captain, went ashore, and at 
 length came within call of him, and at last found him 
 laid down in a thicket, having just sense to call out 
 sometimes, but not strength enough to stand. So they 
 were forced to carry him to the sea-side. When they 
 had a little refreshed him with brandy and water, he 
 told them how his company had fainted for thirst, and 
 dropped down one after another, though he still 
 encouraged them- to be cheerful, and rest themselves 
 awhile, till he got some supplies of water for them ; 
 that they were very patient, and that two of his men 
 held out till five o'clock in the afternoon, and then they 
 fainted also. But he himself proceeded in quest of his 
 way till night, and then fell down in the place where 
 they found him. The two seamen carried the captain 
 aboard, while Mr. Cane searched about for the rest, 
 but to no purpose, for he returned without them, and 
 could never hear of them afterwards." 
 
 As illustrating the perils of cattle hunting in this 
 quarter, we will relate another adventure from the 
 same amusing narrator. " In the very height of the 
 day-time, seven or eight men, English and Irish, went 
 to a place called Pics Pond, or Beef Island, to hunt. 
 This pond was never dry, so that the cattle drew 
 hither in swarms ; but after two or three days' hunt- 
 ing, they were shy, and would not come near the pond 
 
94 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 till night ; and then if an army of men had lain to 
 oppose them, they would not have been debarred of 
 water. The hunters, knowing their custom, lay still 
 all day, and in the night visited this pond, and killed 
 as many beefs as they could. This trade they had 
 driven a week, and made great profit. At length, an 
 Irishman going to the pond in the night, stumbled 
 over an alligator that lay in the path. The alligator 
 seized him by the knee ; at which the man cried out, 
 1 Help ! Help ! ' His consorts not knowing what the 
 matter was, ran all away from their huts, supposing 
 that he was fallen into the clutches of some Spaniards, 
 of whom they were afraid, every dry season. But 
 poor Daniel, not finding any assistance, waited till the 
 beast opened his jaw to take better hold, because it is 
 usual for the alligator to do so, and then snatched 
 away his knee and slipped the butt-end of his gun 
 in the room of it, which the alligator gripped so hard 
 that he pulled it out of his hand, and so went away. 
 The man being near a small tree, climbed up out of 
 his reach, and then cried out to his consorts to come 
 and assist him, who being still within call, and watch- 
 ing to hear the issue of the alarm, made haste to him 
 with firebrands in their hands, and brought him away 
 in their arms, to his hut ; for he was in a deplorable 
 condition, and not able to stand on his feet, his knee 
 was so torn with the alligator's teeth. The gun was 
 found the next day, ten or twelve paces from the place 
 where he was seized, with two long holes made in the 
 butt-end of it, one on each side, near an inch deep, for 
 I saw the gun afterwards. This spoiled their sport 
 for a time, they being forced to carry the man to the 
 
BUFFALO HUNTING. 95 
 
 island Trist, where their ships were, which was six or 
 seven leagues distant. This Irishman went afterwards 
 to New England, in a ship belonging to Boston, and 
 nine or ten months after returned to the bay again, being 
 recovered of his wound, but went limping ever after." 
 
 We are told that there are some wild cattle in 
 Texas and the adjacent districts of Mexico. These, 
 as well as those of South America, are the offspring 
 of European breeds, introduced centuries ago, by the 
 Spaniards. The wild horses, also, of which there are 
 multitudes in the far west, are sprung from European 
 races ; neither the ox nor horse being natives of the 
 American continent. Several of the tribes of western 
 Indians, especially the Camanchees, catch great num- 
 bers of the wild horses of the plains, and break them 
 into use. * 
 
 In the north of Europe, the bull still remains 
 wild in the dense forests, but not in great numbers. 
 The wild buffalo, which is found in small herds in 
 Africa and Asia, is distinct from the ox, and also dif- 
 ferent from the bison or buffalo of our western wilds. 
 Neither of these animals furnishes much exercise to 
 the enterprise of the hunter. 
 
 BUFFALO HUNTING. 
 
 THE American buffalo, or more properly bison, is 
 an object of great importance to the hunters and trav- 
 ellers in the western regions of this continent. These 
 animals afford the chief supplies of meat, both to the 
 
96 
 
 BUFFALO HUNTING. 
 
 whites and the Indians who rove over the immense 
 plains of the west. Their skins form excellent robes, 
 
 and serve for bedding, clothing, and various other pur- 
 poses. The Indians moisten the skins with the brains 
 of the animal, and work them between the hands till 
 they become perfectly supple. The robes form an 
 excellent protection against the rain when the hair 
 side is worn outward, and against cold when it is worn 
 inward. On these robes, the Indians^frequentlymake 
 drawings of their great battles and victories. The 
 hair of the buffalo has been sometimes used in the 
 manufacture of coarse cloth. 
 
 The flesh of the buffalo is somewhat coarser in its fibre 
 than that of the domestic ox, yet travellers are unanimous 
 in considering it equally savory as an article of food. 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 97 
 
 The flesh is more agreeably sapid, as the grass upon 
 which these animals feed is short, firm and nutritious, 
 being very different from the luxuriant and less saline 
 grass produced on a more fertile soil. The fat of the buf- 
 falo is said to be far sweeter and richer than that of the 
 common ox. Of all the parts that are eaten, the hump 
 is the most famed for its peculiar flavor and deli- 
 cacy ; when dressed it is said very much to resemble 
 marrow. The Indian mode of cooking the hump is 
 to cut it out from the vertebrae, after which the spines 
 of bone are taken out ; the denuded portion is then 
 covered with skin, which is finally sewed to .the skin 
 covering the hump. The hair is then singed and 
 pulled off, and the whole mass is put into a hole dug 
 in the earth for its reception, which has been pre- 
 viously heated by a strong fire. It is then covered 
 with cinders and earth about a foot deep, and a strong 
 fire is made over it. By noon of the next day it is fit 
 for use. The tongue and marrow-bones are also 
 highly esteemed. To preserve the flesh for future use, 
 the hunters and Indians cut it into thin slices and dry 
 it in the open air ; a large stock of meat may thus be 
 kept for a considerable length of time. 
 
 From the dried flesh of buffaloes, the fur-traders of 
 the north-west prepare a food which is very valuable 
 on account of .the time it may be preserved without 
 spoiling. The flesh is placed on skins and pounded 
 with stones until sufficiently pulverized. It is then 
 separated as much as possible from impurities, and 
 one third of its weight of melted tallow of the animal 
 is poured over it. This substance is called pemmican, 
 and being packed firmly in bags of skin of a conven- 
 
 G XVIII, 9 
 
93 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 lent size for transportation, may be kept for a year or 
 more without much difficulty. 
 
 During August and September the flesh of the bison 
 bull is poor and disagreeably flavored. The animals 
 are, however, much more easily killed, being not so vig- 
 ilant as the cows, and sometimes allowing the hunters 
 easily to come up with them. Lewis and Clarke relate, 
 that once approaching a large herd, the bulls would 
 scarcely move out of their way, and as they approached, 
 they would merely look at them for a moment as 
 at something new, and then quietly resume their 
 grazing. The sense of smelling is remarkably acute 
 in this animal, and it is stated by hunters that the 
 odor of the white man is far more terrifying to them 
 than that of the Indian. 
 
 The herds of buffaloes wander over the country in 
 search of food, usually led by a bull most remarkable 
 for strength and firmness. While feeding, they are 
 often scattered over a great extent of country, but 
 when they move in a mass, they form a dense and 
 almost impenetrable column, which, once in motion, is 
 scarcely to be impeded. Their line of march is sel- 
 dom interrupted even by considerable rivers, across 
 which they swim without fear or hesitation nearly in 
 the order that they traverse the plains. When flying 
 before their pursuer it would be in vain for the fore- 
 most to halt or attempt to obstruct the progress of the 
 main body ; as the throng in the rear is still rushing 
 onward, the leaders must advance although destruction 
 awaits the movement. The Indians take advantage 
 of this circumstance to destroy great numbers of them, 
 and certainly, no mode could be resorted to more 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 99 
 
 effectually destructive, nor could a more terrible de- 
 vastation be produced than that of forcing a numerous 
 herd of these large animals to leap together from the 
 brink of a dreadful precipice upon a rocky and broken 
 surface a hundred feet below. 
 
 When the Indians determine to destroy buffaloes in 
 this way, one of their swiftest footed and most active 
 young men is selected, who is disguised in a buffalo 
 skin, having the head, ears and horns adjusted on his 
 own head, so as to make the deception very complete, 
 and thus accoutred he stations himself between the 
 herd and some of the precipices that often extend for 
 several miles along the rivers. The Indians surround 
 the herd as nearly as possible, when at a given signal 
 they show themselves and rush forward with loud 
 yells. The animals being alarmed, and seeing no 
 way open but in the direction of the disguised Indian, 
 run towards him, and he taking to flight, dashes on to 
 the precipice where he suddenly secures himself in 
 some previously ascertained crevice. The foremost 
 of the herd arrive at the brink ; there is no possibility 
 of retreat, no chance of escape ; the foremost may for 
 an instant shrink with terror, but the crowd behind, 
 who are terrified by the approaching hunters, rush 
 forward with increasing impetuosity, and the aggre- 
 gated force hurls them successively into the gulf, where 
 certain death awaits them. 
 
 It is very fortunate that this sanguinary and waste- 
 ful method of killing buffaloes is not very frequently 
 put in practice by the savages, or we might expect 
 these animals in a few years to become entirely ex- 
 tinct. The waste is not the only unpleasant circum- 
 
100 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 stance consequent upon it ; for the air, in the space of a 
 few days, is filled with the horrible stench arising from 
 the putrefying carcasses not consumed by the Indians 
 after so extensive and indiscriminate a slaughter. For 
 a considerable time following such an occurrence, the 
 wolves and vultures feast sumptuously, and fatten to 
 tameness on the disgusting remains, becoming so gentle 
 and fearless as to allow themselves to be approached 
 by men and knocked down with a stick. 
 
 A more common way of killing buffaloes is by 
 attacking them on horseback. The Indians, mounted 
 and well armed with bows and arrows, encircle the 
 herd and gradually drive them into a situation favor- 
 able to the employment of the horse. They then ride 
 in and single out one, generally a female, and follow- 
 ing her as closely as possible, wound her with arrows 
 until the mortal blow is given, when they go in pur- 
 suit of others until their quivers are exhausted. 
 Should a wounded buffalo attack the hunter, he 
 escapes by the agility of his horse, which is usually 
 well trained for the purpose. When the hunting is 
 ended, and a sufficiency of game is killed, the squaws 
 come up from the rear to skin and dress the meat, a 
 business in which they have acquired great dexterity. 
 If a buffalo is found dead without an arrow in his 
 body, or any particular mark attached, it becomes the 
 property of the finder. 
 
 When the ice is breaking up on the rivers in the 
 spring, the dry grass of the surrounding plains is set 
 on fire, and the buffaloes are tempted to cross the 
 rivers in search of the young grass that immediately 
 succeeds the burning of the old. In the attempt to 
 
CATTLE HUNTING. 101 ' 
 
 cross, they are often insulated on large cakes of ice. 
 The savages select the most favorable points for attack, 
 and as the buffalo drifts along, the Indians leap with 
 wonderful agility over the ice to attack him, and as 
 the animal is necessarily unsteady, and his footing 
 very insecure, he is soon conquered. 
 
 The Creek Indians make a buffalo-pound by fencing 
 a circular space of about a hundred yards' diameter. 
 The entrance is banked up with snow sufficiently high 
 to prevent the animals from retreating after they have 
 once entered. For about a mile on each side of the road 
 leading to the pound, stakes are driven into the ground 
 at nearly equal distances of about twenty yards, which 
 are intended to look like men and to deter the animal 
 from endeavoring to break through the fence. Within 
 fifty or sixty yards of the pound, branches of trees are 
 placed between the stakes to screen the Indians who 
 lie down behind them to wait for the approach of the 
 buffaloes. The mounted hunters display the greatest 
 dexterity in this sort of chase, as they are obliged to 
 manoeuvre around the herd in the plains, so as to urge 
 them into the road, which is about a quarter of a mile 
 broad. When this is effected, the Indians raise loud 
 shouts, and pressing closely on the animals, terrify 
 them so much that they rush heedlessly forvvlird to- 
 wards the snare. When they have advanced as far as 
 the men who are lying in ambush, these also show 
 themselves, increasing the consternation of the buf- 
 faloes by shouting violently and firing their guns. 
 The affrighted animals have no choice but to rush 
 directly forward into the pound, where they are quickly 
 despatched with guns or arrows. 
 9* 
 
102 CATTLE HUNTING. 
 
 To show the strength of the buffalo's sense of 
 smelling, we may relate the following circumstance 
 which took place during Major Long's expedition. 
 The party were riding through a dreary and uninter- 
 esting country, which at that time was enlivened by 
 vast numbers of buffaloes, which were moving in count- 
 less thousands in every direction. As the wind was 
 blowing fresh from the south, the scent of the party 
 was wafted directly across the river Platte, and 
 over a distance of eight or ten miles ; every step 
 of its progress was distinctly marked by the alarm and 
 consternation it produced among the buffaloes. The 
 instant their atmosphere was infected by the tainted 
 gale, they ran as violently as if pursued by mounted 
 hunters, and instead of fleeing from the 'danger, they 
 turned their heads towards the wind, eager to escape 
 the terrifying odor. They dashed obliquely forward 
 towards the party, and plunging into the river, swam, 
 waded and ran with headlong violence, in several 
 instances breaking through the expedition's line of 
 march. One of the party, perceiving from the direc- 
 tion taken by the bull which led the extended column, 
 that he would emerge from the low river bottom at a 
 point where the precipitous bank was deeply worn by 
 much travelling, urged his horse rapidly forward that 
 he might reach this station in order to gain a nearer 
 view of these interesting animals. He had but just 
 gained the spot when the formidable leader bounding 
 up the steep, reached the summit of the bank with his 
 fore feet, and in this position suddenly halted from 
 his full career, and fiercely glared at the horse which 
 stood full in his path. The horse was panic-struck 
 
BEAR HUNTING. 103 
 
 by the sudden apparition, trembled violently from fear, 
 and would have wheeled and taken to flight, had not 
 his rider exerted his utmost strength to restrain him. 
 He recoiled, however, a few feet, and sunk down upon 
 his haunches. The buffalo halted for a moment, but 
 urged forward by the irresistible pressure of the mov- 
 ing column behind, he rushed onward by the half-sit- 
 ting horse. The herd then came swiftly on, crowd- 
 ing up the narrow defile. The party had now reached 
 the spot, and extended along a considerable distance ; 
 the buffaloes ran in a confused manner in various direc- 
 tions to gain the distant bluff, and many were com- 
 pelled to pass through the line of march. This scene, 
 added to the plunging and roaring of those which were 
 yet crossing the river, produced a grand effect, that 
 was heightened by the fire opened upon them by the 
 hunters. 
 
 BEAR HUNTING. 
 
 THERE is a considerable variety of species in 
 the family of bears, among which the brown bear of 
 Europe and Asia is the most common. This was 
 once numerous in all the temperate regions of the 
 eastern continent, but it is now found only in the 
 northern portions. Beside this, thore are the Thibet, 
 jungle, Indian and Malay bears, of the eastern hemis- 
 phere ; the white, or sea-bear, of the polar regions ; 
 and the black, grizzly, barren ground and spectacled 
 bears, of America. The latter is confined to the trop- 
 
104 BEAR HUNTING. 
 
 ical portions of the Andes, and is the only species 
 found in hot countries. 
 
 Black bear of America, 
 
 In all countries which it inhabits, the brown bear is 
 a favorite animal with the hunter, as> well on account 
 of its skin as its flesh. To the rude tribes which 
 inhabit Asia, it is of the greatest value. It abounds 
 particularly in Kamschatka, and here the people make 
 beds, coverlets, caps, gloves, snow-shoes and harness 
 of its skin ; of its fat they make oil, and its flesh is a 
 favorite species of food. Of the intestines they make 
 window panes and masks to preserve the face of the 
 ladies from the weather. The shoulder blades are con- 
 verted into sickles for cutting grass. 
 
 ID northern countries the skin of the bear is cov- 
 eted for its fur ; its grease is sent to all the capitals 
 of Europe, to be converted into pomatum for the hair, 
 and multitudes are caught young and trained to vari- 
 
BEAR HUNTING. 105 
 
 ous tricks, for which the creature has an aptitude. 
 Many stratagems are naturally resorted to for the cap- 
 ture of an animal in such request as well in the 
 countries where he is found as in more distant 
 regions. In many cases he is openly attacked with 
 clubs, spears and fire arms ; in some cases he is 
 caught in traps of logs, in others, he is taken in pit- 
 falls. Sometimes a noose is so placed with a bait, 
 that the creature in attempting to seize the latter, is 
 strangled. 
 
 Hunting wild animals is practised in Sweden by 
 what is called a skall, in which great numbers of people 
 surround a large extent of territory, and march toward 
 a central point, driving the animals before them, till they 
 are pent up in so narrow a space that they cannot 
 escape the shots of the hunters. By the laws of 
 Sweden, when a skall takes place in any particular 
 district, every house where cattle are kept is compelled 
 to furnish, when required by the authorities, one man, 
 as a contingent to aid in the hunt ; as it is equally the 
 interest of all persons possessing cattle to destroy such 
 ferocious animals as wolves and bears. Should a Sun- 
 day or other holiday intervene between the appoint- 
 ment and the execution of the skall, a notification is 
 given out from the pulpit, just before the conclusion 
 of divine service, specifying the number of people 
 required, the district from which they are to come, 
 and the day, hour, and place of rendezvous. 
 
 The formation and arrangements of the skalls vary 
 with the season of the year and nature of the country. 
 In the summer skalls the greatest variety of game is 
 collected. The winter skalls commonly embrace a 
 
106 f BEAR HUNTING. 
 
 smaller extent of country, and bears are usually their 
 object. The act of ascertaining the spot in which a 
 bear has taken up his quarters in winter is called 
 ringing, and is thus performed. When there is snow 
 upon the ground, and the track of the animal is dis- 
 covered, a person follows it until he judges himself 
 near the bear's retreat. This is indicated by his pro- 
 ceeding very slowly and in a round-about course, or 
 rather by his doubling in the same manner as a hare, 
 for as long as he goes in a straight line he has no 
 intention of lying down. The man now leaves the 
 track, and begins making an extended ring round the 
 suspected part of the forest. Should he complete this 
 circle without again meeting with the track, he may 
 be certain that the bear is within it. If, on the con- 
 trary, he finds that the animal has proceeded beyond 
 it, he commences another ring, and thus he continues 
 till he succeeds in accomplishing his object. Some- 
 times the ring is six or eight miles in circumference ; 
 at other times not more than one To ring a bear 
 properly demands great experience, and during the 
 operation the greatest silence and caution are neces- 
 sary. 
 
 The following account of a skall in Dalecarlia is ex- 
 tracted from Lloyd's Field Sports of the North of Eu- 
 rope : " I was in the northern parts of the province of 
 Dalecarlia when an express reached me from Mr. Falk, 
 with intelligence that a she-bear and three very large 
 cubs had been roused from their winter quarters, near 
 to a hamlet called Skoga, situated about seven or eight 
 miles from Stjern. He added, further, that they were 
 safely * ringed,' there being at that time much snow 
 
BEAK HUNTING. 107 
 
 upon the ground, and that he intended forthwith hav- 
 ing a skall for the purpose of destroying them. On. 
 receiving this information, I lost no time in retracing 
 my steps to the southward, upon which Mr. Falk, who 
 had handsomely deferred making his final arrange- 
 ments until my arrival, fixed upon an early day for 
 the hunt. A Sunday happening to intervene, the 
 usual notification was given in the several churches 
 and the requisite number of men were ordered out. 
 
 " At an early hour on the appointed morning, the 
 weather being clear and cold, Mr. Falk, together with 
 several other gentlemen and myself, proceeded to the 
 place of rendezvous, which was at some little distance 
 westward of a lake called the Boda. Here we found 
 upwards of five hundred men assembled, whom Mr. 
 Falk immediately formed into two divisions, and as 
 they were universally armed either with axes, pikes 
 or guns, they presented, as may be supposed, a rather 
 warlike appearance. When all the necessary arrange- 
 ments were completed, the people were marched off 
 in single file to the ring, which was on the summit 
 of a rather lofty range of hills at about three or four 
 miles to the westward. Mr. F^lk, on this occasion, 
 took the command in person of the dref or driving 
 division ; the other, the hallet, or stationary divi- 
 sion, he entrusted to one of the under forest-keepers, 
 Jan Finne, one of the most daring bear hunters in the 
 kingdom. Though still in the prime of life, this man 
 had killed, according to his own statement, sixty-five 
 of those animals with his own gun, independently of 
 several others in whose death he had been accessory 
 in skalls or otherwise. He had never been wounded 
 
108 FEAR HUNTING. 
 
 in a single instance, which was rather remarkable for 
 an old bear hunter ; though by his own statement he 
 had experienced several narrow escapes. His good 
 fortune in thus avoiding accidents was, however, 
 owing to his management and judgment as well as 
 to his superior skill in the use of the skidor or snow- 
 skates. 
 
 " The skall formed a circle, the circumference of 
 which was upwards of 4000 paces. This was of a 
 greater magnitude than is usual in the winter, in con- 
 sequence of the known wildness of the bears we were 
 then about to attack, those animals having already 
 been on foot. and changed their quarters three several 
 times since they had been first disturbed about ten 
 days before. For this reason it was highly inexpe- 
 dient that the cordori should approach too near to 
 them in the first instance. The extent of the ring 
 was previously known to Mr. Falk, from one of his 
 people having reckoned the exact number of steps it 
 took him to go round it. On our way to the ring we 
 met with one of Mr. Falk's people, who reported the 
 bears to be still safe within it. This was the more 
 gratifying intelligence, as from those animals having 
 so frequently changed their quarters within a recent 
 period, we were not a little apprehensive that they 
 might again have moved ofT. On our reaching the 
 vicinity of the ring, a general halt took place. Here 
 the people were obliged to deposit their knapsacks, 
 and their persons also underwent a vigorous search in 
 order to deprive them of any brandy they might hap- 
 pen to have about them, as in the event of a few men 
 being intoxicated the whole order of a skall is easily 
 
BEAR HUNTING. 109 
 
 destroyed. Drunkenness, on these occasions, is there- 
 fore severely punished by legal enactments. 
 
 " After a little reorganization had taken place among 
 the people, we again moved forward, though now in 
 the most perfect silence, towards the ring. There was 
 a light air at this time from the eastward, and Mr. 
 Falk, in consequence, judiciously ordered Jan Finne, 
 whose division was to form the western side of the 
 skall, which, of course, would be under the wind, to 
 lead in the first instance. This precaution, as it will 
 presently be seen, was attended with the most fortu- 
 nate results. On our reaching the ring, therefore, 
 Jan Finne, with his division, to which I attached my- 
 self, branched off to the left, whilst Mr. Falk, with the 
 remainder of the people, took the opposite direction. 
 In this manner we proceeded to form the cordon, the 
 track that we were to pursue having been marked out 
 by those who had ringed the bears. For this purpose 
 the rear of our line dropped a man, as had been previ- 
 ously determined upon, at about every nine paces. 
 The people forming Mr. Falk's division were stationed 
 somewhat farther apart from each other. 
 
 " The division to which I had attached myself was, 
 as I have already stated, to form the hallet, or station- 
 ary part of the skall. After proceeding, therefore, for 
 some distance, and on coming to a part of the forest 
 where the trees were rather open, and where there was 
 little underwood, I placed myself in the most favorable 
 position I could select, some few paces in advance of 
 the cordon. Here I had not waited more than ten 
 minutes, the people all the while keeping the most 
 guarded silence, when, to my left, a great shout was 
 xvni. 10 
 
110 BEAR HUNTING. 
 
 set up of ' The bears ! the bears /' In looking in that 
 direction I very indistinctly saw one of those animals 
 at about a hundred paces' distance; but he was so 
 shrouded in the thicket, and my view of him was so 
 transitory that I did not think it worth while to fire. 
 One of the peasants, however, discharged his piece at 
 the bears, the four being together, though, I believe, 
 without effect. This shot, nevertheless, together with 
 the shouts of the people, was the means of turning 
 them, for they instantly headed about and faced toward 
 the opposite or eastern side of the ring. It was fortu- 
 nate they took this direction, as, had they made to 
 the northward, from the cordon being at that time 
 incomplete, they would in all probability have escaped. 
 I was much afraid this would have been the case, and 
 so were Mr. Falk and Jan Finne, both of whom, on 
 hearing the shout, and apprehending what might hap- 
 pen, hurried forward their respective divisions as fast 
 as possible, and, luckily, they were in time to form a 
 junction before the bears made their appearance in that 
 direction. 
 
 " Everything now remained perfectly tranquil for a 
 long time ; for even when the cordon was completed, it 
 became necessary to strengthen those parts that were 
 weakest, as well as to make other arrangements. At 
 about one o'clock, three shots, the one from the cen- 
 tre, and the others from the wings, the usual signals on 
 these occasions, together with the cries of the people 
 which might now be indistinctly heard in the distance, 
 announced that it was advancing toward us. Two 
 hours or more, however, must have elapsed during 
 which, from the thermometer being little above zero, 
 
BEAR HUNTING?. Ill 
 
 and from my being provided with only my common 
 shooting-jacket, I was almost dead with cold before 
 we had another discharge or saw anything of the 
 bears ; for now that these animals found themselves 
 environed on every side, they kept the closest and 
 most tangled brakes, and the people, as is usual on 
 these occasions, proceeded at a very slow pace. Be- 
 ginning to tire at last with remaining so long in the 
 same position, I advanced alone about fifty paces fur- 
 ther within the cordon, where I stationed myself in 
 such a situation that I could command a tolerable view 
 of the surrounding forest. This, however, was alto- 
 gether contrary to rule. 
 
 " Here I had not remained a very long while when 
 a shot to my left gave rue to understand that the bears 
 were not far off ; and the next minute, at about one 
 hundred and fifty paces from where I stood, I caught 
 a glimpse of them as they were crossing a small open- 
 ing among the trees. The old bear was in advance, 
 and the cubs, which were of a very large size, were 
 following in succession upon the track. I might now 
 by possibility, hate done execution, but thinking, from 
 the direction they were taking, that they would come 
 nearer to me, I refrained from firing ; in this, how- 
 ever, I acted wrong, for, instead of facing toward me 
 as I had anticipated, they made for the opposite side 
 of the ring. Presently after, the shouts of the people, 
 together with several shots, plainly indicated that they 
 had made their appearance in that direction. 
 
 " Some little while subsequent to this I was joined 
 by Lieutenant Oldenburg, of the Swedish army, who 
 resided in the vicinity of my quarters, at Stjern. This 
 
112 BEAR HUNTING. 
 
 gentleman and myself were conversing together in an 
 under tone of voice, and I had my double-barrelled 
 gun, which was on the full cock, in my hand, when 
 two of the young bears, either of them as large as 
 animals of that species we are accustomed to see in 
 England, suddenly made their appearance on the out- 
 skirts of a thick brake, at about twenty paces from 
 where we stood. On seeing us, however, they squat- 
 ted like rabbits. We both now fired, and the fore- 
 most of the bears as instantly fell ; but the other at 
 the same moment disappearing in the brake, I had no 
 time to discharge my second barrel. As the one 
 which was down however, showed some disposition 
 to get on his legs again, I ran close up to him and 
 sent a bullet through his skull. Besides the latter 
 ball, the bear only received one other, which, on his 
 body being opened, was recognized to be mine. 
 
 " For a while all remained pretty quiet, but presently 
 afterwards, the tremendous shouts of the people oppo- 
 site to us, together with the very heavy firing, plainly 
 told us the remaining bears were endeavoring to 
 make their escape in that direction.* The scene had 
 now become very animating. After a time, the firing 
 ceased altogether, and Lieut. Oldenburg and myself 
 were almost led to conclude that all the bears were 
 slaughtered. In this supposition nevertheless, we 
 were mistaken ; for presently we viewed the old bear, 
 who, from the manner of dragging herself along, was 
 evidently much wounded, as she was slowly making 
 her way across a small glade in the forest. I sent a 
 ball after her, but as she quickly disappeared in a 
 thick brake> we had no great reason to suppose it took 
 the desired effect. 
 
BEAR HUNTING. 113 
 
 " In the space of two or three minutes, during which 
 several shots were fired immediately opposite to us, 
 we again saw the old bear. Owing to an intervening 
 brake, however, my view of her was much more in- 
 distinct than that obtained by my companions. At 
 this time she was standing motionless, with her front 
 towards us, and at about ninety paces' distance. Jan 
 Finne and Oldenburg lost no time in discharging 
 their rifles. Jan Finne fired the first, and though 
 without a rest of any kind, with so good an aim that 
 his ball, as was subsequently found, entered the breast 
 near to the shoulder, and ran the whole length of the 
 body where it lodged in her haunches. She did not, 
 however, alter her position, and only noticed the 
 wound she had received by a little shake of her head. 
 Lieut. Oldenburg was, however, more fortunate, for 
 dropping on one knee, and though like Jan Finne, 
 without a rest, he took so good a direction that his 
 ball entered the heart of the animal, when she in- 
 stantly fell dead upon the spot. 
 
 " The firing in front of us was, at intervals, still kept 
 up for a minute or two longer, and then ceased alto- 
 gether. On this Jan Finne, after we had advanced 
 up to the bear which Lieut. Oldenburg and himself 
 had just shot, hallooed to the people to halt. Though 
 at this time we were hardly fifty paces from them, not 
 one of them could we distinguish in consequence of 
 the closeness of the cover. Jan Finne now informed 
 Mr. Falk, who was along with his division, that three 
 of the bears were dead within the ring ; for indepen- 
 dently of the two that we ourselves had killed, we 
 observed a third lying hors de combat at some little 
 
 H 10* 
 
114 BEAR HUNTING. 
 
 dis.tance. In reply, that gentleman told us a fourth 
 was killed near to where he stood ; so that all of those 
 of which we had come in pursuit and we had not the 
 good fortune to meet with others in the same ring 
 were now slaughtered. The skall was then quickly 
 brought to a conclusion, for with the exception of a 
 few hares which the people knocked on the head with 
 sticks, there was neither wolf nor other animal re- 
 maining within the ring." 
 
 The black bear of America is similar to the brown 
 bear, we have described. It is now rare, east of the 
 Alleghany mountains, though it is occasionally found 
 in the wooded regions of the Catskill range. It is com- 
 mon in the western parts of the United States and 
 British America. 
 
 The grizzly bear which is met with along the eastern 
 borders of the Rocky mountains, is the- largest and 
 most formidable of the bear species, surpassing even 
 the polar bear. It lives wholly on flesh, and does not 
 hesitate to attack man, whenever he meets him. The 
 encounters of travellers with this dangerous brute, 
 have furnished us with many thrilling tales of peril. 
 He often masters the bison, and one has been known 
 to make a fierce resistance, after eight balls had passed 
 through his body. 
 
 To the Indians of the west and north-west, the com- 
 mon black bear is an object of great interest, and 
 hunting him is one of their most important avocations. 
 They preface their expeditions with auguries, dances, 
 and religious ceremonies, the design of which is to 
 propitiate the bear-spirit, and induce him to give them 
 success in the chase. They attack the animal with 
 
BEAR HUNTING. 115 
 
 spears, arrows and fire-arms, and often take him In 
 traps and pit-falls. There seems to be a great resem- 
 blance between the arts of our savages and those of 
 Siberia, in pursuing this animal.^ 
 
 The British fur companies of the north-west col- 
 lect great numbers of furs of different kinds, some of 
 which are taken by their own hunters, and others are 
 collected from, or brought in by, the Indians, to the 
 trading stations. They export about 4000 bear skins 
 annually. 
 
 The Russian settlers of the north-west, also collect a 
 large number of bear skins as well as our own traders. 
 The whole number of these animals, sacrificed every 
 year to the appetite, comfort or luxury of man, amounts 
 to many thousands. It is one of the curious incidents of 
 trade, that the unguent which shines upon the soap 
 locks of the dandy of London, Paris, or New York, is 
 often from an animal which had its birth in a cavern 
 of Kamschatka or Siberia, and has nearly circumnavi- 
 gated the globe to fulfil its high destiny in another 
 quarter of the world ! 
 
 * For numerous anecdotes of hunting the bear, see " Illus- 
 trative Anecdotes of the Animal Kingdom." J 
 
THE FUR TRADE. 
 
 FURS are entirely the produce of nature, and as they 
 can neither be cultivated nor increased, their value is 
 not influenced by fashion alone, but depends mate- 
 rially on the larger or smaller supplies obtained by the 
 hunters. The weather has great influence on the 
 quality and quantity of furs imported from all quar- 
 ters of the globe, and this circumstance renders the fur 
 trade more precarious perhaps than any other. The 
 quality and consequently the price of many furs differ 
 from year to year, sometimes to the amount of 300 per 
 cent. Those which are important objects of trade may 
 be divided into three classes. The first class may be 
 
THE FUR TRADE. 117 
 
 considered as comprising articles of prime necessity ; 
 and among these are distinguished an immense va- 
 riety of lamb-skins, differing so widely from each other 
 in size, quality, color, and value, that to most persons 
 they would appear as the produce of so many different 
 species of animals. These lamb-skins are produced 
 in all parts of the globe, and are everywhere con- 
 sumed, but they form in particular, an essential part 
 of the dress of thousands among the lower classes in 
 Russia, Poland, East Prussia, Hungary, Bohemia and 
 Saxony. In Russia and other cold climates, the skins 
 of various other animals may be considered as articles 
 of actual necessity. 
 
 The second class forms, in a measure, part of the 
 first, as it also comprises furs which through habit and 
 fashion, have now become articles of necessity. Here 
 may be enumerated all those different skins commonly 
 called " hatting furs." Few persons who are not 
 acquainted with this branch of the fur trade, can form 
 an idea of its extent. It spreads, of course, over all 
 parts of the globe where hats are worn, and requires 
 very superior judgment and considerable capital to 
 conduct it successfully. The furs now used for hat- 
 making are beaver, musquash, otter, nutria, hare and 
 rabbit. Nutria skins are comparatively a new article. 
 They first began to be imported into England in large 
 quantities about the year 1810, from Spanish America. 
 Under the third class may be ranked all those furs 
 which, though continually sold and used in immense 
 quantities, must still be considered mere articles of 
 taste, and their value varies according to the whims 
 and fancies of different nations. There are, however, 
 
118 THE FUR TRADE. 
 
 exceptions among them, and many furs may be re- 
 garded as standard articles, since they are always used, 
 though their price is much influenced by changes of 
 fashion. This class comprises an almost endless 
 variety, as within it may be brought the skins of 
 most animals in existence, almost all of them occa- 
 sionally appearing in the fur trade. 
 
 The countries richest in furs are North America 
 and Asiatic Russia, and it is from these quarters of 
 the globe that Europe receives its supplies of peltry, 
 as the skins are called before their insides are softened 
 and converted into a sort of leather. But many other 
 countries produce very beautiful and useful furs. 
 Africa and Australia afford the smallest quantities, and 
 consume still less. From the former are brought only 
 leopard and tiger skins, and from the latter those of the 
 kangaroo, which, however, are never used properly as 
 fur, being chiefly consumed by leather-dressers and 
 tanners for the sake of the pelt. 
 
 Hatting furs are used throughout America and 
 Europe, except in Turkey and Greece. The principal 
 consumption of furs of the third class, or those used 
 for purposes of luxury and fashion, is in China, Turkey, 
 Russia, and the more civilized countries of Europe, 
 particularly England. The use of fur in America is 
 comparatively small. In Africa none but the Egyp- 
 tians wear fur. In Austria none is consumed. It is 
 a remarkable feature of the fur trade, that almost every 
 country or town which produces and exports furs, im- 
 ports and consumes the furs of some other place, fre- 
 quently the most distant. It is but seldom that an 
 article is consumed in the country where it is pro- 
 
THF FUR TRADE. 119 
 
 duced, though that country may consume foreign furs 
 to a great extent. China is one of the best mar- 
 kets for furs. The Americans began, with their char- 
 acteristic activity, to send furs to Canton very soon 
 after the flag of the United States first appeared in the 
 eastern seas in 1784, and the trade is still prosecuted 
 by them to a considerable extent. 
 
 Besides numerous private traders, there are several 
 fur companies of very long standing, which, in various 
 countries, transact a great amount of business. Among 
 these the first rank may be assigned to the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, in London, not only on account of the 
 extent of its business, but because it is one of the 
 oldest chartered companies in England. The Ameri- 
 can Fur Company, in New York, stands next : they 
 trade chiefly to London. The third is the Russian 
 American Company, in Moscow; these trade to the Rus- 
 sian territories on the north-western coast of America, 
 whence they draw their supplies, which are consumed 
 chiefly in Russia. The fourth company of any con- 
 sequence is the Danish Greenland Company in Copen- 
 hagen ; they do but a very limited business, exposing 
 their goods for sale once a year at Copenhagen. 
 
 The fur trade of North America was first practised 
 by the early French settlers at Quebec and Montreal, 
 and consisted then, as now, in bartering fire-arms, 
 ammunition, cloth, spirits, and other articles in demand 
 among the Indians, for beaver and other skins. In 
 1670, Charles II. established the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, to which he assigned the extensive privilege of 
 trading with the Indians in and about the vast inlet 
 known by the name of Hudson's Bay. The company 
 
120 THE FUR TRADE. 
 
 founded establishments at Forts Churchill and Albany, 
 Nelson's River and other places on the west coast of 
 the bay. But the trade they carried on, though a 
 very profitable one, was said to be of limited ex- 
 tent, and their conduct on various occasions shows 
 how strongly they were possessed with that spirit of 
 jealousy which prevails in all societies of men endowed 
 with peculiar privileges. This company's charter was 
 never confirmed by act of parliament, and, in conse- 
 quence, their claim to a monopoly of the trade rested 
 upon no legal foundation, yet, by means of the supe- 
 rior advantages enjoyed by them, the business remained 
 exclusively in their hands. 
 
 In 1783 the principal traders engaged in the fur 
 trade of Canada formed themselves into an association 
 called the Northwest Company, and established their 
 head quarters at Montreal. This new company pro- 
 secuted the trade with great enterprise and considera- 
 ble success. Mackenzie informs us that some of the 
 persons engaged in it are employed at the distance of 
 four thousand miles westward of Montreal. A very 
 large caravan sets out every year from Montreal for 
 the Grand Portage, on Lake Superior, where they 
 meet those who have wintered in the remote establish- 
 ments in the west, from whom they receive the furs 
 collected in the course of the season, and whom they, 
 at the same time, furnish with fresh supplies of the 
 various articles required in the trade. Fort Chepywan, 
 on the Lake of the Hills, was formerly one of the most 
 distant stations of the Northwest Company, but many 
 of the Indians who traded with the fort came even 
 from beyond the Rocky Mountains. 
 
THE FUR TRADE, 121 
 
 The competition and success of the Northwest 
 Company seem to have roused the dormant energies 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company ; and the conflicting 
 interests and pretensions of the rival associations led 
 to serious troubles. Under the auspices of the Earl 
 of Selkirk, who was for a considerable period at the 
 head of the Hudson's Bay Company, a colony was 
 founded on Red River, which runs into Lake Win- 
 nipeg. The Northwest Company regarded this as 
 an encroachment upon their own rights, and the ani- 
 mosities which followed led to the most violent pro- 
 ceedings on the part of the servants of both compa- 
 nies. At last, being wearied and impoverished by 
 their dissensions, they united under the name of the 
 Hudson's Bay Fur Company, which at present en- 
 grosses most of the fur trade of British America. 
 
 The beaver formerly inhabited almost every part of 
 the territory comprised in the limits of the United 
 States ; but within comparatively a few years this 
 animal has been exterminated in all the Atlantic and 
 Western States, as far as the middle and upper waters 
 of the Missouri. In the Hudson's Bay territory the 
 beavers are rapidly becoming scarce, and the whole 
 race will eventually be extinguished throughout the 
 entire continent. The Indians inhabiting the coun- 
 tries watered by the tributaries of the Missouri and 
 Mississippi, take the beavers principally by trapping, 
 and are generally supplied with steel traps by the 
 traders, who do not sell them, but let them out, in 
 order to keep the Indians dependent on themselves, 
 and also to lay claim to the furs which they may pro- 
 cure. The name of the trader being stamped on the 
 
 XVIII. 11 
 
122 THE FUR TRADE. 
 
 trap, it is equal to a certificate of enlistment, and indi- 
 cates, when an Indian carries his furs to another 
 trading establishment, that the individual wishes to 
 avoid the payment of his debts. The business of 
 trapping, which takes place in winter, requires great 
 experience and caution, as the senses of the beaver are 
 very keen, and enable him to detect the recent presence 
 of the hunter by the slightest traces. It is necessary 
 that the hands should be washed clean before the trap 
 is handled and baited, and that every precaution should 
 be employed to elude the vigilance of the animal. 
 
 The beavers swim to a considerable distance under 
 water, but cannot remain for a long time without 
 coming to the surface for air. They are therefore 
 caught with greater ease, as they must either take 
 refuge in their vaults or washes in the banks, or seek 
 their huts again to get breath. When disturbed, 
 they usually fly from their huts to these vaults, which, 
 though not so much exposed to observation as their 
 houses, are yet discovered with sufficient ease, and 
 allow the occupant to be more readily captured than 
 if he had remained in his ordinary habitation. To 
 capture beaver residing on a small river or creek, the 
 Indians find it necessary to stake the stream across to 
 prevent them from escaping, and then to ascertain 
 where the vaults or washes in the banks are situated. 
 This can be done only by those who are experienced 
 in such explorations, and is thus performed. The 
 hunter is furnished with an ice-chisel lashed to a 
 handle four or five feet in length. With this instru- 
 ment he strikes against the ice as he goes along the 
 edge of the banks. The sound produced by the blow 
 
THE FUR TRADE. 123 
 
 informs him when he is opposite one of the vaults. 
 When one is discovered, a hole is cut through the ice 
 of sufficient size to admit a full-grown beaver, and the 
 search is continued until as many of the places of 
 retreat are discovered as possible. During the time 
 the most expert hunters are thus occupied, the others, 
 with the women, are busy in breaking into the beaver 
 houses. The animals, alarmed at the invasion of their 
 dwelling, take to the water and swim with surprising 
 swiftness to their retreats in the banks; but their 
 entrance is betrayed to the hunters watching the holes 
 in the ice, by the motion and discoloration of the 
 water. The entrance is instantly closed with stakes 
 of wood, and the beaver, instead of finding shelter in 
 his cave, is captured. The hunter pulls the animal 
 out, if within reach, with his hand, or by a hook with 
 a long handle. Beaver-houses in lakes or other 
 standing waters offer an easier prey to the hunters, 
 as there is no necessity for staking the water across. 
 
 Among the Hudson's Bay Indians, every hunter 
 has the exclusive right to all the beavers caught in 
 the washes discovered by him. Each individual, on 
 finding one, places some mark, as a pole, or the branch 
 of a tree stuck up, in order to know his own. Bea- 
 vers caught in any house are also the property of the 
 discoverer, who takes care to mark his claim, as in the 
 . case of the washes. 
 
 Beside beavers, there are a great number of other 
 fur-bearing animals caught by the hunters of North 
 America, as the following table of the skins exported 
 from the British settlements alone, in the year 1831, 
 will show. 
 
124 THE FUR TRADE. 
 
 No. of skins. No. of skina. 
 
 Racoon, .... 325 
 Weasel, .... 34 
 Wolvereen, . . 1,744 
 Wolf, .... 5,947 
 Mink, .... 9,298 
 
 Beaver, . . . 126,944 
 Bear, .... 3,850 
 
 Deer, 645 
 
 Fox, 8,765 
 
 Lynx, .... 58,010 
 Musk-rat, . . 375,731 
 
 There are a considerable number also exported, not 
 included in the above statement. The annual value 
 of all the furs exported from British America, is esti- 
 mated at ten millions of dollars, which is, probably, 
 not more than half the value of all the furs, produced 
 by North America, each year. 
 
 As the most valuable furs are taken in the coldest 
 regions, many of the hunters experience the greatest 
 hardships in pursuing animals in high latitudes. In 
 Siberia, especially, the adventurers seek the sable and 
 marten, even within the Arctic Circle, and nothing 
 can exceed the dreariness of the life they lead in these 
 chill and solitary realms. Some of them are sent 
 thither by the government, who exact from the unhappy 
 exiles, the stipulated supply with the most rigorous 
 severity. 
 
BIRD CATCHING. 
 
 THE Orkney and Shetland Islands, and the Heb- 
 rides exhibit the most striking instances of adventur- 
 ous daring in this pursuit. It is a common employ- 
 ment in some of these islands to gather among the 
 crags the eggs of the sea-fowl, and to catch the birds 
 themselves. Compared with this, the part of him 
 who " gathers samphire" on the cliffs of Dover, is one 
 of safety and pleasure. The sea-fowl make their 
 resort in the cavities of lofty and beetling cliffs of the 
 rocky shores ; and the natives, by means of a rope 
 11* 
 
126 BIRD CATCHING. 
 
 round the body, let themselves down over precipices 
 sometimes a quarter of a mile in height, the sight of 
 which would disorder a man of common nerves. Yet 
 the fowler, with a line of many fathoms held by sev- 
 eral companions above, descends, and, disengaging 
 himself from the rope, enters cavities in the rock 
 higher than the arch of any Gothic church. In this 
 dangerous labor many persons perish from falling 
 stones and other causes. It is recorded that one of 
 these adventurers discovered that the rope by which 
 he was suspended was so much chafed by the edge 
 of the rock, that he hung by a single strand. He 
 could not give immediate signals to his comrades, 
 and when he was drawn up, it was found that the 
 extremity of his terror had been such as to blanch his 
 hair. From the tops of these dizzy precipices, the 
 mountainous waves breaking below seem like ripples, 
 and the roar can hardly be heard. 
 
 It is chiefly on the most rugged shores of Scotland, 
 or on the more craggy rocks of the adjacent islands, 
 that bird catching is carried on in the perfection 
 of its horrors. St. Kilda, a small island in the midst 
 of the Atlantic ocean, contains a few people who, from 
 infancy accustomed to precipices, drop from crag to 
 crag as fearlessly as the birds themselves. Their 
 great dependence is upon ropes of two sorts one 
 made of hides ; the other of hair of cows' tails, all of 
 the same thickness. These are of various lengths, 
 from ninety to two hundred feet, and three inches 
 in circumference. So valuable are these ropes, that 
 one of them forms the marriage portion of a St. Kilda 
 girl. 
 
BIRD CATCHING. 127 
 
 The favorite resort of sea-fowl, particularly the oily 
 fulmars, is a tremendous precipice, about thirteen 
 hundred feet high, formed by the abrupt termination 
 of a hill which is supposed to be the loftiest precipi- 
 tous face of rock in Britain. The brink is wet and 
 slippery, and yet upon this treacherous surface the 
 St. Kilda people sit upon the extremest verge ; the 
 youngest of them even creeping down a little way 
 from the top after eggs or birds, which they take in 
 great numbers. 
 
 But these pranks of the young are nothing, when 
 compared to the fearful feats of the older and more ex- 
 perienced practitioners. Several ropes are first tied to- 
 gether to increase the depth of the descent ; one extrem- 
 ity of these ropes is fastened around the waist of the 
 bird catcher, the other extremity is then lowered down 
 the precipice by the adventurer himself, then giving the 
 middle of the rope to a single man, he descends, 
 always holding by one part of the rope as he lets 
 himself down, and supported only by the man above, 
 who holds the rope in his hands, sometimes support- 
 ing his companion by one hand alone, looking at 
 the same time over the precipice, without any stay for 
 his feet, and conversing with the other, as he descends 
 nearly four hundred feet. 
 
 Accidents are said to be of rare occurrence, though 
 of course they do occasionally happen ; but escapes 
 sufficiently appalling to make the blood run cold to 
 hear of, are often related. 
 
 Among other modes of catching sea-fowl at St. 
 Kilda, that of setting gins and nooses is adopted. In 
 one of these, set upon a ledge a hundred and twenty 
 
128 BIRD CATCHING. 
 
 feet above the sea, a bird catcher entangled his foot, 
 anl not being at the moment aware of it, was, on 
 moving onward, tripped up and precipitated over the 
 rock, where he hung suspended. He had no com- 
 panion, and to add to his misfortune, darkness was at 
 hand, leaving little prospect of his being discovered 
 till morning. In vain he exerted himself to bend up- 
 wards so as to reach the noose, or grapple the rock. 
 After a few fruitless efforts, his strength was exhaust- 
 ed, and in this dreadful situation, expecting, moreover, 
 that the noose might give way every instant, he 
 passed a long night. At early dawn by good fortune, 
 his shouts were heard by a neighbor, who rescued 
 him from his perilous situation. 
 
 Another incident of this kind terminated in a more 
 awful manner. A father and two sons were out to- 
 gether, and having firmly attached their rope to the 
 summit of a precipice, descended on their usual occu- 
 pation. Having collected as many birds and eggs as 
 they could carry, they were all three ascending by 
 the rope, the eldest of the sons first, his brother a 
 fathom or two below him, and the father following 
 last. They had made considerable progress, when 
 the elder son looking upwards, perceived the strands of 
 the rope grinding against a sharp edge of rock, and 
 gradually giving way. He immediately reported the 
 alarming fact. " Will it hold together till we can 
 reach the summit ? " asked the father. " It will not hold 
 another minute," was the reply, " our triple weight is 
 loosening it rapidly ! " " Will it hold one ? " said the 
 father. " It is as much as it can do," replied the 
 son ; " even 'that is but doubtful." " There is then a 
 
BIRD CATCHING. 129 
 
 chance of at least one of us being saved ; draw your 
 knife and cut away below ! " was the cool and intrepid 
 order of the parent; "exert yourself; you may yet 
 escape and live to comfort your mother ! " There 
 was no time for discussion or for hesitation. The son 
 looked up once more, but the edge of the rock had 
 nearly severed the rope. The knife was drawn, the 
 rope was divided, and the father and brother were 
 launched into eternity ! " 
 
 No species of the feathered race offers the fowler 
 so abundant a prey as the Wild Pigeon of North 
 America. The associated numbers of these birds, 
 and the numerous flocks which compose the gen- 
 eral swarm, are without a parallel in the world. They 
 can be compared only to the finny schools of herrings 
 which, descending from the Arctic regions, spread 
 over the ocean to the extent of mighty kingdoms. 
 However incredible such immense numbers may seem, 
 yet it is no exaggeration to say that hundreds of mil- 
 lions of pigeons are habitually associated in feeding, 
 roosting and breeding, without any regard to climate 
 or season. The approach of this mighty feathered 
 army with a loud rushing roar and a stirring breeze, 
 attended by a sudden darkness, might be mistaken for 
 a fearful tornado about to overwhelm the face of na- 
 ture. For several hours together, the vast host ex- 
 tending some miles in width, continues to pass in 
 flocks without diminution. The whole air is filled 
 with them, and they shut out the light as if the sun 
 was eclipsed. At the approach of evening they 
 depart in a body for the general roost, which is often 
 hundreds of miles from their feeding places, and is 
 
130 BIRD CATCHING. 
 
 generally selected in the tallest and thickest forest 
 almost entirely divested of underwood. Nothing can 
 exceed the waste and desolation of these nocturnal 
 resorts. The tall trees for thousands of acres, are 
 completely killed, and the ground is strewed with 
 massy branches torn down by the clustering weight 
 of the birds which have rested upon them. The 
 whole region for several years afterwards presents a 
 scene of devastation, as if the earth had been swept by 
 the blast of a destructive whirlwind. 
 
 In the Atlantic States, although they never appear 
 in such enormous multitudes, yet they are sometimes 
 very numerous ; and great havoc is made among them 
 with the gun, the clap-net, and other implements of 
 destruction. As soon as it is ascertained in a town, 
 that the pigeons are in the neighborhood, the gunners 
 turn out ; the clap-net is spread out in a suitable place 
 with decoys, and a small hut of branches is fitted up for 
 the fowler at the distance of forty or fifty yards ; the 
 pigeons, attracted by the decoy, descend with great 
 rapidity, and finding corn, buck wheat, &c., strewed 
 about, begin to feed, and are instantly, by the pulling 
 of a cord, covered with the net. In this manner, ten, 
 twenty, and even thirty dozen have been caught at a 
 time. In the mean while the air is darkened with 
 large bodies of them moving in various directions ; the 
 woods also swarm with them in search of acorns, and 
 the report of musketry is heard on all sides from 
 morning till night. Wagon loads of pigeons are 
 poured into the markets, where they have been sold 
 as low as a cent a piece. 
 
 In the Western States where they are most abun- 
 
BIRD CATCHING. 131 
 
 dant, an immense number of young pigeons are 
 taken at the breeding places. As soon as they are 
 fully grown, the neighboring inhabitants assemble and 
 encamp for several days in the neighborhood of the 
 spot, with wagons, axes, and cooking utensils. The 
 perpetual tumult of the birds, the crowding and flat- 
 tering multitudes, the thundering roar of their wings, 
 the crash of falling trees from which the young are 
 precipitated by the axe, all combine to produce a 
 scene of indescribable and almost terrific confusion. 
 It is dangerous to walk beneath these clustering 
 crowds of birds, from the frequent descent of large 
 branches broken down by the congregating thousands. 
 The horses start at the noise, and conversation can 
 only be heard in a shout. The young pigeons are 
 extremely fat, and, as well as the old birds killed at 
 the roosts, are often with a wanton prodigality and 
 prodigious slaughter, strewed on the ground as food 
 for the swine. Guns, clubs, long poles, pots of burn- 
 ing sulphur, &c., are employed for the destruction 
 of the swarming host. 
 
 The bird's-nest trade of the East, is deserving 
 of notice. The nest in question, is that of a species 
 of swallow peculiar to the East India islands. In 
 shape it resembles that of a common swallow, but 
 is composed of a viscid substance resembling in ex- 
 ternal appearance and consistence, fibrous, ill-concocted 
 isinglass. The exact nature of this material, as well as 
 its origin, are unknown, some persons affirming that it 
 is formed of the foam of the sea, or other marine pro- 
 ducts, and some that it is elaborated from the food of the 
 bird. The best nests are found in deep, damp caves, and 
 
132 BIRD CATCHING. 
 
 are taken before the birds have laid their eggs. The 
 coarsest are those obtained after the young are fledged ; 
 the test of excellence is the whiteness of the article. 
 They are taken twice a year, and if regularly col- 
 lected, and no unusual injury be offered to the cav- 
 erns, the crop of nests will not suffer any diminution 
 from year to year ; nor will the quantity increase by 
 the caverns being left unmolested for a year or two. 
 Some of the caves are extremely difficult of access, 
 and the nests can only be collected by persons accus- 
 tomed from their youth to the business. The most 
 remarkable and productive caves in the island of Java, 
 are those of Karang Bolang, in the province of Boglen, 
 on the south coast of the island. Here the caves can 
 only be approached by a perpendicular descent of 
 many hundred feet with ladders of bamboo and ratan, 
 over a sea rolling violently against the rocks. When 
 the mouth of the cavern is reached, the perilous office 
 of taking the nests must often be performed by torch- 
 light, penetrating into recesses of the rock, where 
 the slightest trip would be instantly fatal to the adven- 
 turers, who see nothing below them but the furious 
 surf washing its way into the chasms of the rock. 
 
 These nests are most extravagantly esteemed by the 
 Chinese as an article of luxury. The best kinds are 
 sold for thirty dollars a pound. On account of their 
 high price, they are of course consumed only by the 
 rich, and indeed the best part is sent to Pekin for the 
 use of the court. They are used principally in soups, 
 and are believed by the Chinese to be highly stimulating 
 and tonic ; but it is thought by others that their most 
 valuable quality consists in their being perfectly harm- 
 
BIRD CATCHING. 133 
 
 less. The people of Japan, who so much resemble 
 the Chinese in many of their habits, have no taste for 
 this luxury ; and how the latter acquired their predi- 
 lection for this foreign commodity, is no less difficult 
 to account for than the fact of their persevering in the 
 use of it. Among the western nations, there is no 
 parallel to this gastronomic whim, unless it be the ex- 
 travagant estimation in which the Komans held some 
 articles of luxury, remarkable for nothing but their 
 scarcity and high price. 
 
 The only preparation which the bird's-nests undergo 
 is that of simple drying without direct exposure to 
 the sun; after which they are assorted into three 
 kinds for the Chinese market, and packed in boxes. 
 A year's produce is estimated at nearly a million and 
 a half of dollars. This income rests, as we have 
 seen, upon the capricious wants of a single people. 
 The places producing the nests are claimed as the 
 exclusive property of the sovereign of the island 
 or territory, where thy are found, and always form 
 a valuable branch of his resources, or of the rev- 
 enue of the state. This value however is not equal 
 in all cases, and depends upon the situation and 
 the circumstances connected with the caverns in 
 which the nests are found. Being often in remote 
 and sequestered spots in a country so lawless, a pro- 
 perty so valuable and exposed, is subject to the depre- 
 dations of freebooters, and it not unfrequently happens 
 that an attack upon it is a principal object of the war- 
 fare committed by one petty state against another. 
 In such situations the expense of affording protection 
 is so heavy, that the estates are necessarily of little 
 xviii. 12 
 
134 BIRD CATCHING. 
 
 value. In situations where the caverns are difficult 
 of access to strangers, and where there prevails enough 
 of order and tranquillity to secure them from internal 
 depredation, and to admit of the nests being obtained 
 with no other expense, than the simple labor of collect- 
 ing them, the value of the property is very great. The 
 caverns of Karang Bolang, in Java, are of this de- 
 scription. These afford annually 6,810 pounds of 
 nests, which are worth, at the Batavia prices, nearly 
 139,000 dollars, and the whole expense of collecting, 
 curing and packing, is no more than 11 per cent on 
 this amount. The price of the nests is of course a 
 monopoly price, the quantity produced being limited 
 by nature and incapable of augmentation. There is 
 perhaps no article upon which human industry is ex- 
 erted, of which the cost of production bears so small 
 a proportion to the market price. 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION 
 
 THE advantage of an interchange of commodities, 
 one person supplying what was needed by another, 
 must have been obvious in the earliest stages of 
 society. Such interchange must have been, however, 
 on a very insignificant scale among tribes living in a 
 state of hunters, and seeking their subsistence, not 
 from domesticated animals, but from the precarious 
 spoils of the forest. Such appears from Scripture to 
 have been the state of the central part of Asia, in the 
 
136 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 
 
 ages following the flood. It was the condition, also, 
 of the aboriginal Greeks, before Cadmus and other for- 
 eigners, arriving from the east, brought among them a 
 knowledge of the useful arts ; and it was the state of 
 the greater part of England, on the first invasion of the 
 Romans. Such, at the present day, is the condition 
 of the Indians of North America, who roam over the 
 vast tracts west and north-west of the Mississippi, 
 obtaining by the chase, quantities of furs to exchange 
 with English and American traders, but in other 
 respects, living in great penury, and having few com- 
 modities to barter with each other. 
 
 In the next stage in the progress of society, the pas- 
 toral state accompanied with a little tillage, the inter- 
 change of commodities is still on a very limited scale. 
 This is succeeded by the agricultural state, in which 
 individuals and families collect in hamlets, villages, 
 and finally in towns. Employment then becomes 
 divided ; people follow separate trades, and the pro- 
 ducts or workmanship of one are exchanged for those 
 of another. Intercourse then assumes such a shape 
 and magnitude, as to be entitled to the name of com- 
 merce. If it be asked in what parts of the world was 
 the exchange of commodities first carried on to any 
 considerable extent, we answer, in Mesopotamia, 
 Egypt, and the more fertile provinces of the north of 
 Arabia. For this, we have the direct authority of 
 Scripture, as well as the indirect but powerful evi- 
 dence afforded by the local advantages of certain tracts 
 of country, such as those adjacent to the Euphrates and 
 the Nile. In- warm climates, the great desideratum in 
 cultivation is a supply of water ; and population first 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 137 
 
 becomes dense in districts which possess such a supply 
 in abundance, whether from rivers periodically over- 
 flowing their banks, from streams descending from 
 high grounds, or from a soil yielding water in wells at 
 a slight depth from the surface. Now civilization and 
 commercial intercourse depend on, or rather arise 
 from, density of population. It is to this we should 
 ascribe the early improvement of Egypt. To a simi- 
 lar cause, that is, to the dense population in Chaldea, 
 caused by the fertilization of the soil from the over- 
 flowing of the Euphrates, we are to attribute the 
 grandeur of Babylon, and the power of the Assyrian 
 Empire. 
 
 Almost all trade in those ages, was carried on by 
 land ; and as there were neither roads for wheel-car- 
 riages, nor bridges over rivers, merchandise was trans- 
 ported on the backs of camels and other beasts of bur- 
 then. Traders proceeded, generally, in companies, for 
 the sake of mutual aid and protection, exactly as is 
 practised now, and on a larger scale, by caravans. 
 The earliest attempts to convey commodities by water, 
 Were made on rivers and inlets of the sea, by canoes 
 and rafts. Between these, the simple contrivances of 
 a rude age, and the bark fitted to venture on the sea 
 and encounter the winds and waves, the difference is 
 very great. Ship-building and navigation are compli- 
 cated arts, requiring both mechanical dexterity and a 
 stock of knowledge which can exist only in a society 
 considerably improved. Hence, commercial inter- 
 course by sea is long in beginning, and for a time is 
 practised on a very narrow scale. With the nations 
 of antiquity, slowness was unavoidable, unacquainted 
 12* 
 
138 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 
 
 as they were with the mariner's compass, and limited 
 in their knowledge of geography. One of the earliest 
 branches of navigation was that of the Red Sea, on 
 which commodities were transported from Arabia to 
 Cosseir, the out-port of Thebes in Upper Egypt. 
 This merchandize is supposed to have been the pro- 
 duce of India, imported in the first instance into Ara- 
 bia. The traffic appears to have been considerable, and 
 was one cause of the great population of Thebes. But 
 the foreign commerce of Egypt was surpassed by that 
 of the Phenicians, who were altogether commercial in 
 their habits and laws. Sidon, the first great seaport 
 mentioned in history, was only 150 miles from the 
 mouth of the Nile, and the foreign trade of Egypt was 
 carried on by Phenician mariners, first of Sidon and 
 afterwards of Tyre. Confined at first to the adjacent 
 countries, namely, Egypt, Cyprus and Cilicia, the 
 Phenician navigators ventured in the course of time, 
 to take a wider range, visiting and planting colonies in 
 Crete, Greece, Libya and Sicily. In all these coun- 
 tries the inhabitants were uncivilized, and were 
 indebted to the Phenicians for the rudiments of 
 knowledge, and the introduction of the useful arts. 
 
 The next country entitled to notice with respect to 
 commerce, is Judea. The Jews progressively in- 
 creased in numbers during the same centuries which 
 elapsed between their settling in Egypt, and the era 
 of their greatest prosperity, the reigns of David and 
 Solomon. The distant seaports at which they traded, 
 Ophir and Tarshish, have not been recognised with 
 positive certainty by modern geographers. Their 
 foreign commerce seems to have been discontinued after 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 139 
 
 the dismemberment of the kingdom which followed 
 the reign of Solomon. From Phenicia and Egypt, 
 civilization and commerce made their way to a quarter 
 destined to become a copious fountain of instruction to 
 the rest of the world. The early access to Greece 
 from the comparatively improved countries in the 
 south and east, was a most fortunate circumstance. 
 No country is better situated for carrying on inter- 
 course by navigation, and the Greeks were early 
 addicted to this branch of enterprise. Their vessels 
 were without decks, generally propelled by oars, and 
 having only one mast, which was raised or taken 
 down according to circumstances. Such was the 
 Greek navy in the time of Homer, and during the 
 three centuries which elapsed between the age of that 
 poet and the national improvement which preceded the 
 invasion of Greece by the Persians. Still, the navi- 
 gation and commerce of Greece were very limited, 
 even in her most prosperous times. They took place 
 chiefly between the mother country and the colonies 
 planted in Italy and Sicily to the west, in Ionia in the 
 east, and in Thrace in the north. The more distant 
 voyages of the Greek traders, were south to Egypt, 
 north to Trebizond on the Euxine, and to the coast of 
 the Adriatic. Westward, they hardly ever ventured 
 beyond Sicily, leaving the maritime intercourse with 
 Spain, Sardinia and the south of Gaul to naviga- 
 tors of a bolder character, the Carthaginians.^ 
 
 The extensive conquests of Alexander the Great 
 
 * For an account of the maritime enterprises of the Cartha- 
 ginians, see "Lights and Shadows of African History." 
 
140 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 
 
 gave rise to new arrangements in regard to the trade 
 of Greece with Egypt and India. The obstinate 
 resistance made to his arms by Tyre, impressed him 
 strongly with the resources of a maritime state, and as 
 he ascribed the chief part of the wealth and power of 
 Tyre to its trade with India, it was natural that after 
 destroying that city, he should seek to establish a 
 naval station in a position adapted for carrying on both 
 that and other branches of commerce. Such a position 
 he soon discovered near the western mouth of the Nile, 
 where Alexandria, founded by him, became and con- 
 tinued for many centuries, the chief commercial city 
 in the Levant, and after the ruin of Carthage, the 
 greatest mart in the world. 
 
 The military habits of the Romans, and the want 
 of a convenient seaport to their capital, estranged them 
 from naval pursuits. They built galleys solely for 
 the purpose of opposing the Carthaginians in war. 
 When the power of Carthage was broken, and the 
 dominion of Rome over Sicily and Greece became 
 absolute, she had the full command of whatever naval 
 power those countries possessed. The whole coast 
 of the Mediterranean was now under her control, and 
 piracy, which had hitherto been a great impediment to 
 navigation, was checked. An extensive trade was 
 carried on between the capital and the provinces, in 
 particular with Sicily and Egypt, for corn, but the 
 government discovered no wish to transfer to Roman 
 citizens the management of the shipping thus em- 
 ployed ; they left it in the hands of their subjects at 
 Alexandria and other remote seaports, because they 
 saw no political reason for its removal. 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 141 
 
 The consequences of the overthrow of the Roman 
 Empire were in a commercial sense, unfortunate ; 
 suspending, in all the different parts of the empire, 
 the free intercourse so long enjoyed under a common 
 government. The towns were plundered, and pro- 
 perty was unsafe under the control of rude and law- 
 less invaders; manufacturers and artisans fled with 
 their families to places of safety. Hence, the origin 
 of Venice in a very singular position ; the town heing 
 built on a collection of small islands separated from 
 the main land by shallow lagoons. It was thus pro- 
 tected from attacks by land, and in some degree by 
 sea, as vessels above a certain size could approach the 
 town only by channels known only to the inhabitants. 
 The result fully justified the confidence of the founders 
 of Venice in its means of defence, and the city grew 
 wealthy by its commerce. Constantinople, in like 
 manner, was long preserved amid the general wreck 
 of the empire. Protected by its fortifications, it con- 
 tinued an asylum for the property of merchants, and a 
 centre for the intercourse of the seaports in the Medi- 
 terranean and Euxine, which still carried on trade. 
 With India it also maintained its intercourse to a cer- 
 tain extent after the conquest of Egypt by the Sara- 
 cens had interrupted the usual channel of navigation 
 by the Rea Sea. The route then adopted by mer- 
 chants was very circuitous. Goods were transported 
 from the coast of Malabar to the Indus, and carried up 
 that river as far as possible, and thence by land to the 
 Oxus, down which they were carried to the Caspian 
 Sea. Crossing the Caspian, the vessels entered the 
 Wolga, and sailed up that stream until they reached 
 
142 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 
 
 the neighborhood of the Don. Here the goods were 
 unshipped, carried by land to the banks of the Don 
 and re-loaded in boats which proceeded down that 
 river to the Euxine, where vessels from Constan- 
 tinople waited their arrival. So long and expensive a 
 conveyance was suitable only to goods of which the 
 value was great compared to their bulk, as silks, cot- 
 tons, and spices, which have at all times been the prin- 
 cipal exports from India. Another and more direct 
 route from India was by the way of the Tigris and 
 Euphrates, and the desert and Palmyra to the coast 
 of the Levant. 
 
 During the Middle ages, the cities of Amalfi, Pisa 
 and Genoa were flourishing seaports. The Bank of 
 Venice, the earliest establishment of the kind in 
 Europe, was founded in the middle of the twelfth cen- 
 tury. The merchants of thenorth of Italy were the 
 authors of many valuable inventions and improve- 
 ments, such as bills of exchange, the method of keep- 
 ing accounts by double entry, the funding system, and 
 that of creating and selling government stock. The 
 trade and manufactures of the Spaniards appear, at 
 this time, to have been confined to the supply of their 
 own wants, and their foreign intercourse was very 
 limited. The commercial association of the Hanse 
 Towns was formed in the thirteenth century, and 
 subsisted above 300 years ; these towns were Lubec, 
 Hamburg, and Brunswick, which were subsequently 
 joined by others. The object was to provide security 
 for mercantile property at a time when the different 
 governments of the North of Europe afforded such 
 security in a very limited degree. 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 143 
 
 No part of Europe has a stronger claim on the at- 
 tention of commercial men than the Netherlands, par- 
 ticularly the maritime provinces of Flanders, Holland, 
 and Zealand. Of these provinces, Flanders took the 
 lead in agriculture. Manufactures were established 
 at an early date both here and in Holland. In navi- 
 gation, a decided superiority belonged to Holland and 
 Zealand, both having a ready access to the sea. 
 Hence arose extensive fisheries, first on their own 
 coasts, and afterwards at a distance in the North Sea ; 
 hence also a coasting trade, which, as their seamen 
 grew more skilful, was extended to the Baltic and 
 Mediterranean. The Dutch thus became in the course 
 of time, the naval carriers of the north of Europe. It 
 is a curious fact that two centuries ago, Wentworth, 
 Earl of Strafford, when appointed Lord Lieutenant of 
 Ireland, and anxious to proceed from Wales to Dublin, 
 was compelled to wait till a ship of war from the 
 Thames came round to convey him and his suite 
 across the Irish Channel. There were in those days 
 no government packets, and no English merchant ships 
 suitable for such a purpose ; the trade between Eng- 
 land and Ireland being carried on almost wholly in 
 Dutch vessels. 
 
 DISCOVERIES AND COMMERCIAL ESTAB- 
 LISHMENTS OF THE PORTUGUESE IN 
 INDIA. 
 
 THE mariner's compass had long been known in 
 Europe before any considerable use had been made 
 
144 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 
 
 of it in the prosecution of those voyages which have 
 justly excited the admiration of mankind. Super- 
 stition and bloodshed, foreign war and domestic 
 commotions engrossed nearly the whole attention of 
 mankind, so that commerce was but little prosecuted 
 by the European states until the daring genius of 
 Vasco de Gama, Columbus and others awakened 
 both princes and people to a spirit of adventure and 
 discovery. The Arabians, in the meantime, who had 
 been plunged in superstition, forsook their supineness 
 and began to improve the advantages which conquest 
 had put into their hands. They turned their thoughts 
 toward the sciences, and encouraged the art of navi- 
 gation, in which they had already made a great pro- 
 gress. The Cape of Good Hope had not yet been 
 passed, at least for the purposes of commerce. Being 
 in possession of Egypt, they had it in their power to 
 secure to themselves the trade of India on the south 
 side of the isthmus of Suez, and Alexandria became 
 the great emporium of that commerce. On the Med- 
 iterranean side, the trade was open from Alexandria to 
 all the European powers, but the feudal system, a 
 form of government unfavorable to trade upon a large 
 scale, had spread itself over the western world. The 
 people, the nobles, and even the monarchs lived in a 
 kind of savage state ; learning was engrossed by the 
 clergy, and commerce was neglected ; the first dawn- 
 ing of the sciences appeared in Italy. Venice and 
 Genoa, two small republics, became, as we have seen, 
 respectable and powerful by their attention to traffic ; 
 and by availing themselves of the supineness of their 
 neighbors, they had, in a manner, engrossed the whole 
 India trade on the Mediterranean. 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 145 
 
 The profits which arose from this commerce were 
 the great motives of action to enterprise by sea. 
 Another passage to India, naturally occurred to the 
 people of Europe as soon as they began to turn their 
 attention to these affairs, and the Portuguese had the 
 honor of leading the way to those great undertakings, 
 which have since added such a degree of celebrity 
 to the navigators of Europe. In the year 1500, a 
 twelvemonth after the return of the celebrated De 
 Gama^ to Lisbon, King Emanuel of Portugal, en- 
 couraged by his brilliant success, fitted out a fleet of 
 thirteen sail for the purpose of founding a colony in 
 India, This fleet, under the command of Pedro 
 Alvarez de Cabral, in its passage to the south, steered 
 so far to the west, in order to avoid the calms preva- 
 lent on the coast of Africa, that they came in sight of 
 the continent of America at a point hitherto undiscov- 
 ered. De Cabral named this new-found territory 
 Santa Cruz, but it shortly afterward obtained the name 
 of Brazil ; and it was to this accidental discovery that 
 the Portuguese owed the richest and most extensive 
 colony which has ever been in their possession. One 
 of the ships was sent back to Portugal with intelli- 
 gence of this unexpected discovery, and the remainder 
 pursued their course. Four of them were lost in a 
 storm off the Cape of Good Hope, two others sepa- 
 rated from the fleet, and the admiral reached Sofala, 
 on the eastern coast of Africa, with but six sail, on the 
 16th of July, 1500. He touched at several ports in 
 proceeding northerly, and then crossed the Indian 
 
 * For the history of Vasco de Gama's voyage round the Cape 
 of Good Hope, see Lights and Shadows of African History." 
 j XVIIL 13 
 
146 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 
 
 Ocean to Calicut. The Portuguese admiral entered 
 into commercial arrangements with the Zamorin of 
 Calicut, and the kings of Cochin and Cananor, and 
 returned to Europe with a rich cargo. 
 
 The following year, Joam de Nova was despatched 
 from Lisbon ,with four ships, and arrived in India 
 without any accident. By this time, the Portuguese 
 had contrived to embroil themselves with the natives. 
 De Nova plundered and destroyed many vessels at 
 Calicut. He took in a valuable lading at Cananor 
 and Cochin, and steered for home. On his return, he 
 discovered the Island of St. Helena. The next year 
 Vasco de Gama sailed on his second voyage. He 
 made no new discoveries, but effected some important 
 commercial arrangements, and carried on hostilities 
 with Calicut. The king of Quiloa, on the African 
 coast, submitted to the Portuguese, and agreed to pay 
 tribute. De Gama returned to Portugal with nine 
 ships richly laden, leaving five in India to secure the 
 factories established there. 
 
 The Portuguese thus having begun the career of 
 conquest in the east, were constantly sending rich 
 cargoes to their own country, and Europe resounded 
 with the fame of their exploits. The port of Lisbon 
 gradually became the resort of all the traders of 
 Europe, and the grand mart of Indian commodities. 
 To secure and extend these advantages, it became 
 necessary for the government to adopt some system to 
 correct and strengthen what was originally the off- 
 spring of chance. A grand political and commercial 
 scheme was projected, wide enough to take in all 
 objects, and so well connected that all the parts of the 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 147 
 
 great edifice designed to be raised, should mutually 
 strengthen each other. Alonso Albuquerque was 
 placed at the head of the colonial government, with 
 the title of Viceroy of India. 
 
 The new viceroy entered upon his duties with 
 spirit and zeal. He judged it necessary to form a set- 
 tlement in some eligible spot where a good harbor, a 
 salubrious air, and the means of safe defence, would 
 enable the Portuguese to refresh themselves after the 
 fatigues of their voyage from Europe. With this 
 view, he cast his eyes upon Goa, which he foresaw 
 would be an important acquisition to his countrymen. 
 This city is situated on the coast of Malabar, on an 
 island separated from the continent by the two 
 branches of a river rising from lofty mountains in the 
 interior. Goa has one of the finest harbors in the 
 world. Numerous canals formed by the hand of 
 nature, thick forests intersected by commodious roads, 
 meadows emanelled by an infinite variety of flowers, 
 and villas in the most picturesque situations, render 
 the neighborhoood a most delightful spot. The city 
 was considered, even at that time, as the most advan- 
 tageous post in India. It belonged to the king of the 
 Deccan, but the officer who was entrusted with the 
 government of it at the time of the arrival of the Por- 
 tuguese, had revolted, and set up an independent sov- 
 ereignty, and at this period was endeavoring to extend 
 his power in Malabar. While this usurper was med- 
 itating his schemes of conquest on the continent, 
 Albuquerque suddenly appeared before the gates of 
 Goa, took the city by storm, and after a short period 
 of hostilities, established himself firmly in this quarter. 
 
148 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 
 
 The natives were too weak, too dispirited, and too 
 much at variance among themselves to check the suc- 
 cessful progress of the active and enterprising inva- 
 ders. 
 
 The Venetians soon perceived that their commerce 
 and consequently their power, was in danger of falling 
 into the hands of the Portuguese. Every expedient 
 to counteract the schemes of their rivals, that an able 
 administration could suggest, was practised by the 
 wily Italians. Skilful emissaries were despatched to 
 various parts of the east to persuade the Arabs in 
 India and Africa, that, as their interests were connected 
 with those of the Venetians, it was their policy to unite 
 with them against the Portuguese, who had made 
 themselves masters of the common source of their 
 riches. The rumor of a league for this purpose 
 reached the ears of the Sultan of Egypt, whose atten- 
 tion had been already drawn to this subject by the 
 falling off of his revenue. The customs on India 
 goods, which had formerly brought immense sums 
 into his treasury, now produced little or nothing. 
 Frequent bankruptcies which were the necessary con- 
 sequence of the decline of trade, exasperated the peo- 
 ple against government, which is commonly held re- 
 sponsible to the people for the calamities which they 
 endure. The soldiery, being ill paid, raised muti- 
 nies. Such were some of the first consequences of 
 the trade of India being diverted into a new channel. 
 
 To extricate themselves from these difficulties, it 
 was necessary for the Egyptians to attack the Portu- 
 guese with a fleet, but the Red Sea afforded no ship- 
 timber. The Venetians removed this obstacle by 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 149 
 
 sending wood and other materials to Alexandria, 
 which were conveyed up the Nile to Cairo, from 
 whence they were carried on the backs of camels to 
 Suez, and in the year 1508, a fleet of ten sail weighed 
 anchor from that port for India. The Portuguese, 
 who foresaxv this confederacy, had the preceding 
 year laid a scheme to prevent the consequences, by 
 making themselves masters of the Red Sea, being 
 confident that with this advantage they should have 
 nothing to fear from their rivals. They determined 
 to seize the island of Socotora near the mouth of the 
 Red Sea. A considerable armament under the com- 
 mand of Tristan da Cunha was despatched from Por- 
 tugal with this object. On landing upon the island, 
 they found it in possession of Ibrahim, the son of an 
 Arabian prince, who held the sovereignty of the 
 adjoining part of the continent. Ibrahim was killed in 
 the first attack of the Portuguese ; the capital of the 
 island was besieged and captured by storm, although 
 defended to the last extremity by a garrison superior 
 in number to their assailants. The Arabs determined 
 not to survive their commander ; they refused to 
 capitulate, and were, every man, put to the sword. 
 
 Notwithstanding this success, the Egyptian fleet 
 found a safe passage to India, where it joined that of 
 Cambaya. The Portuguese, who had sent a great 
 number of their ships with merchandise to Europe, 
 found themselves not a match for their enemies in the 
 first rencounters, and suffered considerable loss ; but 
 this state of things did not continue long ; the Portu- 
 guese received re-inforcements, and soon regained 
 their superiority, which they ever after preserved. 
 13* 
 
150 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 
 
 The armaments which were despatched from the Eed 
 Sea, were always beaten and dispersed by the small 
 Portugese squadrons that were kept cruising about the 
 Straits of Babelmandel. 
 
 Albuquerque had a genius for great schemes of 
 conquest and traffic. He began a negotiation with the 
 Emperor of Abyssinia, for the purpose of attempting 
 to induce him to turn the course of the Nile so as to 
 open a passage from that country into the Red Sea. 
 By this means he expected to render Egypt in a great 
 measure uninhabitable, or at least, unfit for commerce. 
 In the mean time, he proposed to transport into Ara- 
 bia through the Gulf of Persia, a body of cavalry suf- 
 ficient to capture the cities of Mecca and Medina. 
 He imagined that by so bold a movement, he should 
 strike terror into the Mohammedans and put a stop to 
 that prodigious concourse of pilgrims which was the 
 chief support of the commerce which it was his design 
 totally to extirpate. But other enterprises, of a less 
 daring and extravagant nature, and attended with 
 more immediate advantage, induced him to postpone 
 these schemes for a time. The conquest of Egypt by 
 the Turks, a few years afterward, put a new face 
 upon affairs. 
 
 Men of genius and reflection, who were capable of 
 understanding the connection of events which had 
 preceded and followed the discovery of the passage 
 round the Cape of Good Hope, and of forming conjec- 
 tures as to the consequences, could not help consider- 
 ing this event as constituting one of the most impor- 
 tant eras in the history of the world. Europe had 
 but just begun to recover its strength, and to shake 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 151 
 
 off the yoke of slavery which had oppressed its inhab- 
 itants from the period of the Roman conquests down 
 to the institution of the feudal laws. Innumerable 
 petty tyrants who had kept multitudes in a state of 
 oppression and slavery, had been ruined by the cru- 
 sades. To defray the expenses of these romantic expe- 
 ditions, they had been forced to sell their lands and 
 castles, and for pecuniary considerations, to allow 
 their vassals privileges which at length reinstated 
 them in the order of human beings. From this time, 
 the right of property began to be introduced among 
 the people, and gave them that kind of independence 
 without which, property itself is a mere illusion. 
 Thus, the first dawnings of liberty in Europe, how- 
 ever unexpectedly, owing to the crusades, and the 
 rage of conquest, for once, contributed to the hap- 
 piness of mankind. 
 
 Had Vasco de Gama not made his discoveries, it is 
 highly probable that the spirit of liberty would again 
 have been checked, and possibly extinguished without 
 hopes of a revival. The Turks were on the point of 
 expelling those savage nations, who, pouring down 
 from the north, had driven out the Romans to become 
 like them, the scourges of mankind ; and the barba- 
 rous institutions of Europe would have been sup- 
 planted by oppressions still more intolerable. This 
 must inevitably have been the case, had the Mussul- 
 man conquerors of Egypt not been repulsed by the 
 Portuguese in their expeditions to India. The Turks, 
 possessing the riches of Asia, would have secured 
 their claim to those of Europe. As the trade of 
 almost the whole world would have been in their 
 
152 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 
 
 hands, they must necessarily have possessed the 
 greatest maritime force that had ever been known. It 
 is a singular fact that the Portuguese, probably the 
 most superstitious and enslaved people of all Christen- 
 dom, should be destined to check the progress of the 
 fanaticism of the Mohammedans, and put a stop to 
 their career of victories by depriving them of those 
 sources of wealth which were necessary to the success 
 of their enterprises. 
 
 Albuquerque, not satisfied with having taken 
 measures for shutting up the Red Sea, attempted to 
 acquire the command of the Persian Gulf. Near its 
 entrance stands the island of Gombroon, where, in the 
 eleventh century, an Arabian conqueror built upon a 
 barren rock the city of Ormuz, which afterwards became 
 the capital of an empire comprehending a considerable 
 part of Arabia on one side and of Persia on the other. 
 Ormuz had two harbors, and was well fortified. Its 
 riches were entirely owing to its advantageous situa- 
 tion. It was the central point of trade between Persia 
 and India, which was very great at a time when the 
 Persians conveyed most of the merchandize brought 
 from Asia to Europe through the ports of Syria. 
 Ormuz exhibited at that period a scene of great 
 wealth, and of the most thriving commerce. Its mar- 
 kets were thronged by merchants with their commod- 
 ities from every quarter of the known world, and the 
 manners of the inhabitants exhibited a degree of 
 refinement and politeness seldom witnessed in a mere 
 emporium of traffic. 
 
 The civility of the people, the regularity of the 
 police, the variety of entertainments which the city 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 153 
 
 afforded, in connection with the interests of commerce, 
 invited merchants and travellers from every nation. 
 The streets were neatly furnished with mats, and in 
 some places even with handsome carpets, for the con- 
 venience of pedestrians ; the linen awnings suspended 
 from the housetops screened them from the sunbeams. 
 Indian cabinets, ornamented with gilded vases, porce- 
 lain jars filled with flowering shrubs, and aromatic 
 plants adorned the apartments of the houses. Camels 
 laden with water were stationed in the public squares. 
 Persian wines, perfumes, and all the delicacies of the 
 table were furnished in the greatest abundance, and 
 the music of the East was heard in the highest perfec- 
 tion. Ormuz was crowded with beautiful women 
 from all parts of Asia, who were instructed from their 
 infancy in every Oriental accomplishment. In a 
 word, universal opulence, extensive commerce, refined 
 luxury and politeness, and all the gaieties of a great and 
 flourishing city combined their attractions in this spot. 
 Albuquerque, on his arrival in this quarter, began to 
 ravage the coast and plunder the towns under the gov- 
 ernment of Ormuz. These inroads savored more of 
 the pirate than of the warrior; but Albuquerque hoped 
 by these measures to strike such a terror into the 
 sovereign as to induce him to submit at once to the 
 Portuguese authority. As soon as he imagined he 
 had spread a sufficient degree of alarm, he appeared 
 before the city, and summoned the king to acknowl- 
 edge himself tributary to the crown of Portugal, as 
 he had formerly been to that of Persia. This propo- 
 sal was rejected with scorn, and a fleet composed of 
 ships of Ormuz, Arabia and Persia was equipped for 
 
154 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 
 
 the defence of the place. A naval action ensued, in 
 which the small Portuguese squadron destroyed the 
 whole eastern armament. The king, discouraged by 
 this mishap, opened a negotiation, and consented that 
 the Portuguese should erect a fort which commanded 
 the city and both its harbors. By this means, they 
 succeeded in establishing themselves firmly at Ormuz. 
 Albuquerque now extended his scheme of conquest. 
 The city of Malacca, situated in the straits of that 
 name, was one of the most flourishing commercial 
 marts in India; its harbor was constantly crowded 
 with vessels from Japan, China, the Philippine and 
 Molucca islands, as well as from Bengal, Coromandel, 
 Malabar, Persia, Arabia and Africa. The Portu- 
 guese first appeared at Malacca in the character of 
 merchants, but their usurpations and conquests in In- 
 dia had rendered their designs so much suspected, and 
 the animosity of the Arabians had circulated reports 
 so much to their disadvantage that plots were laid for 
 their destruction. Several of them were massacred, 
 others were thrown into prison, and the remainder were 
 obliged to flee. The Portuguese viceroy was not dis- 
 pleased at this event, as it gave his projected design 
 upon Malacca a color of justice. He did not hesitate a 
 moment, but appeared with a fleet before the city in the 
 year 1511. After several bloody engagements Malacca 
 was taken. The conquerors found in it an immense 
 treasure, vast magazines, and all sorts of rich mer- 
 chandize. They established themselves firmly in this 
 place, and shortly afterwards the kings of Siam, Pegu, 
 and several other princes, alarmed at the victorious 
 career of the Portuguese, sent ambassadors to Albu- 
 
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 155 
 
 querque, to make him an offer of their trade, and to 
 solicit an alliance with Portugal. These advantages 
 were followed by acquisitions in the Molucca islands, 
 and the establishment of the Portuguese in the island 
 of Macao on the coast of China, and in Japan. 
 
 With these enormous successes, the avarice as well 
 as the ambition of the Portuguese might well have 
 been satisfied. They were masters of the coast 
 of Guinea, Arabia, Persia, Hindostan, and Malaya ; 
 they possessed the Moluccas, Ceylon, and the Sunda 
 Islands, while their settlement at Macao secured to 
 them the commerce of China and Japan. Throughout 
 these immense regions the Portuguese authority was 
 supreme. No native or private person dared to make 
 voyages or carry on trade without their permission ; 
 they reserved to themselves a monopoly of the most 
 valuable articles of trade ; consequently the prices of 
 Indian commodities, both in Europe and Asia, were 
 regulated at their discretion. The king of Portugal, 
 one of the smallest kingdoms in Christendom, received 
 tribute from more than one hundred and fifty eastern 
 princes. 
 
 These successes properly improved might have 
 formed a power so mighty that it could not have been 
 undermined except by lapse of time. But the hero- 
 ism, courage, activity and enterprise of the conquerors 
 soon declined from their high and palmy state. The 
 wantonness of victory, the abuse of riches and power, 
 the vices and follies of rulers, and the indulgence 
 in every sort of Oriental luxury soon wrought a mate- 
 rial change in the manners of the conquerors. They 
 became effeminate, indolent, and debauched ; corrup- 
 
156 VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 tion prevailed in the finances, and rapacity, plunder, 
 and oppression marked the whole course of their gov- 
 ernment. The great empire founded by the heroism 
 of De Gama and Albuquerque, speedily declined under 
 the imbecile sway of their successors, and the source of 
 the glory, power and opulence of the Portuguese has 
 now become that of their ruin and disgrace. 
 
 VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF 
 COLUMBUS.* 
 
 THE first voyage of this great discoverer, which 
 was made in 1492, only disclosed to the knowledge 
 of the Spaniards a group of islands in the west; 
 but they imagined that the regions of Hindostan, 
 China, and Japan lay immediately beyond them. On 
 the second voyage of Columbus in the following year, 
 he added to his discoveries the Caribbee Islands and 
 Jamaica. On his third expedition in 1498, he steered 
 farther to the south than before, and came within five 
 degrees of the line. Thence steering to the north- 
 west, he discovered the island of Trinidad, at the 
 mouth of the Orinoco, the vast size of which river 
 assured him that its source must be in a great conti- 
 nent. He next touched upon various parts of the 
 continent forming the coast of the present districts of 
 Caraccas, Cumana, and Paria, which, however, he then 
 conceived to be an island. The shattered condition 
 of his ships, scarcity of provisions, his own infirm- 
 ities, together with the impatience of his crew, pre- 
 
 * For the life and voyages of Columbus, see "Lights and 
 Shadows of American History." 
 
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF COLUMBUS. 157 
 
 vented him from pursuing his discoveries any further, 
 and forced him to bear away for Hispaniola. On his 
 route thither, he discovered the islands of Cubagua 
 and Margarita, which afterwards became remarkable 
 for their pearl fishery. 
 
 In 1502, Columbus sailed on his fourth and last 
 voyage with four vessels, and provisions for two years. 
 His design was to find a passage to the South Sea, 
 which he believed to exist somewhere near the isthmus 
 of Darien. As he approached the continent, he was 
 becalmed and driven by the currents ruear the Queen's 
 Garden, a group of islands and shoals to the south of 
 Cuba. Here the calm changed to a storm, and for 
 the space of seventy days they saw neither sun nor 
 stars. The vessels were leaky, the crews worn out 
 with fatigue, and their commander almost on the point 
 of death, when they discovered a small island which 
 was called by the Indians Guanajo. This was the 
 Isle of Pines. The natives were friendly, and the 
 Spaniards here met with a large boat, eight feet broad, 
 with an awning of palm leaves, under which the 
 women, children and goods were sheltered from the 
 rain. She was from Yucatan, laden with cotton man- 
 tles, finely painted, wooden swords with sharp flint 
 fastened into the edges, small copper axes, bells, 
 plates, crucibles for melting copper, and cocoa, which 
 served them for money. Columbus treated the Indians 
 kindly, taking specimens of their cargo, and then dis- 
 missed them all except an old man, from whom he 
 hoped to gain information. To the inquiry for gold, 
 he gave them to understand by signs, that it was found 
 to the eastward. 
 
 On reaching the coast of Honduras, the Spaniards 
 xviii. 14 
 
158 VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 were struck with the evidences of superior civilization 
 which the country exhibited. The inhabitants ap- 
 peared to have made a greater progress in the culti- 
 vation of the useful arts than any tribe of the natives 
 which they had yet seen. In return to the inquiries 
 which the Spaniards made with their usual eagerness 
 concerning gold, they directed them to the west, 
 where, as they affirmed, it existed in great abundance. 
 Columbus, however, had chiefly at heart the design 
 of exploring an entrance to the South Sea; and in- 
 stead of steering to the west, which course would 
 have conducted him along the coast of Yucatan to the 
 rich empire of Mexico, he bore away toward the Gulf 
 of Darien. In this navigation he discovered all the 
 coast of the continent from Cape Gracias a Dios to a 
 harbor, which on account of its beauty and security, 
 he named Porto Bello. He searched in vain for the 
 imaginary strait through which he expected to make 
 his way into an unknown sea ; and though he landed 
 several times, and advanced into the country, he did 
 not penetrate so far as to cross the narrow isthmus 
 which separates the Gulf of Mexico from the great 
 southern ocean. He was so much delighted, how- 
 ever, with the fertility of the country, and conceived 
 so high an idea of its wealth from the specimens of 
 gold produced by the natives, that he resolved to leave 
 a small colony on the river Belem, in the province of 
 Veragua, under the command of his brother, and to 
 return himself to Spain in order to procure what was 
 requisite to render the establishment permanent. But 
 the ungovernable spirit of his crews deprived Colum- 
 bus of the glory of planting the first colony on the 
 continent of America. Their insolence and rapacity 
 
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 159 
 
 provoked the natives to take up arms, and as these 
 were a more hardy and warlike race of men than the 
 inhabitants of the islands, they cut off a part of the 
 Spaniards, and forced the remainder to abandon a 
 station that was found to be untenable. 
 
 This was the limit of the discoveries of Columbus. 
 The remainder of his history, however interesting, 
 cannot be detailed here ; and it is unnecessary to ex- 
 patiate upon the great services which the intrepid navi- 
 gator has rendered to the world by his discoveries. 
 
 VOYAGE AND DISCOVERIES OF 
 MAGELLAN. 
 
 FERDINAND DE MAGELLAN, or Magalhaens, as the 
 name is written in his native Portuguese, distinguished 
 himself in the East Indies under the Viceroy Albu- 
 querque, but thinking his services ill requited, he en- 
 tered into the employment of Charles the Fifth of 
 Spain. Columbus had already discovered in the 
 west what was believed to be India, and the Spanish 
 court formed the bold design of tracing out a new pas- 
 sage in that direction to the Molucca Islands, which were 
 then known to them by report, and which they offered 
 to prove, fell within the division of the globe assigned 
 by the Pope to the King of Castile. Magellan was 
 placed at the head of this expedition, which consisted 
 of five ships and 236 men. He sailed from San 
 Lucar, September 20th, 1519. The outset of his 
 voyage was beset by the same obstacles which annoyed 
 Columbus. Murmurs soon arose among the crews, 
 and a conspiracy was formed against him as soon as 
 he had put into the port of San Julian, in South 
 
160 VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 
 
 America. This he discovered and quelled. To one 
 of the ships he sent a messenger with a letter to the 
 captain, and a dagger, ordering him to plunge it into 
 that officer's heart while he was reading the letter. 
 He boarded the second ship and secured the mutineers; 
 the third submitted. One of ther*japtains was hung 
 at the yard arm, and the other was turned ashore. 
 
 San Julian was on a part of the coast that had not 
 been visited before. The natives were described as of 
 a gigantic size, and wearing a kind of shoes made of 
 hide, which caused their feet to look like an animal's 
 hoof, on which account the Spaniards gave them the 
 name of Patagones : in the Spanish, pata signifying a 
 hoof or paw. This name has adhered to the country 
 and its inhabitants ever since. Magellan lost one of 
 his ships here, and steering to the south along the 
 coast of Patagonia, reached the mouth of the cele- 
 brated strait which is now known by his name. The 
 commander was obliged to exert all his authority to 
 induce his men to venture into this unknown passage 
 with a view of crossing the ocean beyond it, at the 
 hazard of running short of provisions, as they had only 
 three months' supply. One of the ships deserted him 
 and sailed home. With the remaining three he pro- 
 ceeded through the strait, encountering much stormy 
 weather, and at length on the 27th of November, he 
 discovered the South Sea, the sight of which, says 
 the narrator, brought tears of joy into the commander's 
 eye. 
 
 The fleet now boldly launched into this wide ocean 
 of the extent of which they had not the faintest knowl- 
 edge or conception. On the 24th of January, 1521, 
 they discovered a small uninhabited island which they 
 
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 161 
 
 named San Pablo. On the 4th of February, another 
 similar island was seen, which they named Tilurones 
 or " Sharks." This island cannot at present be iden- 
 tified. It was singularly unfortunate for these adven- 
 turous navigators, that while in so destitute a condition 
 with regard to provisions, mere chance should have led 
 them upon such a track across this wide ocean, which 
 contains such a multitude of fruitful and uninhabited 
 islands, many of them mountainous so as to be seen at 
 a great distance, and that nothing should have been dis- 
 covered by them but a couple of barren and solitary 
 islets. 
 
 As they proceeded, they endured great distress. 
 Their provisions failed, and they were compelled to 
 eat sawdust and the leather of the rigging. Many of 
 the men were attacked by the scurvy, and twenty of 
 them died. Fortunately they experienced a long con- 
 tinuance of mild and temperate weather, which caused 
 Magellan to bestow upon this sea the name of the 
 PACIFIC OCEAN, which name, as is well known, it has 
 ever since retained, although it is appropriate only 
 within certain latitudes. At length, after a voyage of 
 upwards of four months from the Straits of Magellan, 
 to their infinite joy, they discovered land. Two beau- 
 tiful islands were seen on the 6th of March, and as 
 the ships drew near, the inhabitants came off in 
 canoes bringing yams, cocoa-nuts and rice. They 
 were a stout, well-made people, of an olive complexion, 
 with long hair, and teeth dyed red and black for orna- 
 ment. They wore no other covering than a kind of 
 apron of cloth made of the bark of trees, and they 
 carried lances pointed with fish-bones. Their canoes 
 K 14* 
 
162 VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 
 
 had shoulder-of-mutton sails, and each canoe had 
 an outrigger, that is, a light boom or pole running 
 out horizontally from the side of the canoe, and kept 
 firm in its position by braces. This outrigger, by 
 its weight and buoyancy, kept the canoe steady, for, 
 being a vessel of very light and narrow construction, 
 it would, without such support, have been in danger of 
 over-setting. The canoes were built exactly alike at 
 both ends, and sailed either way with extraordinary 
 swiftness. 
 
 Magellan wished to make some stay at these islands, 
 but the natives were so much addicted to pilfering that 
 quarrels soon became frequent. Whatever they could 
 lay their hands on they were sure to steal, and the 
 numbers that flocked on board the ships became so 
 great that the commander ordered the decks to be 
 cleared of such troublesome visiters. The natives 
 resented this rough treatment and attacked the Span- 
 iards with lances and stones. A battle ensued, and 
 some of the Indians were killed. The ships, however, 
 remained cruising near the islands, and the natives, in 
 spite of what had happened, continued to visit them 
 for the purpose of barter, till one evening they found 
 a chance to steal a skiff that was towing astern of the 
 admiral's ship, and carry it off. This so provoked 
 him that he landed the next day with a large number 
 of men, and set fire to their houses. Several of the 
 natives were killed, and the Spaniards carried off all 
 the provisions they could find. The Indians seeing 
 so much mischief done on account of the boat, set her 
 adrift, and the Spaniards picked her up. They named 
 these islands the Ladrones, or Thieves. 
 
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 163 
 
 Leaving these islands, Magellan sailed southwester- 
 ly, and discovered other islands, which were named the 
 Archipelago of St. Lazarus. The inhabitants showed 
 many marks of civilization and friendship to strangers. 
 Some of the principal persons among them wore ear- 
 rings, bracelets of gold, and long pieces of cotton cloth 
 embroidered with silk about their heads. They were 
 nearly naked, and their bodies were anointed with 
 fragrant oil. Some of them had holes through the 
 cartilage of the ears, wide enough for a man's arm to 
 pass through. They had the custom of marking their 
 bodies in the manner now known as tattooing, and 
 they all chewed a kind of fruit called areca, wrapped up 
 in the leaves of the same tree, which were called betel. 
 Their arms were cutlasses, bucklers, clubs, and lances, 
 many of which were ornamented with gold. Their 
 lands were cultivated, and they had storehouses, in 
 which were deposited cloves, cinnamon, pepper, mace, 
 and nutmegs. 
 
 At the island of Mazagua, they visited the rajah, or 
 sovereign. His house was built in the form of a hay- 
 stack, thatched with banana-leaves, and resting upon 
 four posts, so high in the air that it was entered by a 
 ladder. The rajah at his meals sat on mats, cross- 
 legged. The vessels in which he was served were 
 of porcelain or gold, and the candles were made of 
 gum. His hair was black, and "hung loose on his 
 shoulders. He had a light covering of silk on his 
 head, and in his ears two rings of gold. Around 
 his waist he wore a piece of cotton cloth embroidered 
 with silk, which reached to his knees, and at his side 
 a dagger, or short sword, with a golden handle. The 
 
164 VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF BIAGELLAN. 
 
 narrator also describes appearances of gold about his 
 teeth, which will appear the less incredible when it is 
 considered that at the present day the people of Ma- 
 cassar have a custom of drawing the natural teeth, and 
 substituting golden ones. A large ingot of gold was 
 offered to the Spaniards in exchange for six strings of 
 glass beads; but this traffic was forbidden by the com- 
 mander, that the islanders might not be taught to com- 
 prehend how much more the Europeans valued gold 
 than their own merchandize. An Indian brought a 
 jar of rice and some figs to sell, for which he demand 
 ed a knife. To ascertain the relative value which 
 they set upon gold, some money was offered him, and 
 among other pieces a doubloon ; but the coin was 
 refused and the knife taken in preference. 
 
 Magellan visited several other islands, which it 
 appears belonged to the group now known by the 
 name of the Philippines. He was well received and 
 entertained, and he took formal possession of the ter- 
 ritories in the name of the Spanish crown according 
 to the mode observed in those days. At a small 
 island called Matan, he demanded of the chief an ac- 
 knowledgment of fealty and obedience to the Span- 
 ish sovereign, and also a submission to the king of the 
 neighboring island of Zebu, whom he had converted 
 to Christianity ; threatening him with the destruction 
 of his town in case these demands were not satisfied. 
 The chief replied that he was willing to be on good 
 terms with the Spaniards, and to supply them with pro- 
 visions, but that he owed no obedience to strangers 
 of whom he had never heard, neither would he sub- 
 mit to men whom he had long been accustomed to 
 
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 165 
 
 command. Magellan very imprudently resolved to 
 punish the chief for his contumacy, although his friend, 
 the Christian king, attempted to dissuade him. Find- 
 ing him determined, he then offered to assist him in 
 the desperate enterprise with a thousand of his own 
 troops ; but the Spanish commander was so fully per- 
 suaded that no number of Indians could withstand 
 the assault of sixty armed Europeans, that he ordered 
 the king to remain quietly aloof with his men in their 
 canoes, that they might take notice how the Spaniards 
 fought. 
 
 Leaving ten or twelve men to guard his boats, Ma- 
 gellan marched at the head of about fifty to attack some 
 thousands of Indians. No enemy at first appeared ; 
 the Spaniards began to set fire to the houses, when, 
 suddenly, a strong body of natives appeared on their 
 flank. By the time the Spaniards had thrown them- 
 selves into order of battle to receive them, another body 
 appeared on the other flank, and then another in front. 
 The Indians, however, did not venture on a close 
 attack, but poured in their arrows and other missiles 
 from a distance, against the musketry and crossbows 
 of the Spaniards. This skirmishing continued the 
 greater part of the day, when the islanders, finding 
 that they received less injury than they apprehended, 
 were encouraged to approach near enough to aim their 
 darts at the person of the commander. In order to 
 intimidate them, he ordered a few men to set fire to 
 the houses in the neighborhood, about twenty of which 
 were consumed ; but this produced an effect contrary 
 to what had been anticipated. Either from rage at 
 seeing their dwellings burnt, or thinking they could 
 
166 VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 
 
 attack the detachment with advantage, the Indians 
 rushed toward the spot, and two of the Spaniards were 
 killed. The conflict now grew serious ; the ammunition 
 of the Spaniards began to fail, and their fire slackened, 
 which, being observed by the islanders, they pressed 
 the attack more closely, and Magellan found it neces- 
 sary to order a retreat. 
 
 The Christian king, during the whole of this time, 
 had paid the most exact obedience to the orders which 
 were given him; he and his men sat quietly looking 
 on, without moving from their canoes. The person 
 of Magellan being known to the Indians of Matan, 
 their shots were principally pointed at him, and he 
 was presently wounded by an arrow. The boats 
 toward which they were retreating were still at a dis- 
 tance, and many of the Spaniards, instead of preserv- 
 ing order in their ranks, retreated with precipitation, 
 and their march became more confused in conse- 
 quence of the rockiness of the shores. The helmet 
 of Magellan was twice beaten off his head by stones ; 
 he received a wound which disabled his right arm, and, 
 being closely pressed by multitudes, he was soon 
 brought to the ground, where an Indian thrust him 
 through with a lance. The Christian king seeing 
 the rout of the Spaniards, hastened to their relief, 
 and secured their retreat. Eight Spaniards were 
 killed, besides their commander, and twenty- two were 
 wounded. 
 
 Thus unexpectedly fell Magellan, in a quarrel most 
 unjustifiably provoked by himself, and prosecuted with 
 rashness and presumption. Yet his courage, enter- 
 prise and fortitude make him well worthy of the title 
 
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 167 
 
 of Great Captain, bestowed on him by the historian of 
 America. A strong and peculiar feature of his char- 
 acter appears to have been inflexible perseverance. 
 He was firmly bent on the performance of whatever 
 he undertook, and no common discouragements would 
 turn him from his purpose. He was a man formed to 
 encounter difficulties; and while he believed them 
 surmountable they increased the earnestness of the 
 pursuit. In resolution and decision, whatever may 
 be said of his judgment, few men of any age have 
 equalled him. As a navigator he was not inferior to 
 any of his time ; and as a discoverer he was second 
 only to Columbus, whose enterprise was so grand that 
 it left no room for an equal. 
 
 Though Magellan did not, strictly speaking, circum- 
 navigate the globe, yet by his having, previous to this 
 voyage, been in the East Indies, he was not many 
 degrees short of having made the circuit. The honor 
 of being the first man who completed the European 
 navigation round the world belongs indisputably to 
 him, in consequence of his sailing in a westerly route 
 beyond the meridian of the Moluccas, which had 
 been visited from the opposite quarter. 
 
 The disaster of the Spaniards entirely lost them the 
 confidence of the king of Zebu, who now sought only an 
 occasion to get rid of his guests. He treacherously in- 
 vited them to a feast, and when they were suspecting 
 nothing, the Indians fell upon them and massacred 
 half their number. The remainder made their 
 escape, and pursued their voyage to the west. They 
 visited many small islands, and on the 8th of July 
 reached Borneo. The ships cast anchor in a port 
 
168 VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 
 
 about three leagues from the city of this name, and 
 the next morning three boats with their prows carved 
 in imitation of serpents' heads and gilt, came toward 
 them with trumpets, drums, and other loud music. 
 The people saluted the Spaniards by taking off their 
 silken caps, and the latter welcomed them with a 
 salute: presents were interchanged, and the Spaniards 
 were invited to visit the king. Seven of them went 
 on shore. They were received by a large body of 
 men, armed with bows and arrows, sabres, shields 
 and breast-plates of tortoise-shell. An elephant was 
 brought to the landing-place, on whose back was 
 fixed a wooden castle with six armed men. The ele- 
 phant stooped to admit the strangers, and they were 
 carried to the king, who, having satisfied his curiosity, 
 dismissed them with a present. The town appeared 
 to contain about a hundred thousand inhabitants ; and 
 the houses were built on piles standing high out of 
 the water. The king's house was of stone, and 
 surrounded by a brick wall, on which were mounted 
 above sixty pieces of cannon, principally of brass. 
 
 The country appeared exceedingly fertile, producing 
 rice, sugar, ginger, camphor, mirabolans, wax, gum, 
 and a great variety of fruits. The inhabitants pos- 
 sessed elephants, camels, horses, buffaloes, asses, 
 sheep, goats, geese, poultry, &c. They appeared to be 
 rich in gold, pearls and jewels. They manufactured 
 porcelain of a light colored earth, which they buried 
 under ground for fifty years ; so that it was proverbial 
 among them that they made porcelain not for them- 
 selves but for their posterity. They were acquainted 
 with letters, and wrote on bark. All these particulars 
 
VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 169 
 
 are the more interesting from the fact that the island 
 of Borneo is little better known in Europe at the pres- 
 ent day, than it was three centuries ago. 
 
 Notwithstanding their friendly reception, the Span- 
 iards were soon involved in hostilities with the natives, 
 and shortly after left the place. The narrative of the 
 voyage now begins to deal in the marvellous. At a 
 certain island they found crocodiles and wild boars, 
 and a tree, the leaves of which were animated even 
 when they fell off; they were shaped like mulberry 
 leaves, but longer ; the petals were short and pointed, 
 and on each side there grew two short feet. These 
 leaf-animals shrunk from the touch. Such is the 
 relation of one of the voyagers, Pigafetta, who assures, 
 us that he kept one of them in a box for the space of 
 nine days, and when the lid was taken off, it trotted 
 all round the box, and he was of opinion that it lived 
 upon air. One part of the story is doubtless as cor- 
 rect as the other. We may add to this the account 
 of two extraordinary pearls belonging to the -king of 
 Zolo, which " were as large as hen's eggs, and so per- 
 fectly round, that when placed on a smooth level table, 
 they were never at rest." 
 
 In November, 1521, they reached the Moluccas, 
 where they were well received by the " king of 
 Tidore." They traded here for spices, and after a 
 stay of a month or two, one of the ships set sail for 
 home ; the other, being damaged, was left behind. The 
 Molucca pilots excited their wonder by marvellous 
 stories of the people in that neighborhood. Some of 
 them, according to their account, had ears so large that 
 one of them served for a mattress to sleep on, and the 
 xvin, 15 
 
170 VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF MAGELLAN. 
 
 other for a coverlid. It does not appear whether the 
 voyagers were so long-eared as to believe this, or an- 
 other story of a tree on whose branches perched birds 
 large enough to pounce upon buffaloes and elephants, 
 and carry them away through the air. The Spaniards 
 now made the best of their way to the Cape of Good 
 Hope. In doubling that point they suffered great hard- 
 ships ; head winds kept them in the neighborhood of. 
 the Cape for nine weeks ; their ship was leaky, their 
 provisions ran short, and they lost of Spaniards and 
 Indians twenty-one men. At length, after passing 
 through additional dangers and adventures, they arriv- 
 ed at San Lucar, the port from which they had de- 
 parted, on the 6th of September, 1522, after an absence 
 of a little less than three years. 
 
 Thus was accomplished one of the most extraordinary 
 and eventful voyages ever undertaken. The Victoria, 
 as the admiral's ship was called, was the first vessel 
 that sailed completely round the globe, and Fernando 
 Magellan was the individual whose enterprise and 
 perseverance first practically demonstrated the orbicu- 
 lar form of our planet. While the advancement of 
 science shall continue to interest mankind, the name 
 of this courageous navigator will not cease to be 
 remembered with admiration and gratitude. In honor 
 of the great discoverer, some geographical writers 
 have proposed to call that great expanse of sea which 
 he was the first to cross, the MAGELLANIC OCEAN, 
 instead of the PACIFIC, but this attempt to change a 
 long-established name does not appear likely to prove 
 successful. 
 
VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 171 
 
 VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 THE celebrated voyage of Sir Francis Drake into 
 the South Sea, has been a subject of much contro- 
 versy in regard to the justice of its object. Eng- 
 land and Spain were at peace, yet Drake's expedi- 
 tion was fitted out for the express purpose of commit- 
 ting depredations upon the Spanish commerce and 
 settlements in the Pacific Ocean. It is true that 
 Drake had on a former occasion received some inju- 
 ries from the Spaniards, he having been one of the 
 companions of Sir John Hawkins, in his expedition to 
 San Juan de Ulua in 1567 ; but he had subsequently 
 made himself some amends by reprisals upon them. 
 Drake, however, had with his own eyes seen that great 
 object of men's ambition, the South Sea, and the golden 
 dreams which the sight presented to his imagination, 
 were a stimulant not easily to be resisted by a man 
 of his enterprising and adventurous spirit. 
 
 Notwithstanding the piratical character of this un- 
 dertaking, it was connived at, if not patronized, by 
 Queen Elizabeth, and whatever blame on account of 
 it rests upon the shoulders of Drake, is shared equally 
 by his sovereign. The vessels employed belonged to 
 private individuals; they were five in number, the 
 largest was only 100 tons' burthen, and the smallest 
 was but a pinnace of 15 tons. They carried 164 men, 
 and were furnished with arms and stores for a long 
 voyage, together with the frames of four pinnaces in 
 separate pieces, to be put together as occasion might 
 require. During the outfit, pains were taken to con- 
 
172 VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 ceal their destination, and it was given out that they 
 were bound for Alexandria. The smallness of this 
 force for an enterprise of such magnitude, is not so 
 extraordinary as the fact that a navigation, which on 
 account of its difficulties and dangers, had been for 
 many years discontinued, should be undertaken in ves- 
 sels so diminutive. Scarcely had they got to sea on 
 the 15th of November, 1577, when they were over- 
 taken by a violent gale, which compelled two of them 
 to cut away their masts and return to port. Having 
 re-fitted they set sail from Plymouth a second time on 
 the 13th of December. The crews, it would appear, 
 knew nothing of their destination ; for as soon as they 
 were out of sight of land, the commander appointed 
 as a place of rendezvous, in case the fleet should be 
 separated, the island of Mogadore on the coast of Mo- 
 rocco, by which the crews began to conjecture that 
 they were bound for the South Sea. 
 
 Having touched on the coast of Barbary and at the 
 Cape Verde Islands, Drake steered across the Atlan- 
 tic, and in May, 1578, arrived on the coast of Patago- 
 nia. Some of the natives were seen, and the English 
 made signs to them by waving a white cloth. They 
 answered by gestures and speech, but kept at a dis- 
 tance. In a rocky place on the shore, were found 
 above fifty ostriches, besides other birds, dried or dry- 
 ing for provisions. The thighs of the ostriches were 
 equal in size to " reasonable legs of mutton." These 
 provisions with a bag containing small stones of vari- 
 ous colors, the English carried on board the ships. 
 The natives afterwards became familiar and friendly, 
 and the English had the opportunity of observing their 
 
VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 173 
 
 manner of hunting the ostriches. They decoyed them 
 with bunches of feathers fixed on the end of a staff, 
 the fore part being made to resemble the head and 
 neck of an ostrich, behind which they hid themselves 
 and moved towards their game till they could manage 
 to drive or allure them within some neck of land near 
 the sea-side, across which they spread large and strong 
 nets to prevent their return, and then set their dogs 
 upon them. 
 
 At Port San Julian, Drake caused Thomas Dough- 
 tie, the gunner of his ship, to be tried and put to death, 
 on a charge of conspiracy. This occurrence has been 
 left much in the dark by all the original narrators of 
 the voyage, and it is considered as having affixed a 
 stain upon the memory of the commander. One of 
 the ships being found unserviceable, was broken up 
 on the coast of Patagonia. The remainder entered 
 the Straits of Magellan, and reached the South Sea on 
 the 6th of September. They coasted the American 
 shore, and put into the island of Mocha, where a 
 watering party from the ships fell into an ambuscade 
 of the Indians, and they were obliged to leave the place. 
 Sailing farther onward, they came to the Bay of Val- 
 paraiso, where they made prize of a Spanish ship 
 laden with Chili wine and other merchandize, together 
 with 60,000 dollars in gold, besides a quantity of jew- 
 els. They also plundered the town, and stripped the 
 church of its silver ornaments. Farther to the north 
 they landed at a place called Tarapaca, arid while they 
 were looking about for water, they discovered a Span- 
 iard lying on the ground asleep, and near him thirteen 
 bars of silver of the value of 4000 ducats, which they 
 15* 
 
174 VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 did not scruple to take. A small distance from this 
 spot, they again landed, and met a Spaniard and an 
 Indian driving eight llamas, each laden with a hun- 
 dred pounds' weight of silver. The English seized 
 both beasts and treasures, and conducted them to their 
 boat. 
 
 On the 7th of February, 1579, they arrived at 
 Arica, where two Spanish ships were lying at anchor, 
 from one of which they took above forty bars of silver, 
 " of the bigness and fashion of brickbats," in weight 
 about twenty pounds each ; and from the other, 200 
 jars of wine. The next morning they sailed in pur- 
 suit of a ship which they were informed was not far 
 before them, and richly laden. They found her at 
 Arequipa, lying at anchor, but she had received 
 notice of the arrival of the English on the coast in 
 sufficient season to land 800 bars of silver. This ves- 
 sel and two others of their prizes they discharged here, 
 by first setting all their sails, and then putting them 
 before the wind with no person on board. Proceeding 
 northward, they reached Callao, the port of Lima, 
 where they, found a dozen ships, but little plunder. 
 They gained intelligence, however, that a ship called 
 the Cacafuego, laden with treasure, had sailed a few 
 days previous for Panama. 
 
 Drake ordered all the ships in the port to be disa- 
 bled that they might not pursue him, and then sailed 
 in chase of the Cacafuego. On the cruise he cap- 
 tured a ship laden with cordage and ship's stores, and 
 on board of which the English found eighty pounds' 
 weight of gold, and some other treasure. On the first 
 of March, off Cape San Francisco, they came up with 
 
VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 175 
 
 the object of their pursuit, which they captured with- 
 out any difficulty. They found on board of her gold, 
 silver, and precious stones, to the value of 730,000 
 dollars, all which was transferred to the admiral's 
 ship; the other vessels having been for some time 
 separated from him. They had now accomplished 
 the main purpose of their expedition, and their 
 thoughts began to tend homeward. But the season 
 was unfavorable for the passage round Cape Horn ; 
 and there was reason to apprehend that the Spaniards 
 would station ships there to intercept them on their 
 return. 
 
 Drake, therefore, resolved to attempt the discovery 
 of a passage to the Atlantic round the northern parts 
 of America. He accordingly steered in that direction 
 along the coast, and made prize of several vessels on 
 the way. By the 4th of June they had reached the 
 42d parallel of latitude, where they found the weather 
 excessively cold, and two degrees further, their meat 
 was frozen as soon as removed from the fire. They 
 coasted along to the 4Sth degree, and found all the hills 
 covered with snow. This description of the western 
 coast of America by no means agrees with the present 
 state of the climate in that quarter. 
 
 The English held intercourse with the natives, and 
 one of the chiefs in the course of a ceremony placed a 
 cap of feathers on the head of the admiral, which the 
 English interpreted to mean that he had invested their 
 commander with the insignia of royalty, and that the 
 natives had " with true meaning and intent," resigned 
 to him their right and title to the whole country, and 
 made themselves and their posterity his vassals ! 
 
176 VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
 The summer was now thought too far advanced for 
 pursuing the original plan, and the wind blew strongly 
 from the north-west ; for which reasons the design of 
 seeking a passage to Europe to the north of America, 
 was given up ; and it was determined to quit the 
 American coast and steer for the Molucca Islands. 
 Drake, therefore, shaped his course westerly, and 
 sailed sixty-eight days without seeing land. On the 
 30th of September he fell in with some islands which 
 appear to have been the Philippines or some group in 
 the neighborhood. The inhabitants showed a thievish 
 disposition, and the English held little intercourse 
 with them. November 30, they arrived at Ternate, 
 one of the Moluccas, where they were received in a 
 very friendly manner. They remained in this quarter 
 till the 12th of December taking in spices, and then 
 set sail for the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 On the 9th of January, while going under full sail 
 in the evening, the ship suddenly struck upon a rock. 
 They threw overboard three tons of cloves, eight of 
 their guns, and other articles to lighten her, but with- 
 out effect. At only a boat's length from the ship, no 
 bottom could be found with all their lines, and it was 
 impossible to lay out an anchor to heave her off. The 
 destruction of the ship appeared inevitable, and every 
 man resigned himself to his fate. But when they 
 least expected it, in the afternoon at low water, the 
 wind suddenly died away, which caused the ship to 
 fall off toward the deep water, by which movement 
 she was again set afloat without any injury. The 
 remainder of the voyage offers nothing worthy of 
 
VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 177 
 
 record here. The expedition arrived safely at Ply- 
 mouth on the 25th of September, 15SO. 
 
 Drake immediately repaired to court, and was gra- 
 ciously received by the queen ; but she commanded 
 that the treasure which he had brought home should 
 be put under sequestration, that if any demands were 
 made by the Spaniards which it should be deemed 
 expedient to satisfy, the means might be at hand. In 
 fact, the English were compelled to restore a part of 
 this plunder, but the remainder appears to have been 
 divided among the captors. The queen, to show her 
 approbation of Drake's enterprise, dined on board his 
 ship at Deptford, and conferred upon him the honor 
 of knighthood. The ship was preserved with great 
 care for many years, and when at length she was 
 quite decayed and broken up, a chair was made of 
 one of her planks, and presented to the University of 
 Oxford. 
 
 The conduct of Drake in this expedition is in many 
 instances worthy of commendation. Among the 
 praises which are due to him, the humanity wkh 
 which he treated the Indians is not the least. To 
 strangers, in general his behavior was affable and 
 hospitable ; towards the savages, his forbearance, 
 and the various instances of his kindness, were the 
 spontaneous effects of genuine good will. The pur- 
 poses of discovery, or the advancement of science, 
 were not among the motives of his voyage ; but his 
 running along the coast of North America to the 
 height of 48 degrees, and endeavoring on that side to 
 find a passage into the Atlantic, must be regarded as 
 a strong proof of his skill and enterprise. 
 
178 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH. 
 
 VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH TO- 
 WARD THE NORTH POLE. 
 
 FROM the period of the discovery of America, and 
 the advance of the English to maritime greatness, 
 their views appear to have been steadily and zealously 
 directed toward the discovery of a northern passage to 
 India. In this attempt many of their most celebrated 
 navigators acquired their glory. As soon as Cabot, 
 Verazzani and Cortereal had ascertained the continuity 
 of the American coast from the Gulf of Mexico to the 
 borders of the Arctic Circle, there seemed, indeed, 
 little ground to anticipate any very practicable north- 
 ern route to the eastern world. Yet it is possible that 
 even the hardihood of the, undertaking conspired with 
 the greatness of the object to which it related, to 
 make it attractive in the eyes of a people to whom 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH. 179 
 
 such enterprises are congenial. The naval energy, the 
 spirit of enterprise, the love of knowledge and adven- 
 ture for which the English have been distinguished, 
 have been greatly owing to the severe struggles which 
 they have so long maintained with the tempests and 
 the snows of the north. 
 
 The first expedition of the Cabots, like that of Co- 
 lumbus, had for its object, the western passage to India. 
 After discovering Newfoundland, they sailed a consid- 
 erable distance first to the north and then to the south, 
 in hopes of finding an open sea leading westward, but 
 in vain. Not long afterward, the Cortereals, from Por- 
 tugal, made a similar attempt ; they sailed along the 
 coast of Labrador, to which they first gave that name, 
 and they seem to have visited, or at least looked into, 
 some of the passages leading into Hudson's Bay ; but 
 they accomplished nothing more. The search by the 
 English after a north-west passage did not commence 
 seriously till the reign of Elizabeth. This princess 
 however, unless when inspired by the hope of solid 
 and immediate profit, was not apt to lavish her treas- 
 ures. It was with Martin Frobisher that the plan of 
 the expedition originated ; and he spent fifteen years 
 in soliciting, both in the city and at court, the means 
 of equipping two little barks or rather boats of twenty- 
 five tons each. With this paltry craft he did not 
 hesitate in 1576, to face the tempests of the northern 
 seas. 
 
 Frobisher spent three voyages in beating about the 
 northern passes leading into Hudson's Bay, without 
 discovering the main entrance into that wide sea. 
 Entangled in these narrow channels, always filled 
 
180 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH. 
 
 with floating ice, he passed through a singular series 
 of disasters, and never made any approach toward the 
 accomplishment of his favorite object. The zeal of 
 the adventurers at home, however, was kept up by 
 the discovery of a species of glittering mineral, then 
 idly supposed to contain gold. Under this potent im- 
 pulse the queen, who at first had given only smiles 
 and courtesy, provided for the second voyage a stout 
 ship of a hundred tons' burthen ; while the third expe- 
 dition, consisting of eleven ships, carried out the 
 wooden materials of a fort, and provisions for a perma- 
 nent colony of a hundred persons. But this voyage 
 was the most disastrous of the three. The vessels 
 were dispersed, and the planks of the future fort were 
 suspended from their sides to defend them from the 
 crushing masses of floating ice. Every idea of a set- 
 tlement was abandoned, and the vessels in a shattered 
 state, returned to England. 
 
 These three fruitless attempts produced a painful 
 disappointment. But the spirit of the nation again 
 revived, and in 15S6, a company of merchant adven- 
 turers sent out John Davis, who conducted three suc- 
 cessive voyages with great discretion. He made it a 
 particular study to conciliate the savage natives, for 
 whose recreation he carried out a band of music, to 
 which his crew danced as soon as any Esquimaux 
 appeared in view. Davis penetrated through the 
 broad strait which now bears his name, and in his 
 third voyage reached its widest expanse, where there 
 appeared an open sea stretching to the westward, 
 whence he returned full of sanguine hopes. Three 
 failures, however, had again exhausted the patience of 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH. 181 
 
 his patrons : they were heard to say, " This Davis hath 
 made three voyages ; why hath he not found the pas- 
 sage ? " and he in vain solicited a fourth equipment. 
 
 Henry Hudson established a fame superior to that of 
 any other northern navigator. He sought a passage first 
 by the east, along the north of Asia. Then he projected 
 a daring route across the pole itself: and lastly, when 
 both these had failed, by the old route of the west. 
 Thus he accomplished a signal discovery, by entering 
 that great sea, improperly called a bay, which bears 
 his name. This,' however, was in his last voyage, 
 in 1610, when the crew, stirred up to mutiny by a 
 youth whom he had rescued from destruction, turned 
 him adrift in a boat in these inhospitable seas, where 
 he doubtless perished. 
 
 Notwithstanding the tragical issue of this voyage, 
 it opened a prospect too important to be overlooked 
 in that enterprising age. In the following year the 
 adventurers sent forth Sir Thomas Button, an officer 
 of merit. He entered Hudson's Bay, pushed directly 
 across its broad expanse, and believed himself in full 
 career to the South Sea, when suddenly there ap- 
 peared before him, a long, unbroken barrier of coast, 
 which forbade all farther advance. He named it 
 " Hope Checked," and returned after spending the 
 winter on that shore afterwards occupied by the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company. The adventurers, frustrated on 
 this side, now determined to investigate thoroughly 
 the sea entered by Davis ; and of which no limit had 
 yet been reached. This task was committed to Baffin, 
 who was accounted the most scientific steersman of 
 the age. In 1616, he reached the northern shore, 
 xvni. 16 
 
182 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH. 
 
 situated in a very high latitude, and made the com- 
 plete circuit of that sea which has since been named 
 Baffin's Bay ; but it appeared to him to be encircled 
 by a continuous range of coast, nowhere affording a 
 passage to any sea beyond. When he came to Lan- 
 caster Sound, which was afterwards found to be the 
 entrance to the Polar Sea, his patience like that of 
 Captain Ross, two centuries afterwards, seems to have 
 been exhausted, and unluckily, at this very point he 
 began to despair. He gave this important opening a 
 very cursory examination, and returned to England 
 declaring that the passage sought for had no existence. 
 With Baffin terminated the early series of north-west- 
 ern discovery by the English, which had been main- 
 tained with so much courage and perseverance for 
 forty years; and the question appeared to be now 
 settled in a manner unfavorable to the long-cherished 
 hopes of the nation. 
 
 An obscure veil still hung over the extremities of 
 the Pacific and the junction of the continents of Amer- 
 ica and Asia. This was lifted by the exploratory 
 genius of Cook. A premature fate indeed arrested 
 that great navigator in the career of discovery ; but he, 
 and Captain Clerke, who followed in the path marked 
 out by him, saw the two continents separated by 
 Behring's Straits, and America stretching to the north 
 and east. This voyage, by disclosing the immense 
 breadth of the American continent in this latitude, 
 made the hopes of a western passage darker than 
 ever. That continent had hitherto been regarded as 
 terminating to the north in a point or cape, after pass- 
 ing which the navigator would find himself at once in 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH. 183 
 
 the South Sea, and in full sail to China and Japan. 
 Now, between the Atlantic and the Pacific, there was 
 found to intervene a space of nearly three thousand 
 miles. Geographers, viewing the coast running 
 northward from Behring's Straits and Hudson's and 
 Baffin's Bays, all enclosed by land, constructed their 
 maps under the impression that an unbroken mass of 
 land reached onward to the pole, and that all these 
 regions were forever barred against the navigator. 
 
 But a new light broke in suddenly from an opposite 
 quarter. The Hudson's Bay Company had formed a 
 settlement with a view to the traffic in furs, for which 
 this otherwise uninviting region afforded ample scope. 
 They were bound by their charter to use their utmost 
 effort for the discovery of the north-west passage, but 
 it has been affirmed that their most strenuous exer- 
 tions were directed to the prevention of any such 
 result. They could not, however, prevent some efforts 
 being made. Mr. Hearne, in 1769, followed north- 
 ward the course of a river now bearing his name, till 
 at a point then supposed to be in the inland depths of 
 America, he came to the sea. Mackenzie, an agent 
 of the Northwest Company at Montreal, afterwards 
 proceeded in the same direction to a point twenty de- 
 grees farther west, where he followed another river 
 also to the sea. This double discovery gave an 
 entirely new aspect to the geography of Northern 
 America. It now became probable, that, instead of 
 unbroken lands stretching into the depths of the Polar 
 regions, there was a continuous ocean bounding it at a 
 latitude which did not absolutely preclude the hopes 
 of an open and regular passage. 
 
184 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH. 
 
 These important observations, however, did not take 
 immediate effect on the public. They seem, on the 
 contrary, to have lain dormant, silently fermenting in 
 minds which meditated on these subjects, till, early in 
 the present century, that remarkable exploratory zeal 
 arose in England, of which the effects have been so 
 important. Mr. Barrow, himself eminent as a travel- 
 ler, gave the first impulse both to the nation and the 
 government, which embarked in this career with a 
 steadiness, judgment, and above all, an inflexible perse- 
 verance, of which there is no former example. Africa 
 was the first theatre, bul the northern seas, which 
 Scoresby had already made an object of interest, soon 
 attracted equal attention: This led to a series of en- 
 terprises which have remarkably enlarged our ideas 
 of the geography of that part of the globe. 
 
 The first of the series was designed, under the con- 
 duct of Captain Ross, to make the circuit of Baffin's 
 Bay, and look more narrowly than that navigator was 
 suspected to have done, into every sound and inlet 
 which could afford an entrance either into the Pacific, or 
 the grand Polar basin. Captain Ross was an officer of 
 merit, yet he was not altogether of that pushing and 
 adventurous disposition which is requisite to find or 
 force a way through these mighty barriers. He made 
 the circuit of these shores like a skilful navigator, and 
 brought a report confirming all the observations of 
 Baffin, and coming to the same conclusion, that there 
 was a bay only, affording no further passage. He 
 had indeed looked into the wide entrance of Lancaster 
 Sound, but at the distance of about twenty miles its 
 shores appeared to the eye to meet and form an en- 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH. 185 
 
 closed inlet. But it was believed that Ross had not 
 penetrated deep enough to form any sure judgment on 
 this point; and Captain Parry, the second in com- 
 mand, was of opinion that the long sought-for passage 
 would be found here. 
 
 The views of the British Admiralty coincided en- 
 tirely with those of Captain Parry, whom they imme- 
 diately sent out with the command of a fresh expedi- 
 tion in 1821. The result was the most brilliant suc- 
 cess ; Parry found all his predictions fulfilled, and 
 through Lancaster Sound penetrated into the grand 
 basin of the Polar sea. Here he coasted along, not 
 the continent of America, but ranges of large islands 
 which narrowed the sea through which he sailed, into 
 a sort of broad strait, communicating by inlets with 
 the sea beyond. These inlets were so blocked up 
 with ice setting in from the westward, that Captain Parry 
 in the course of two seasons vainly attempted to make 
 his way through them, and was compelled to return 
 with only the glory acquired by having penetrated so 
 much farther than any former navigator. 
 
 The Polar basin having thus been ascertained to 
 exist ; another voyage was planned with the view of 
 entering it by a different approach. Hudson's Bay 
 had not yet been fully explored. Parry undertook 
 the adventure, and in August arrived at the Frozen 
 Strait, which had arrested Middleton in his voyage. 
 He worked his way through it, and proceeded to the 
 examination of the coasts beyond. He was soon inter- 
 rupted by the setting in of the Arctic winter, and with 
 some difficulty his crews sawed their way through 
 the ice to a station in which the ships could pass that 
 16* 
 
186 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 
 
 rigorous season in safety. Next summer they pro- 
 ceeded northward along a large mass of land, in the 
 latitude of 68, which they named Melville Peninsula. 
 At last they arrived at a strait, which by land surveys 
 was found to lead into the wide and open basin of the 
 Polar sea ; but it was so blocked up by ice driven 
 into it by the western currents, that every attempt to 
 penetrate it was wholly abortive. Parry was sent out 
 a third time, on his first line of discovery, to make 
 trial of a broad channel leading to the south, but this 
 voyage failed, less from any absolute barrier opposed 
 by nature, than from the loss of one of the ships 
 which was so crushed by the ice, that it was necessary 
 to abandon her. A fourth expedition was undertaken 
 by Parry, in 1827, for the purpose of travelling over 
 the frozen surface of the ocean, direct to the North 
 Pole. They arrived within eight degrees of the Pole, 
 the highest northern latitude probably ever attained 
 by man, but in consequence of the drifting of the ice 
 to the south, their progress was checked, and the ob- 
 ject of the enterprise was defeated. Subsequent ex- 
 peditions have been sent to this region, and it is now 
 fully ascertained, that the Atlantic and Pacific are 
 united by a passage to the north of our continent. 
 
 VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH TOWARD 
 THE NORTH POLE. 
 
 THE first attempts to discover a north-eastern pas- 
 sage to India, around the northern parts of Russia, 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 187 
 
 were made by the English. An expedition under 
 Sir Hugh Willoughby, sailed from London in 1553. 
 They doubled the North Cape, and coasted along the 
 country for some distance beyond. The fleet consist- 
 ed of three ships. Two of them put into the harbor 
 of Arzina in Lapland, in September, and were after- 
 wards found by the Russian fishermen with the un- 
 fortunate crews all frozen to death. The other ship, 
 commanded by Richard Chancelor, reached the White 
 Sea, where Chancelor landed, and travelled to Mos- 
 cow. The Czar treated him with kindness and dis- 
 tinction, and in consequence of this discovery or first 
 accomplishment of the route by sea from the Atlantic 
 to Archangel, he granted large and extensive privi- 
 leges to the English nation, which were enjoyed many 
 years by the Btiglish Russian Company. Three 
 years afterwards, Stephen Burrough, an Englishman, 
 passed through the strait of Waigatz, between the 
 continent and Nova Zembla, which was then well 
 known to the Russians; but the discoveries of the 
 English were not prosecuted any further in this quar- 
 ter. 
 
 The next attempts worthy of notice were made by 
 the Dutch, in a series of voyages undertaken in three 
 successive years. The merchants of Holland deter- 
 mined to participate in the advantages of a direct trade 
 with India, which the nations of Europe had hitherto 
 left exclusively in the hands of the Spaniards and 
 Portuguese. The passage to India by the north-east 
 appeared greatly preferable to that by the Cape of 
 Good Hope, as in addition to the shortness of the route, 
 should it be found practicable, there would be no dan- 
 
188 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 
 
 ger of meeting their rivals in the trade, which at the 
 commencement of the undertaking it was highly de- 
 sirable to avoid. Permission to discover a way to 
 India by Nova Zembla, and along the coasts of Tar- 
 tary, was readily obtained of the States General, who 
 took so great an interest in the enterprise, that they 
 promised a gratuity of 25,000 florins to any persons 
 who should successfully accomplish the voyage, and 
 also special privileges of trade for eight years. 
 
 The first expedition was undertaken by three 
 ships, and a fishing bark, under the command of 
 Nay, Linschoten, and William Barentz, the latter of 
 whom was a seaman of great reputation. They sailed 
 from the Texel in June, 1594, and arrived on the 
 coast of Lapland where they separated. Barentz ex- 
 plored the western side of Nova Zembla ; the others 
 proceeded through the Straits of Waigatz, about 40 
 leagues to the eastward, when finding the sea clear 
 and every prospect of a passage, as they thought to 
 India, instead of pursuing the discovery, they returned 
 to Holland to publish the news of the happy probabil- 
 ity ! Barentz sailed as far north as the extremity of 
 Nova Zembla, which he named Ys Hoek, or Ice Cape. 
 But vast impenetrable bodies of ice hindered him from 
 ascending any farther. 
 
 Another expedition of seven ships was despatched 
 in the same direction, but with no better success. A 
 third attempt was made in 1596, which though un- 
 successful in the main object of the undertaking, ex- 
 hibits such a degree of courage, perseverance and 
 fortitude in the crew, and was attended by so many 
 adventures and extraordinary sufferings, that we shall 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 189 
 
 offer some details respecting it, as in all the narra- 
 tives of maritime adventure, there is nothing which 
 surpasses it in interest. This expedition consisted of 
 two small vessels, under the command of Jacob 
 Heemskirk, and Cornelius Ryp, with William Bar- 
 entz for chief pilot. They sailed from Amsterdam on 
 the 18th of May, and on the 22d came in sight of the 
 Shetland Islands. Barentz here proposed to steer for 
 the Icy Cape, but the commander preferred standing 
 further to the north, in hopes of getting clear of all the 
 known land in that quarter, and finding a clear sea 
 which would admit of their sailing to the east. About 
 the latitude of 74 they discovered an island on which 
 they killed an enormous bear, from which circum- 
 stance they gave it the name of Bear Island. Steering 
 farther to the north, on the 17th of June they discov- 
 ered land in the latitude of 80. From its general 
 appearance they bestowed upon it the name of Spitz- 
 bergen, or " Sharp-pointed Mountains." They killed 
 here a white bear, whose skin measured 13 feet in 
 length. He swam to the ships but was driven off, and 
 endeavoring to escape to the shore was interrupted by 
 one of the boats, and pursued a league out to sea. He 
 made great resistance before he was overcome, and at 
 one time laid his paw on the boat, fortunately at the 
 bow, for had it been in the middle, he would inevita- 
 bly have overturned her. 
 
 On the 23d of July, they weighed anchor and 
 attempted to stand to the northward, but were so ob- 
 structed by the ice, that they were driven back to Bear 
 Island. Here they differed about their future course. 
 Ryp with his vessel proceeded to the western coast of 
 
190 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 
 
 Spitzbergen, Heemskirk on board of which vessel was 
 Barentz, steered east, and on the 17th of July, made 
 the land of Nova Zembla. On the 9th of August, 
 while the vessel was moored to the ice, the master, 
 who was walking on deck, heard the breathing of an 
 animal, and immediately beheld a bear attempting to 
 climb on board. He cried " All hands on deck ! " and 
 the crew hastening up, set up as loud a shouting as 
 they could, by which the bear was frightened for a 
 moment and retreated to a little distance. But return- 
 ing immediately, he ran furiously toward the vessel, set 
 his claws against her side, and attempted to enter. 
 In the mean time the crew had stretched a sail over 
 the upper-works, and prepared their firelocks. A 
 heavy snow was falling, so that they could not take 
 aim distinctly, but they fired and wounded the bear, 
 who then took to flight. 
 
 By the 16th of August, they had advanced no fur- 
 ther than the north-eastern extremity of Nova Zembla. 
 Obstacles now thickened in their way. The coast 
 here took a direction south-easterly, and the sea at 
 first appeared open in that quarter, which gave them 
 some hopes of a free passage, but this delusive ap- 
 pearance was soon at an end. The floating ice began 
 to close around them, and on the 26th of August they 
 ,vere driven into a bay on the north-eastern coast, 
 where they soon found themselves fast locked up in 
 the ice, in about the 76th degree north latitude, with 
 the winter fast approaching. 
 
 The crew then held a council and came to a unani- 
 mous conclusion, that there was no hope of getting 
 away that winter, and that their only resource was to 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 191 
 
 build them a hut and winter on shore. Luckily, 
 although Nova Zembla produces no trees, much drift 
 wood was found upon the shore, which had doubtless 
 come from the coast of Tartary or Russia. They 
 immediately began to build a hut, in which labor they 
 were constantly interrupted by the bears, whom they 
 kept away with great difficulty and danger. By the 
 middle of September, the sea was completely frozen 
 over, but a few days after, a westerly wind broke up 
 the ice and made an open sea. Their vessel, how- 
 ever, not being disengaged, they could only look upon 
 this chance of escape with vexation. On the 27th it 
 froze so hard that one of the crew being at work, put 
 a nail in his mouth, and drawing it out, the skin came 
 away, and blood followed. The cold soon became so 
 intense, that it was only the extreme desire of preserv- 
 ing life which could have enabled them to support the 
 hardship of their labor. On the 30th of September, 
 so much snow fell that they were prevented from 
 going in quest of wood. They made a great fire 
 along the building to thaw the earth, and raise a ram- 
 part of it around their hut, but this was found impos- 
 sible. 
 
 One of the bears which they had shot, they designed 
 to carry to Holland ; and accordingly, they set him 
 upon his legs at a little distance from the hut, 
 where he became frozen stiff. One day a sailor being 
 on shore, came suddenly upon a bear. He turned 
 back and fled in all haste toward the vessel. The 
 bear pursued him till he arrived at the spot where the 
 frozen bear had been placed, and who was completely 
 covered with snow except one of his paws, which was 
 
192 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 
 
 lifted high in the air. Here he stopped, gazing with 
 astonishment at so strange a sight. This enabled the 
 sailor to make his escape to the vessel ; but being very 
 much frightened, he could utter nothing but the words 
 " A bear ! a bear ! " The other sailors ran upon deck, 
 but could see nothing on account of the smoke with 
 which the vessel was filled, while they were shut up 
 in it. Fortunately, the bear did not wait till they got 
 their eyes clear, but retreated immediately. 
 
 On the llth of October they began to convey their 
 provisions ashore, and took possession of the hut. 
 The bears continued to annoy them while they were 
 at this work, sometimes driving the sailors up the rig- 
 ging, but they generally took to flight at the first shot 
 fired against them. The sun-light now began to 
 abandon them. On the 25th of October, three bears 
 suddenly made their appearance close to the vessel, 
 and ran toward the sailors. The master set up a loud 
 shout to frighten them ; the men, who were engaged in 
 hauling goods to the hut, threw down their ropes and 
 put themselves in such a state of defence as they 
 could ; but the only weapons at hand were a couple 
 of halberts. The master took one and Gerard de 
 Veer the other.. The men ran toward the vessel, but 
 one of them fell into a chasm in the ice, which made 
 the rest shudder, as they thought the bears would inev^ 
 itably devour him. However, they passed by him and 
 pursued the sailors to the vessel. Here they com- 
 menced a most furious attack, being kept at bay only 
 by the two halberts. The men endeavored to divert 
 their attention by throwing pieces of wood and other 
 things at their heads ; for they ran each time a piece 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 193 
 
 was thrown, as a dog runs after a stone. One of the 
 sailors went into the cook-room to strike a fire, and 
 another to seek for some pikes. But such was the 
 trepidation of all, that no fire could be kindled, and the 
 match-locks were of no use. The bears constantly 
 returned to the assault with the utmost fury ; but at 
 length one of the halberts was thrown, which struck 
 the largest directly on the mouth, on which he slowly 
 retreated and was followed by the others. 
 
 After the sun had quitted the horizon, the moon 
 took its place appearing all day and night without set- 
 ting when it was in its highest quarter. By the 6th 
 of November, the day could not be distinguished from 
 the night, and the men lay a long time in bed, knowing 
 nothing of the lapse of the hours. Foxes now began 
 to appear in great numbers, and they took many of 
 them in traps. In the latter part of November there 
 fell so prodigious a quantity of snow that they were 
 completely buried ; the storm lasted three days, and it 
 was only after much labor that they dug their way 
 into the open air. The snow covered even the chim- 
 ney top, so that they were unable to cook any victuals 
 on account of the smoke. One day, while in their 
 beds, they heard the ice of the sea crack with so hor- 
 rible a noise, that they imagined the mountains of ice 
 which they had seen during the summer, had become 
 loose and were crushing against each other. It now 
 froze so hard in the hut that the floor and walls were 
 coated with thick ice, and even their beds were in the 
 same condition. 
 
 On the 6th of December, the cold was so intense 
 that they began to feel great alarm, believing them- 
 
 M XVIII, 17 
 
194 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 
 
 selves unable to support their sufferings much longer. 
 All the fire they could make was insufficient to warm 
 them, and they gazed upon each other with looks of 
 despair. Their sherry wine had frozen solid, and 
 they were obliged to thaw it on the days of distribu- 
 tion, which was performed every other day, when each 
 man had half a pint ; after the wine was out, they had 
 no drink but water, their Dantzic beer having been 
 spoilt by freezing, early in the season. On the 7th, 
 the intense cold continuing, they determined to fetch 
 from the vessel a quantity of the pit-coal which was 
 on board, thinking it would afford a greater heat than 
 wood. They accordingly made a large fire of it in 
 the hut, and felt much enlivened and relieved by the 
 warmth which it imparted. But within a few hours 
 they all found themselves attacked with vertigoes and 
 swimmings in the head, with violent pains. Not a 
 man of them was able to stand up ; but at length one 
 person succeeded in crawling to the door and opening 
 it. No sooner had he done this than he fainted and 
 fell down in the snow. One of the company whose 
 head was near to the door, threw some vinegar in his 
 face, and brought him to himself. The opening of the 
 door saved their lives, as without this they would all 
 soon have been suffocated. 
 
 On the 9th, 10th, and llth of December, the weather 
 was fine and clear, and the sky bright with stars ; but 
 the cold had augmented to an inconceivable degree. 
 The leather of their shoes froze on their feet as hard 
 as if it had been horn, so that they were of no service. 
 They attempted to keep their feet warm by wearing 
 three or four pairs of socks, one over another, outside 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 195 
 
 of which they placed a covering of sheep-skin. Their 
 clothes were now all white with frost and ice, and they 
 could not venture out of doors without freezing their 
 faces and ears. Fire now seemed to cause no heat, 
 and when they attempted to warm their feet by it, 
 their stockings were burnt without their feeling any 
 warmth. For several days together, they were com- 
 pletely snowed in ; but on the 5th of January, 1597, 
 they cleared the snow from the door, and brought into 
 the hut a fresh supply of wood for fuel. This being 
 Twelfth-day, they celebrated it by indulging in uncom- 
 mon luxury, and cooked some fritters with oil, which 
 they ate with as good an appetite as was ever pos- 
 sessed by a burgomaster of Amsterdam. They even 
 went through all the ceremonies of the feast, drawing 
 tickets according to the usual custom, and the gunner 
 was king of Nova Zembla. 
 
 January 13th, the weather was clear and serene, 
 and they perceived that the feeble light of the day 
 began to increase, for on throwing a ball upon the 
 snow they perceived it to roll, which they could not do 
 before. From this time they went abroad every day 
 and exercised themselves with walking, running, 
 throwing, &c., in order to revive their limbs. They 
 also remarked a degree of redness in the horizon, which 
 was to them an aurora, or harbinger of the sun. 
 There were some appearances of thawing during the 
 day inside their hut, but at night it froze as hard 
 as ever. On the 26th, one of the company who 
 had been feeble for a long time, died; they dug a 
 grave seven feet deep in the snow, where they buried 
 him. 
 
196 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 
 
 The first seven days of February were exceedingly 
 stormy, so that they began to despair again, for, trust- 
 ing to the fine weather, they had neglected to provide 
 a large stock of fuel. The hut was again surrounded 
 with great heaps of snow, and the fog was thicker 
 than ever. They were compelled to go out and in by 
 the chimney. The sun rose in the S. S. E., and set 
 in the S. S. W. On the 13th, while occupied in 
 putting their traps in order, they saw a great bear 
 running towards them, on which they all fled to the 
 hut. One of them fired at him ; the ball struck the 
 bear in the breast, passed quite through his body and 
 came out near the tail ; it was found afterwards as flat 
 as a half-penny. The wounded bear made a great 
 leap and retired twenty or thirty feet, when he fell. 
 Those who pursued him found him still living ; and 
 he raised his head as if to see who had shot him. As 
 they had already too fatally experienced the enormous 
 strength of those animals, they did not trust to the 
 first shot, but despatched him with two others. His 
 skin was nine feet long, and seven wide ; and they 
 obtained from him above a hundred pounds of fat, 
 which enabled them to keep a lamp burning, a lux- 
 ury they had not enjoyed for some time. 
 
 Their wood now began to fail them, and the wind, 
 cold and severe, caused them intense sufferings for 
 many days. The ice began to break up, and by 
 the 8th of March, all the sea to the north-east 
 appeared to be open, so that they took courage. But 
 on the 14th. a wind from the E. N. E., set in so vio- 
 lent and cold, that the sea was again frozen as hard as 
 ever. This severe weather occasioned those to re- 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 197 
 
 lapse who, having been ill and growing better, had 
 exposed themselves during the milder season. From 
 this day the cold continually increased, and was even 
 greater and more insupportable than before. Such 
 unexpected severity of the weather dispirited the crew, 
 and destroyed all their hopes of an early thaw. 
 
 During the night of the 6th of April, a bear ap- 
 proached the hut, and notwithstanding their endeavors 
 to kill him with their muskets, they were not able to 
 take aim on account of the darkness and the fog ; their 
 powder, besides, was so damp that the guns almost 
 always missed fire. The bear descended the steps in 
 the snow, leading to the door, and attempted to enter; 
 but the master, placing himself firmly behind it, 
 kept it so well closed, that the animal after many at- 
 tempts, at length retired. But in two hours he returned 
 again and climbed to the top of the hut, where he 
 made so dreadful a roaring as to fill them all with 
 terror. He then advanced toward the chimney and 
 made great exertions to overturn it. They were now 
 in a dreadful alarm, for it appeared certain that he 
 would get into the hut. But fortunately, after tearing 
 the sail with which the chimney was surrounded, and 
 making extraordinary ravages, he went away. 
 
 Again the ice disappeared, leaving an open sea ; but 
 shortly after, a north-east wind brought it back again, 
 and the weather once more became dreadfully cold. 
 They went down to the shore and viewed the moun- 
 tains of ice which covered the sea, and which appeared 
 disposed like the houses of a great city, with towers, 
 steeples, domes, bastions and ramparts. On the second 
 day of May, a south-west wind cleared the sea of ice, 
 17* 
 
198 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 
 
 so that their hopes of a speedy departure for home 
 again revived. But by this time their best provisions, 
 as their meat, flour, oatmal, &c. were nearly exhausted. 
 They had only a supply of bacon for three weeks, at 
 the rate of two ounces a day for each man. The 
 bears which now attacked them were more easily 
 driven away than formerly, appearing to have grown 
 comparatively timid. The sun, when at the lowest, 
 was at a considerable height above the horizon. Snow 
 fell again on the 5th of May in such abundance as to 
 confine them to the hut ; and on the 20th and 21st, a 
 north-east wind again covered the sea with ice. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, the master ordered prepara- 
 tions to be made for departure. On attempting to 
 remove the boat which they had drawn on shore at 
 the beginning of the winter, they found themselves 
 unable from weakness, to draw it over the snow. 
 They now fell into the deepest despair, and imag- 
 ined they were destined to end their days in that 
 frightful climate. The master endeavored to cheer 
 them on in their work, telling them that unless they 
 were willing to become citizens of Nova Zembla, and 
 very soon to prepare their own graves there . they must 
 recover the boat, as all their hopes of escape depended 
 on it. While they were repeating their attempts they 
 discovered an enormous bear coming towards them. 
 They all ran into the hut where they waited at the 
 three doors with their firelocks, and one of the men 
 mounted the chimney with a musket. The bear ad- 
 vanced with great fierceness and approached the de- 
 clivity of the steps of one of the doors, where he was not 
 perceived by the man on guard there, who happened 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 199 
 
 to be looking toward the other door. Those within 
 seeing the bear, cried out for him to take care of him- 
 self. The man turned his head, and notwithstanding 
 the fright he was in, he fired his gun ; the bear was 
 wounded and fled. This was by far the narrowest 
 escape which they had experienced, and the conster- 
 nation of the people in the hut was indescribable, for 
 when the man first perceived the bear, the ferocious 
 beast was within a few feet of him, ready to spring 
 upon him. Had the gun missed fire, as often hap- 
 pened, the bear would have entered the hut and de- 
 voured them all at his leisure. In the mean time the 
 wound which he had received prevented him from 
 going to a great distance, and when they perceived 
 him to stop, they ran after him and despatched him 
 with their weapons. In his stomach were found pieces 
 of sea-dogs entire, with their skin and hair on, which 
 showed that they had just been devoured. 
 
 The next day came another bear, which they soon 
 killed. The following day another made his appear- 
 ance. It seemed as if these animals had a suspicion 
 that their prey was about leaving them, and that they 
 must make the most of their time. The last bear forced 
 them to quit their work and fly for safety to the hut. 
 Their assailant followed them, and was received with 
 a volley of three muskets, one from the chimney, and 
 the others from the doors. The shots all took effect, 
 and the bear was killed. But this victory was near 
 costing them dear, for having cut the beast in pieces, 
 they cooked the liver and ate it with a keen appetite, 
 which made them all sick. Three of them were very 
 
200 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 
 
 near dying, but recovered with the acquisition of a 
 new skin from head to foot. 
 
 By the beginning of June, they regained sufficient 
 strength to drag their boat to the sea. They were 
 still incommoded by violent storms of snow, hail and 
 rain, which last they had not beheld for a long time. 
 On the 12th, while engaged in their labor, they were 
 interrupted by a huge bear, lean and scraggy, coming 
 in from the broad ocean on a piece of ice, and which 
 they conjectured to have come from Tartary, because 
 they had met with them formerly, at the distance of 
 twenty or thirty leagues from the land in that direction. 
 As they did not expect such an adventure, only the sur- 
 geon had a gun, and De Veer was obliged to quit the 
 men and run to the vessel for more arms. The bear 
 seeing De Veer leave the rest of the company, ran 
 after him, and would have overtaken him if the others 
 had not fired to prevent it. The report of the musket 
 caused the bear to turn his head ; the surgeon loaded 
 and fired a second time. The bear was wounded and 
 began to run away, but being hindered in his flight 
 by great cakes of ice, several other shots were fired at 
 him and he was killed. 
 
 About the middle of June, the weather was fine, 
 and the vessels were set afloat. Barentz wrote a 
 memoir stating the circumstances of their departure 
 from Holland, and all their adventures on the voyage 
 down to their departure from Nova Zembla. This 
 writing he placed in a gun-barrel and hung it in the 
 chimney of the hut, for the information of any one 
 who should afterwards visit the place, and to preserve 
 the knowledge of these events in case they should be 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 201 
 
 lost on their return to Holland. On the 14th of June, 
 1597, the crew all went on board and they set sail, 
 having rigged the pinnace as a consort. 
 
 Barentz had for some time been in a declining state of 
 health. At Icy Cape, Heemskirk enquired of Barentz 
 how he found himself; he replied that he was better, 
 and had hopes of surviving till they reached home. 
 He asked if they had reached Icy Cape, and being 
 answered in the affirmative, he desired to be lifted up 
 that he might behold that promontory once more. For 
 this he had sufficient leisure, as they were here beset 
 with ice for several days. They received such fright- 
 ful shocks from masses of ice that the men gave them- 
 selves up for lost, and took what they believed to be 
 their last farewell of each other. The vessels were 
 severely damaged, and they were obliged to disembark 
 everything on board and haul them on the ice, where 
 they repaired and caulked them. The ice now in- 
 creased, and on the 20th of June Barentz died; another 
 of the crew followed him within a few hours. The 
 death of Barentz was a great loss and much afflicted 
 the men, as he was an expert pilot, and they all had 
 great confidence in him. 
 
 They now continued their navigation, dragging the 
 vessels at times across the ice from one channel to 
 another. Storms and fogs exposed them to perpetual 
 hazards. On the 27th of June they reached a spot on 
 the western coast of Cape Nassau, where sailing along 
 the land they beheld on the ice an innumerable multi- 
 tude of sea-cows. They also observed a flock of birds, 
 of which they killed a dozen. On the 23th, they 
 again disembarked their cargoes upon the ice, expect- 
 
202 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 
 
 ing every moment to see the vessels dashed in pieces 
 by a furious gale which was blowing from the sea. 
 They made tents of their sails on the ice, and lay 
 down to repose from their exhausting fatigue, leaving 
 one man as a sentinel. About midnight they heard 
 the sentinel cry out " Three bears ! three bears ! " 
 At this noise they all started up and ran out with their 
 muskets, but these happened to be charged with only 
 small shot for birds. Nevertheless, the shots checked 
 the approach of the bears, and they had time to load 
 and fire again. One was killed and the other two 
 fled. These returned the next day to the place where 
 the dead bear was lying, and one of them took him by 
 the throat and carried him off to a considerable dis- 
 tance over very rugged ice, where both began to eat 
 him. A musket was fired, which drove them off, and 
 the men going to the place, found that in the short 
 time they were about it, they had already devoured 
 half the body of their comrade. They were amazed 
 at the strength of the bear which had carried him 
 away by so rugged a path, since these four men had 
 great difficulty in lifting the remaining half. 
 
 Two days after, these two bears again approached 
 them on a cake of ice, and appeared disposed to attack 
 the crews, but refrained. A few hours after this, 
 another was seen coming over the firm ice, but he 
 was frightened away by shouting. At dawn the fol- 
 lowing day, another bear came on the drift ice, who 
 plunged into the water and swam toward the crews, 
 but they again set up a loud shouting and drove him 
 off*. About nine in the forenoon the floating ice from 
 the sea struck with such violence against the firm 
 
ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 203 
 
 ice, that the part where the men had retired with 
 their vessels was crushed to pieces, and the vessels 
 were set afloat. This was a great calamity, for all 
 their packages were on the ice, and the greater part 
 fell into the water. Many of them were lost, and the 
 vessels were greatly damaged. Such mishaps con- 
 tinually attended them, and they were constantly un- 
 der the necessity of drawing their vessels over the ice, 
 and of refitting them after hair-breadth escapes from 
 destruction by the ice islands. 
 
 On the llth of July, while on the ice with their 
 vessels, a well fed bear advanced toward them from 
 the water. When within about thirty paces, three 
 muskets were fired at him, and he fell dead. The fat 
 issuing from his wounds covered 4he sea like oil. 
 Some of the crew paddled off to him on a cake of ice, 
 and drew him on the firm ice by a rope. They mea- 
 sured his body and found him eight feet thick. On the 
 16th a bear came towards them from the land. At first 
 they could not discover with certainty what it was, so 
 much did his white skin glitter and resemble the 
 snow. On his coming near they fired at him, and he 
 ran off. The following day some of the crew wished 
 to go to a neighboring island, to see if there were any 
 channel through the ice. On their way they met with 
 the wounded bear lying on the ice. As soon as he 
 heard them coming he fled ; but one of the men hav- 
 ing given him a violent blow with a boat-hook, the 
 iron of which entered his skin, he fell back on his 
 hind paws. The man would have followed up the 
 blow, but the bear broke the hook to pieces, so that he 
 who had given the blow fell backwards in his turn. 
 
204 ARCTIC VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH. 
 
 The others immediately fired on the bear, which caus- 
 ed him to flee. The man who had fallen rose up, ran 
 after him w r ith the stump of the boat-hook and dis- 
 charged several heavy blows on his body. The bear 
 turned back each time, and leaped three times against 
 the man who struck him. After several more shots 
 the animal was killed. 
 
 Their voyage continued to abound with adventures 
 and dangers of this sort, which are related with great 
 simplicity and minutness in the narrative. They 
 proceeded along the coast as well as the ice and wea- 
 ther would permit them, and on the 28th of July, 
 they had the good fortune to meet with two Russian 
 vessels, from whom they obtained a supply of provi- 
 sions. They also learned that three Dutch vessels 
 were lying at Kola on the Russian coast. After a 
 fatiguing navigation, on the 25th of August they arrived 
 at Kilduyn, where in a few days to their great joy they 
 were joined by one of these Dutch ships, commanded 
 by Cornelius Ryp, who had sailed with Heemskirk, and 
 separated from him as above related. He had returned 
 to Holland, and was now again homeward bound from 
 a trading voyage to the White Sea. Heemskirk and 
 his remaining companions embarked with Ryp, and 
 they arrived at Amsterdam on the first day of Novem- 
 ber, 1597. 
 
 The journal of these courageous and persevering 
 adventurers, during their cold, comfortless, dark and 
 dreadful winter, is intensely and painfully interesting. 
 No murmurings escape them in their afflicting and 
 hopeless situation, but such a spirit of simple and 
 true piety, and a tone of such mild and subdued re- 
 
SPANISH AMERICAN COMMERCE. 205 
 
 signation to Divine Providence, breathe through the 
 whole narrative, that it is impossible to read the 
 tale of their sufferings, and contemplate their forlorn 
 and appalling situation in that frightful climate, with- 
 out the deepest emotion. 
 
 SPANISH AMERICAN COMMERCE. 
 
 THE commerce of the Spaniards with their South 
 American colonies, was for a long time carried on across 
 the Isthmus of Darien, to avoid the tedious and dan- 
 gerous passage round Cape Horn. The chief seaport 
 frequented for the purpose on the Atlantic side, was 
 Porto Bello, a place possessing a most admirable har- 
 bor, but a noxious climate. This inconvenience, how- 
 ever, did not prevent Porto Bello from becoming the 
 theatre of the richest commerce that was ever trans- 
 acted upon earth. The gold, silver, and other pro- 
 ductions of Peru and Chili were brought annually to 
 that place from Panama, to be exchanged for the manu- 
 factures of Europe ; and the Spanish galleons, or huge 
 merchant ships, arrived there laden with every article 
 of necessity and luxury. During the trading season 
 Porto Bello, at other times a lonely and deserted spot, 
 became suddenly filled with throngs of people, its har- 
 bor was crowded with ships, and the neighboring 
 fields were covered with droves of mules laden with 
 the precious metals. Instead of poverty, silence and 
 solitude, nothing was to be seen in the streets and 
 squares but bustling multitudes, bales of goods, and 
 chests of treasure. 
 
 xviii. 18 
 
206 SPANISH AMERICAN COMMERCE. 
 
 As soon as the galleons were unloaded, and the Peru- 
 vian merchants with the President of Panama arrived, 
 they proceeded to arrange the business of the fair. 
 For this purpose the deputies of the several parties 
 repaired on board the admiral's ship, where the prices 
 of the different commodities were settled in presence 
 of the commander of the galleons and the President, 
 the one representing the European Spaniards, and the 
 other the Peruvians. The estimate was not adjusted 
 by the intrinsic value of each article, but according to 
 scarcity and demand; and the ability of the agents 
 was shown in forming their combinations so judi- 
 ciously, that the cargo imported from Europe should 
 absorb all the treasure sent from Lima. It was 
 regarded as a bad market when goods were found neg- 
 lected for want of money, or when money was not 
 expended for lack of goods. In the former case, and in 
 that only, the Spanish merchants were permitted to 
 visit the ports on the South Sea, and dispose of their 
 articles ; and in the latter, the Peruvians might make 
 remittances to Spain for purchasers. The prices were 
 no sooner settled than the traffic commenced. This 
 was neither tedious nor difficult ; it was conducted 
 with that simplicity and confidence which accompany 
 extensive dealings. No bale of goods was ever opened 
 by the purchasers, no chest of treasure was examined. 
 Both were received on the credit of the persons to 
 whom they belonged ; and these exchanges were made 
 with so much honesty, that this liberal confidence 
 was never abused. It happened not unfrequently that 
 mistakes were made ; chests of gold were found mixed 
 with those of silver, and articles came to light in the 
 
SPANISH AMERICAN COMMERCE. 207 
 
 bales which were not entered in the invoice ; but all 
 was faithfully and accurately accounted for on the re- 
 turn of the galleons. A single instance of fraud is on 
 record. In the year 1654, all the coined silver brought 
 from Porto Bello to Europe, was found to be adultera- 
 ted by one fifth of alloy ; but the Spanish merchants, 
 with their usual integrity, sustained the whole loss, 
 and indemnified the foreigners by whom they were 
 employed. The fraud was traced to its source ; the 
 treasurer of the mint of Lima, the guilty person, was 
 publicly burnt ; and the reputation of the Peruvian 
 merchants incurred no stain. 
 
 The fair of Porto Bello was limited to forty days on 
 account of the instability of the climate ; after which 
 the galleons returned to Spain by the way of Cuba, 
 often with cargoes of the value of twenty millions of 
 dollars. By this commerce the influx of treasure from 
 America into Spain became enormous, and one would 
 naturally suppose must have rendered this country 
 the richest in the universe. But Spain affords one of 
 the many proofs that no country can be made rich by 
 the precious metals, when industry and enterprise are 
 wanting. Such a flood of treasure led to corruption 
 in the government and indolence in the inhabitants. 
 By the ambitious extravagance of Charles V. and the 
 bigotry and imbecility of Philip II., the nation lost its 
 energies and population and industry declined. The 
 English and Dutch by their superiority in naval 
 power, having acquired such a command of the sea as 
 to cut off all communication between Spain and her 
 colonies, the Spanish court, in order to furnish them 
 with the necessaries of life, and as the only means of 
 
208 SPANISH AMERICAN COMMERCE. 
 
 receiving from them any portion of this treasure, de- 
 parted so far from the usual rigor of its maxims as to 
 open the trade with Peru to the French. Louis XIV. 
 granted the privileges of this lucrative commerce to 
 the merchants of St. Malo, who engaged in it with 
 vigor, and carried it on upon principles very different 
 from those of the Spaniards. They supplied Peru 
 with European commodities at a more moderate price 
 and in liberal quantities. The goods which they im- 
 ported were conveyed to every province of Spanish 
 America in such abundance as had never been seen 
 in any former period ; and if this intercourse had been 
 continued, the exportation of European commodities 
 from Spain must have ceased, and the dependence of 
 the colonies on the mother country would have been 
 at an end. Peremptory orders were therefore issued, 
 prohibiting the admission of foreign vessels into any 
 port of Peru or Chili, while a Spanish squadron was 
 employed to clear the South Sea of all foreign 
 intruders. 
 
 Though Spain obtained relief from one encroach- 
 ment upon her commercial system, on the cessation of 
 the war which was terminated by the peace of Utrecht, 
 she was exposed to another hardly less threatening. 
 As an inducement with Queen Anne, to conclude a 
 peace, which France and Spain desired with equal 
 ardor, Philip V. not only granted to Great Britain 
 the Asiento, or contract for supplying the Spanish 
 colonies with negroes, which had formerly been en- 
 joyed by France, but granted the British the more 
 extraordinary privilege of sending annually to the fair 
 of Porto Bello, a ship of 500 tons, laden with Euro- 
 
SPANISH AMERICAN COMMERCE. 209 
 
 pean commodities. As a result of this contract, which 
 was vested exclusively in the South Sea Company, 
 British factories were established at Carthagena, Pan- 
 ama, Vera Cruz, Buenos Ayres, and other Spanish 
 settlements ; and the company was further permitted 
 to freight in the ports of the Pacific, vessels of 400 
 tons' burthen in order to convey the negroes to all the 
 coasts of Peru, and to bring back the produce in gold 
 and silver. It may be easily understood what use was 
 made of these important advantages by such an enter- 
 prising and commercial people as the English. The 
 contraband trade was carried on with a facility and 
 to an extent unknown in any former period. 
 
 This, however, was not the only effect of the Asiento 
 upon the trade of Spain. The agents of the British 
 South Sea Company, under cover of the importations 
 which they were allowed to make by the annual ship 
 to Porto Bello, poured in their commodities on the 
 American continent without stint or limitation. In- 
 stead of a vessel of 500 tons, as stipulated by the treaty, 
 they usually employed one twice as large. She was 
 accompanied by three or four smaller vessels to supply 
 her when her own cargo was sold out ; and which, 
 anchoring in a neighboring creek, furnished her con- 
 stantly with fresh bales, undisturbed by the inspectors 
 of the fair or the officers of the revenue, who, gained 
 over by liberal bribes, connived at the smuggling. 
 Thus partly by the operations of the British South 
 Sea Company, and partly by the activity of private 
 interlopers, almost the whole trade of Spanish Amer- 
 ica was engrossed by foreigners. The immense com- 
 merce of the galleons, once the pride of Spain and the 
 N 18* 
 
210 ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMMERCE. 
 
 envy of other nations, sunk to nothing, and in 1748 
 the galleons were finally abolished after having been 
 employed upwards of two centuries. 
 
 ENGLISH EASTINDIACOMMEKCE. 
 
 THE successful voyages of Drake, Stephens, Caven- 
 dish, and others, who accomplished a passage to India, 
 some by the way of the South Sea, and others by doub- 
 ling the Cape of Good Hope, gave a stimulus to the en- 
 terprise of the English traders, and in the year 1600, 
 a number of merchants belonging to London formed a 
 company for the purpose of trading to the East Indies. 
 An act of Parliament granted them this exclusive priv- 
 ilege for fifteen years. Such was the origin of the 
 English East India Company, an institution without 
 a parallel in the world ; an association of merchants 
 which dethroned kings, and exercised a sway over a 
 territory equal to half the ancient Roman Empire for 
 wealth and population. 
 
 The first fleet sent out by the company sailed in 
 1601. They visited Achen in Sumatra, which was 
 then a great commercial mart. Thence they pro- 
 ceeded to Bantam in the island of Java, and the 
 Moluccas. They returned to England with a rich 
 lading of cloves, nutmegs, and pepper. This early 
 success determined the company to form settlements 
 in India. In a few years they acquired possession of 
 a part of the Moluccas, which at that time passed for 
 the most desirable territory in the Indies. It was not 
 
ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMMERCE. 211 
 
 long before they became embroiled with the Portuguese 
 and Dutch, but the superior perseverance and enter- 
 prise of the English, enabled them in the end to gain 
 the advantage. In 1686, they purchased a portion of 
 territory on the coast of Coromandel and formed a 
 settlement there. 
 
 But the most important step in the foundation of 
 the British empire in India, was the conquest of the 
 kingdom of Bengal. They had formed a settlement 
 at Calcutta in this territory, with no greater expec- 
 tations than to erect it into a trading factory. But 
 chance, combined with the ambitious spirit and enter- 
 prising temper of the adventurers, opened to them a 
 career of conquest so brilliant and astonishing that the 
 individuals who were the main instruments in the 
 work, had not at the outset the faintest conception of 
 the magnitude and importance of their own achieve- 
 ments. 
 
 A pernicious custom had for some time prevailed in 
 these countries. The governors of all the European 
 settlements claimed the privilege of granting an asylum 
 to such natives as fled to them to avoid oppression or 
 punishment from their own rulers. This was a con- 
 siderable source of wealth to these officers, as they 
 received rewards in return for their protection, and in 
 consequence, they overlooked the danger of this prac- 
 tice of screening fugitives from justice. One of the chief 
 Indian functionaries of Bengal in this manner, took 
 refuge among the English of Calcutta to avoid the 
 punishment with which he was menaced for an act of 
 treachery, and was formally taken under their protec- 
 tion. The Subah of the country, justly resenting this, 
 
212 ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMMERCE. 
 
 marched with an army, took Calcutta, and threw the 
 garrison into a dungeon. In the burning climate of 
 India, and crowded into a narrow space without ven- 
 tilation, the miserable Englishmen endured all the 
 horrors of suffocation. Their afflicting cries touched 
 the hearts of the Hindoos who were keeping guard 
 over them, but the Subah was asleep, and no person 
 in Bengal dared to disturb his slumbers and request 
 an order for the relief of the sufferers. In conse- 
 quence, out of an hundred and fifty men, only twenty- 
 three were found alive the next morning. Such was 
 the tragical affair of what is called the Black Hole of 
 Calcutta. 
 
 Admiral Watson who had just arrived in India with 
 a British fleet, and Colonel Clive who had already dis- 
 tinguished himself in the war with the natives of the 
 Carnatic, took immediate measures to avenge this 
 outrage. They collected the English fugitives who 
 were escaping from place to place, proceeded up the 
 Ganges in December, 1756, retook Calcutta, made 
 themselves masters of several other places, and gained 
 a complete victory over the Subah. A success so 
 rapid appears surprising; but the Subah from his 
 tyrannical behavior had long been detested by his 
 people, and his principal officers sold themselves to the 
 English. He was betrayed at the head of his army, 
 and he fell into the hands of his enemies, who caused 
 him to be strangled in prison. 
 
 The English disposed of the sovereignty to the ring- 
 leader of the conspiracy, who ceded to the company a 
 portion of territory, with a grant of every privilege, 
 exemption and favor, to which they had any preten- 
 
ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMMERCE. 213 
 
 sion. The treasures which the English drew from 
 the province they had acquired, soon enabled them to 
 establish themselves firmly in the country, and in the 
 course of the quarrels which ensued between them 
 and the native princes, they gained conquest after con- 
 quest, and before long saw the mighty Mogul Empire 
 within their grasp. 
 
 In the height of its power the East India Company 
 held the control of a territory in the East, containing 
 a population of more than sixty millions, and pro- 
 ducing a yearly revenue of eighty millions of dol- 
 lars. Their army amounted to 150,000 men, to which 
 may be added a numerous and splendid civil estab- 
 lishment of governors, councillors, judges, diplomatic 
 residents, collectors of revenue, <&c. Their commercial 
 capital in money amounted to fifty millions of dollars, 
 in warehouses to five millions ; in shipping to eighteen 
 millions, and in other shapes to twenty-five millions. 
 Their ships were navigated by a body of seamen 
 amounting to nearly ten thousand, and they gave em- 
 ployment to a population of shipbuilders, carpenters, 
 coopers, ropemakers, blacksmiths, sailmakers, &c., 
 who with their numerous workmen for the last 
 two centuries, formed regular establishments on the 
 banks of the Thames, giving support to no less than 
 fifty thousand persons ; by whose united industry and 
 wealth all those stupendous fabrics have arisen, which 
 in their display and convenience, as docks, ware- 
 houses, and manufactories, contribute in so material a 
 degree to characterize the port of London in its naval 
 and commercial establishments, as the most opulent, 
 extensive, and magnificent that exists in the world. 
 
214 ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMMERCE. 
 
 The amount of commerce carried on by the company, 
 was of course very great, as in addition to the trade 
 between Great Britain and their own dominions, they 
 possessed a monopoly of the British trade to China. 
 Their charter was rene\ved by parliament from time 
 to time, and their privileges underwent various modi- 
 ifications. At length in 1833, when the charter was 
 renewed and extended to the year 1854, the monopoly 
 of the China trade was abolished, and the company 
 was restricted from carrying on any commercial ope- 
 rations on its own account, and was confined alto- 
 gether to the territorial and political management of 
 the vast empire which it has brought beneath its sway. 
 The company's revenue now arises from land-taxes, 
 customs, stamp-duties, subsidies, tributes from native 
 chiefs, and monopolies of salt and opium. The 
 revenue at present exceeds eighty millions of dollars, 
 but their expenses of administration have much aug- 
 mented, and their standing army now amounts to the 
 enormous number of 224,000 men. 
 
 The government of the company is managed by a 
 Board of Directors in London, chosen by a court of 
 proprietors. These directors appoint a Governor Gen- 
 eral of India, and the Governors of the several Pres- 
 idencies, but these appointments are subject to the 
 approval of the crown. All subordinate officers are 
 appointed by the Directors. The affairs of the com- 
 pany are subjected to a species of supervision by a 
 Board of Control, nominated by the King or his cabi- 
 net ; and the President of the board, is, in effect, a Se- 
 cretary of State for the affairs of India. 
 
COMMERCE OF THE NORTH-WEST 
 COAST OF AMERICA. 
 
 CAPTAIN COOK'S third voyage having brought to 
 light several countries of which little or nothing was 
 previously known, several enterprising persons in 
 England, allured by the hopes of a profitable traffic 
 with the natives of the north-west coast of America, 
 engaged in voyages to that quarter as early as the 
 year 1784. The people of the United States, then 
 just recovering from the entire prostration of their 
 
216 COMMERCE OF THE NORTH-WEST COAST. 
 
 commerce, by the revolutionary war, and possessing 
 more enterprize than money, were not slow in perceiv- 
 ing the benefits likely to result from a participation in 
 this branch of trade, where industry and perseverance 
 could be substituted for capitol. 
 
 In 1787 two vessels were fitted out at Boston, the 
 ship Columbia of 300 tons, and the sloop Washington 
 of 100, the former commanded by John Kendrick,^ and 
 the latter by Eobert Gray, since known as the first nav- 
 igator who entered the Columbia river. These vessels 
 were owned by an association of Boston merchants, 
 and having been furnished with sea-letters under the 
 authority of Congress, and passports from the authori- 
 ties of the State of Massachusetts, they sailed from 
 Boston on the 30th of September, 1787. Each vessel 
 took out for distribution among the natives, a number 
 of medals struck for the purpose, bearing on one side 
 the figure of a ship and a sloop under sail, with the 
 inscription, " Columbia and Washington, commanded 
 ly J. Kendrick" and on the reverse, " Fitted out at 
 Boston, N. America, for the Pacific Ocean, ly J. Bar- 
 rell, S. Brown, C. Bulfinch, J. Darby, C. Hatch, J. 
 M. Pintard. 1787." 
 
 They both arrived safely on the north-west coast, 
 where they prosecuted their trade, and were shortly fol- 
 lowed by other vessels. The officers entrusted with the 
 management of these voyages, soon acquired the ne- 
 cessary local knowledge to maintain a competition with 
 
 * It is remarkable that this adventurous navigator was after- 
 wards killed, like Captain Cook, at Owhyhee, by the natives. 
 This happened in 1793. 
 
COMMERCE OF THE NORTH-WEST COAST. 217 
 
 the traders of other nations, mostly English, who had 
 preceded them. The habits and ordinary pursuits 
 of the New Englanders, qualified them in a peculiar 
 manner for carrying on this trade, and the embarrassed 
 state of European politics which presently followed, 
 combined with other circumstances, gave them in the 
 course of a few years, almost a monopoly of the most 
 profitable part of it. As early as 1801, there were" six- 
 teen ships on this coast, engaged in the fur trade, fif- 
 teen of which were American, and one English. 
 Upwards of 18,000 sea-otter skins, a most valuable 
 fur, in addition to other furs, were collected for the 
 China market in that year, by the American vessels 
 alone. Of the profits of this trade we may form some 
 estimate, from the fact that in a single instance, the 
 proceeds of an investment of 9000 dollars, in a voyage 
 of about eight months, were sold in China for 60,000 
 dollars. 
 
 From this period, however, the trade began to de- 
 cline, the sea-otter which is the principal object of 
 pursuit, having become scarce, in consequence of the 
 impolitic system pursued by the Russians, as well as 
 by the natives, who destroy indiscriminately the old 
 and the young of this animal, which will probably in 
 a few years be as scarce on the American coast, as it 
 now is on that of Kamtschatka, and among the Aleu- 
 tian Islands, where they abounded when first discov- 
 ered by the Russians. The trade to the north-west 
 coast was then combined with that to the Sandwich 
 Islands, which was carried on to a considerable extent 
 in sandal-wood. These vessels were usually about 
 three years in completing a voyage. After trading 
 xvin. 19 
 
218 COMMERCE OF THE NORTH-WEST COAST. 
 
 with the natives on the coast for furs, by exchanging 
 with them such parts of the cargoes as were adapted to 
 the wants, or suited to the fancy of these people, the 
 ships resorted to the Sandwich Islands, where a cargo 
 of sandal-wood was prepared, with which, and their 
 furs, they proceeded to Canton, and returned to the 
 United States with cargoes of teas, &c. The north- 
 west coast fur trade is no longer carried on by Ameri- 
 can vessels, which have been completely excluded 
 from that quarter, by the prohibitory measures of the 
 Russians, and the activity of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany. 
 
 The American posts west of the Rocky Mountains 
 are now few and small. Nearly all their furs are 
 procured directly by their own hunting and trapping, 
 as they trade but little with the Indians, whom the 
 agents of the Hudson's Bay Company take care to 
 keep in a state of hostility towards them. The hunt- 
 ers and trappers who remain constantly in that coun- 
 try, are about three or four hundred in number, most 
 of them whites. In the summer of each year they 
 repair, carrying with them furs on pack-horses, or on 
 their backs, to certain places of rendezvous, where 
 they meet the caravans from the United States, and 
 the trade is then conducted without the use of money, 
 each article, however, bearing a nominal money value. 
 These conventional rates are sometimes curious. 
 Among the prices current, we find whisky quoted at 
 three dollars a pint ; tobacco at five dollars a pound ; 
 gunpowder at six dollars a pint ; dogs for eating at 
 fifteen dollars each. The principal places for rendez- 
 vous are on Green River, a branch of the Colorado, at 
 
COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 
 
 219 
 
 the foot of the Rocky Mountains on the western side, 
 and Pierre's Hole, a valley about a hundred miles 
 north of this, from which issues one of the eastern 
 head waters of the Oregon. Both these places 
 are near the sources of a branch of the Platte, along 
 which lies the route of the caravans to and from Mis- 
 souri. 
 
 COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 
 
 THE original dwelling of the human race, as is 
 well known, was in the mild and fertile regions 
 
220 COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 
 
 of the east. The career of human improvement 
 also began in this quarter ; and from the remains of 
 sciences which were anciently cultivated in India, we 
 may conclude it to be one of the first countries in 
 which was made any considerable progress in that 
 career. The wisdom of the East was early celebrated, 
 and its productions were accordingly in request among 
 distant nations. The intercourse, however, between 
 different countries was, as we have already remarked, 
 carried on, at first, entirely by land. As the people of 
 the east appear soon to have acquired dominion over 
 the useful animals, they could early undertake the long 
 and toilsome journeys which it was necessary to make 
 in order to maintain this intercourse ; and by the pro- 
 vident bounty of Heaven they were furnished with a 
 beast of burthen, without whose aid it would have 
 been impossible to accomplish them. The Camel, by 
 its persevering strength, by its moderation in the use 
 of food, and the singularity of its internal structure, 
 which enables it to lay in a stock of water for several 
 days, put it in their power to convey bulky commodi- 
 ties through those deserts, which must be crossed 
 by all who travel from any of the countries west of the 
 Euphrates towards India. 
 
 Trade was carried on in this manner, particularly 
 by the nations near the Red Sea, from the earliest 
 period of history. Distant journeys, however, would 
 be undertaken at first only occasionally, and by a few 
 adventurers. But by degrees, from attention to their 
 mutual safety and comfort, numerous bodies of mer- 
 chants assembled at stated times, and forming a tem- 
 porary association, known afterwards by the name of 
 
COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 221 
 
 a caravan, governed by officers of their own choice, 
 and subject to regulations of which experience had 
 taught them the utility, they performed journeys of 
 such extent and duration as appear astonishing to 
 people not accustomed to this mode of carrying on 
 commerce. 
 
 When the Romans had extended their conquests so 
 far that the Euphrates became the eastern limit of 
 their empire, they found an intercourse established 
 between the east and the west, and as by these 
 means they received an additional supply of luxuries 
 for which they had acquired the highest relish, it 
 became an object of their policy to protect and encour- 
 age it. As the caravans were often molested by the 
 Parthians who had acquired possession of all the pro- 
 vinces between the Caspian Sea and that portion of 
 Tartary which borders on China, the Romans endea- 
 vored to render this intercourse more secure by a 
 negotiation with the Emperor of China. Of this sin- 
 gular transaction there is indeed no vestige in the 
 Greek or Roman writers; our knowledge of it is 
 derived entirely from the Chinese historians, by whom 
 we are informed that An-toun, the king of the people 
 of the Western Ocean, who must have been Marcus 
 Antoninus, sent an embassy with this view to Oun-ti, 
 who reigned over China in the 166th year of the 
 Christian era. The success of this attempt is not 
 known. 
 
 The Mohammedan religion, which spread with 
 
 amazing rapidity over Asia and Africa, contributed 
 
 greatly toward the increase of commercial intercourse 
 
 by land in both these quarters of the globe, and gave 
 
 19* 
 
222 COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 
 
 it additional vigor by mingling with it a new principle of 
 activity, and by directing it to a common centre. Mo- 
 hammed enjoined all his followers to visit once in their 
 lifetime the Caaba, or square building in the temple of 
 Mecca, the object, from time immemorial, of veneration 
 among his countrymen. In obedience to this precept, 
 caravans of pilgrims assembled annually in every coun- 
 try where the Mohammedan faith was established. 
 From the shores of the Atlantic on one hand, and from 
 the most remote regions of the east on the other, the 
 votaries of the prophet advanced to Mecca. The numer- 
 ous camels of each caravan were loaded with valuable 
 merchandize, and the holy city was crowded not only 
 with zealous devotees, but with opulent merchants. 
 During their stay there, the fair of Mecca was one of 
 the greatest on the face of the earth. Mercantile 
 transactions were carried on to an immense extent, of 
 which, the despatch, the silence, the mutual confidence 
 and good faith in conducting them, are a most une- 
 quivocal proof. The caravans returned to the west, 
 loaded with the muslins and calicoes of Bengal and 
 the Deccan, the shawls of Cashmere, the pepper of 
 Malabar, the diamonds of Golconda, the pearls of 
 Bahrein, the cinnamon of Ceylon, the spices of the 
 Moluccas, and an immense number of other Indian 
 commodities. 
 
 The caravans were regularly organized by govern- 
 ment, and placed under the direction of officers of high 
 rank, who assigned to the different travellers their 
 proper place in the long line of march, and took care 
 that good order was maintained. These regulations 
 continue at the present day, although the Mecca cara- 
 
COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 223 
 
 vans have much declined in numbers. In modern times 
 60,000 men and 20,000 camels sometimes constitute 
 the Hadgi or pilgrim caravan. But this amount is 
 insignificant compared with the numbers that flocked 
 to the holy city in other ages. It is related that when 
 the mother of Matassem V Illah, the last of the 
 Abbassides, performed her pilgrimage in the year 
 1254, her caravan contained 120,000 camels. The 
 route towards Mecca lies mostly through sandy deserts 
 or barren uninhabited wilds which seldom afford any 
 subsistence, and where no water can be found, in con- 
 sequence of which, the pilgrims suffer great hard- 
 ships. Yet the pilgrimage has often been performed 
 with immense splendor and luxury. The caliph 
 Mahadi expended in one of these expeditions six mil- 
 lions of dinars of gold. The following passage from 
 Moore's Lalla Rookh alludes to this circumstance. 
 
 Ne'er did the march of Mahadi display 
 Such pomp before, not e'en when on his way 
 To Mecca's temple ; when both land and sea 
 Were spoil'd to feed the pilgrim's luxury ; 
 When round him, 'mid the burning sands, he saw 
 Fruits of the north in icy freshness thaw ; 
 And cooFd his thirsty lip beneath the glow 
 Of Mecca's sun, with urns of Persian snow. 
 
 At the present day, the Syrian caravan, as it is 
 called, although it first starts from Turkey, is the 
 largest and best regulated; yet according to Burck- 
 hardt, who saw it at Mecca in 1814, it consisted of no 
 more than 15,000 camels. This caravan sets out from 
 Constantinople and collects pilgrims and traders all 
 
224 COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 
 
 through Anatolia and Syria. During this part of the 
 route, great care is taken for the safety and comfort of 
 the travellers ; the armed forces of the different pashas 
 and local governors escort them from town to town, 
 and the magnificence of former sultans has provided 
 caravanserais or inns, and fountains of water by the 
 road-side. On arriving at Damascus, the caravan is 
 under the protection of the pasha of that district, who 
 derives both honor and profit from the charge. At 
 this pleasant city it generally makes a stay of three or 
 four weeks. Here, also, the camels are changed, the 
 Anatolian camel not being considered fit for the 
 remainder of the journey. When all is ready, the 
 pasha of Damascus or one of his chief officers, puts 
 himself at the head of the caravan, which he accom- 
 panies to Mecca. The signal for encamping and 
 starting, is the firing of a musket. On its route across 
 the desert, where marauding Arabs are always on the 
 lookout, a troop of horse rides in front, and another in 
 the rear to bring up stragglers. The different parties 
 of travellers who are distingushed by their provinces 
 or towns, keep close together, and each party knows 
 its proper station. The usual arrangement of the 
 travellers is to contract with a mekoivem, a man who 
 speculates in the furnishing of animals and provisions, 
 and who takes upon himself all the trouble and 
 expense of providing everything for a stipulated sum. 
 The Egyptian pilgrim caravan, which starts from 
 Cairo, is regulated in much the same manner; but it 
 is not so large, and its route by the head of the Eed 
 Sea, and through a country much infested by the 
 Bedoween Arabs, and where water is scarce, is much 
 
COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 225 
 
 more dangerous. The Persian caravan to Mecca, 
 which formerly proceeded through Mesopotamia and 
 Syria, and the Moorish caravan from Morocco, have 
 both become very irregular, though many Persians, 
 Moors and Negroes find their way to Jiddu, the port 
 of Mecca, by sea. Considerable troops of Moham- 
 medan Indians also visit Mecca. 
 
 As the journeys of the caravans which are purely 
 commercial, do not commence at stated seasons, and 
 their routes vary according to the convenience or fancy 
 of the merchants of whom they are composed, a 
 description cannot be given of them with any great 
 degree of accuracy. But we know that the circulation 
 of eastern commodities by these caravans is very 
 extensive. The same intercourse which was anciently 
 kept up by the provinces in the north-east of Asia, with 
 Hindostan and China, still subsists. Among all the 
 numerous tribes of Tartars, even of those which retain 
 their pastoral manners in the greatest purity, the 
 demand for the productions of these two countries is 
 very great. In order to supply them with these, car- 
 avans set out annually from Boghar, Samarcand, Thi- 
 bet, and several other places, and return with large 
 cargoes of Indian and Chinese goods. But the trade 
 carried on between Russia and China in this part of 
 Asia, is by far the most extensive and best known. 
 Some connection of this kind, it is probable, was kept 
 up between these from an early period, but it increased 
 greatly after the interior parts of Russia were ren- 
 dered more accessible by the conquests of Zingis 
 Khan and Tamerlane. The commercial nations of 
 Europe were so well acquainted with the mode of car- 
 o 
 
226 COMMERCE BY CAKAVANS. 
 
 rymg on this trade, that soon after the Portuguese had 
 opened the communication with the east by the Cape 
 of Good Hope, an attempt was made in order to 
 diminish the advantages which they derived from this 
 discovery, to prevail on the Russians to convey Indian 
 and Chinese commodities through the whole extent of 
 their empire, partly by land-carriages and partly by 
 means of navigable rivers, to some port on the Baltic, 
 from which they might be distributed through every part 
 of Europe. This scheme, too great for the monarch 
 then on the throne of Russia to carry into execution, 
 was rendered practicable by the conquests of Ivan 
 Basilowitz, and the genius of Peter the Great. 
 Though the capitals of the two empires were situated 
 at the distance of 6,378 miles from each other, and the 
 route lay for above 400 miles through an uninhabited 
 desert, caravans travelled from one to the other. 
 
 But though it had been stipulated when this inter- 
 course was established, that the number of persons in 
 each caravan should not exceed two hundred, and 
 though they were shut up \vithin the walls of a cara- 
 vanserai during the short time they remained at Pekin, 
 and were allowed to deal only with a few merchants to 
 whom a monopoly of the trade had been granted, yet 
 the jealous vigilance with which the Chinese govern- 
 ment excludes foreigners from a free intercourse with 
 its subjects, was alarmed, and the admission of the 
 Russian caravans into the empire, was soon prohibited. 
 After various negotiations, an expedient was at length 
 devised, by which the advantages of mutual commerce 
 were secured, without infringing the cautious arrange- 
 ments of Chinese policy. On the boundary of the two 
 
COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 227 
 
 empires, two small towns were built almost contiguous, 
 the one inhabited by Russians, and the other by Chi- 
 nese. To these, all the marketable productions of 
 their respective countries, were brought by the subjects 
 of each empire ; and the furs, the linen and woollen 
 cloth, the leather, glass, &c., of Russia, were ex- 
 changed for the silk, cotton, tea, rice, toys, &c., of 
 China. 
 
 The Moors of Africa trade by caravans, both with 
 the central parts of that continent and with Asia. 
 Seven months before the feast in commemoration of 
 the birth of Mohammed, pilgrims from every quarter 
 assemble at Fez in order to join the caravan which 
 proceeds at that season to Mecca. Fez is the most 
 commercial city in the whole empire, and abounds 
 with provisions of every description ; the travellers, 
 therefore, furnish themselves at this place, with a suf- 
 ficient supply of every article to last till their arrival 
 at Tripoli or Tunis. This grand caravan is always 
 accompaniad by many others, bound for the Barbary 
 States, Cairo, and other places. The merchants who 
 go upon these expeditions carry ready money, haicks 
 and slippers, the manufacture of Morocco, and dispose 
 of them to the Arabs and country people in the neigh- 
 borhood of Algiers and Tunis. The caravan is put. in 
 motion at sunrise, stops at noon to dine, and encamps 
 about four in the afternoon. The course they take 
 is through the interior of the country, leaving Trem- 
 ccen, Algiers and Tunis to the left, but some of 
 them make excursions to the two latter places, and 
 afterwards join the main body. By these means they 
 are enabled to obtain a supply of fresh provisions for 
 
228 COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 
 
 themselves and beasts, and to sell to the Arabs haicko, 
 slippers and old caps, for which they usually receive 
 a good price, and the profits enable them to make 
 advantageous purchases at Mecca, Alexandria and 
 Cairo. 
 
 Upon their arrival, after a journey of two months and 
 a half, at that part of the seacoast where the tower of 
 Salines is situated, near Tripoli, they rest tea days. At 
 this place all the travellers supply themselves with forty 
 or fifty days' provisions, which is generally sufficient to 
 support them till they reach Alexandria or Cairo ; 
 on their return, they purchase in this neighborhood a 
 large number of mules which they afterwards sell in 
 Morocco at an advance of three or four hundred per 
 cent. At Alexandria or Cairo they furnish themselves 
 with provisions for the remainder of the journey which 
 requires altogether nearly seven months to accomplish. 
 The traders commonly do very well. By purchasing 
 goods at one place and selling them at another, they 
 make upon each sale a profit of ten per cent. 
 
 The Arabs from Fez to Egypt, though a rude class 
 of people, are warmly attached to their religion, and 
 on that account always give the travellers a friendly 
 reception, furnishing them with barley, butter, eggs, 
 mutton, beef, &c. But beyond this region, the route 
 is not so easy, as the Arabs, instead of being the ben- 
 efactors, frequently become the plunderers of the car- 
 avans. On such occasions, they spare nothing, and 
 leave the travellers not so much as the necessaries of 
 life ; particularly if they refuse the contributions which 
 they usually demand for permitting the caravan to pass 
 peaceably through the country. At Mecca, the traders 
 
COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 229 
 
 purchase muslins, silks, otto of rose, amber, musk, &c. 
 The value of the merchandize imported into Africa by 
 one of these caravans, has been computed at two mil- 
 lions of dollars. 
 
 The caravans for the interior of Africa, are not so 
 large as that of Mecca. Some of them set out from 
 the city of Morocco, and others from Tarudant, Fez 
 and Tetuan. They proceed to Timbuctoo, where 
 there are some merchants of Morocco established for 
 the purpose of carrying on a trade with Guinea, where 
 they traffic for slaves, ivory, gold dust, &c. There 
 is great danger in passing the deserts, as the Arabs 
 plunder the caravans, or levy "black mail" upon 
 them. The Arabs of the towns purchase of them blue 
 cloths, daggers, looking-glasses, &c., and generally 
 pay ostrich feathers in return; this trade is very 
 profitable. The chief articles carried to Timbuctoo 
 are tobacco and salt. 
 
 The caravan trade between the United States and 
 the northern provinces of Mexico, has, within a few 
 years, grown into importance. This commerce arose 
 from small beginnings, and was originally the result of 
 accident rather than of any organized plan for a com- 
 mercial establishment. The intercourse between the 
 western settlements of the United States and New 
 Mexico, was opened about the year 1812, previously 
 to which date, but a single individual, excepting Indi- 
 ans, had crossed the desert plains between our western 
 boundaries and Santa Fe. The discoveries of Cap- 
 tain Pike drew the attention of the western people to 
 this quarter, and in 1812, an expedition consisting of 
 about a dozen persons, set out for New Mexico. Fol- 
 XVIIL 20 
 
230 COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 
 
 lowing the directions given by Pike, they reached 
 Santa Fe in safety. It was well known that the 
 Spanish government had placed the most jealous 
 restrictions upon foreign commerce, and the inter- 
 course of foreigners with their colonies. But these 
 traders imagined that the revolt of Hidalgo had estab- 
 lished the independence of Mexico, and that the com- 
 mercial restrictions were removed. Unfortunately for 
 them, a counter-revolution had re-established the royal 
 authority, Hidalgo was put to death, and all foreigners, 
 but particularly Americans, were viewed with aug- 
 mented suspicion. The consequence was, that they 
 were immediately arrested as spies, their goods were 
 confiscated, and they were kept in prison for nine 
 years, when the revolt of the Mexicans under Iturbide 
 caused them to be set at liberty. 
 
 The accounts which they promulgated respecting 
 the country, were such, that new expeditions were 
 immediately set on foot, and in 1821 Santa Fe was 
 visited by two small caravans of traders who made 
 large profits. Common calicoes, and even coarse 
 unbleached cottons, sold for two and three dollars a 
 yard. These enormous gains had the natural effect 
 of increasing the number of traders in that quarter, 
 and in the following year, two larger caravans were 
 equipped. One of these met with such adventures on 
 the route, that we shall give a short account of them. 
 This party was commanded by Captain Becknell, who 
 being familiar with travelling in the woods, and anx- 
 ious to avoid the circuitous route of the Upper Arkan- 
 sas, which the others had pursued, resolved to steer 
 more directly for Santa Fe, entertaining little or no 
 
COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 231 
 
 suspicion of the terrible hardships and sufferings whicli 
 awaited his party in their journey across the pathless 
 desert. With no other guide but the stars, and per- 
 haps a pocket compass, they struck into the arid plains 
 which extended far and wide before them to the Cin- 
 namon River. No water was found on this route, 
 and they had only a scanty supply in their canteens, 
 which was exhausted after two or three days' march. 
 Then began their sufferings, which increased soon to 
 such a degree that both men and beasts seemed driven 
 to distraction. The wretched sufferers were reduced to 
 the necessity of killing their dogs, and cutting off the 
 ears of their mules, in the vain hope of assuaging their 
 burning thirst with the hot blood. This only served 
 to irritate their parched throats and madden them with 
 more intense suffering. Frantic with despair in pros- 
 pect of the horrible death which now stared them in 
 the face, they scattered in every direction in search of 
 water, but without success. 
 
 The deceptive glimmer of the mirage, which is 
 common in that dry region, frequently tantalized them 
 with the prospect of lakes and ponds of water ; and 
 they had wandered nearly as far as the banks of the 
 Cinnamon without meeting with a drop of that pre- 
 cious element on which their existence depended. 
 Totally ignorant of where they were, they resolved to 
 retrace their steps to the point where they had quitted 
 the Arkansas. But, weakened and emaciated by suf- 
 fering, they were now no longer equal to the task, and 
 they would all undoubtedly have perished in the 
 desert, had not some of the party accidentally dis- 
 covered a buffalo fresh from the river's side, and with 
 
232 COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 
 
 a stomach distended with water, just as the unfortu- 
 nate sufferers were on the point of yielding to despair. 
 The animal was immediately despatched, and an 
 invigorating draught taken from his stomach. One 
 of the party relates that nothing which ever passed his 
 lips tasted so delicious as his first draught of that filthy 
 beverage. 
 
 This unexpected and providential relief enabled 
 some of the strongest men of the party to reach the 
 river, where they filled their canteens and hurried 
 back to the assistance of their comrades, many of 
 whom were found prostrate on the ground, and inca- 
 pable of further exertion. By degrees, however, they 
 were all enabled to resume their journey ; and follow- 
 ing the course of the Arkansas for several days, 
 thereby avoiding the desert regions which had occa- 
 sioned them so much suffering, they succeeded in 
 reaching Taos, a place sixty or seventy miles north of 
 Santa Fe, without further difficulty. Although trav- 
 ellers have since suffered severely from thirst upon the 
 same- desert, yet as the country has become better 
 known, no incidents of so serious a character as the 
 above, have since happened. 
 
 The regular trade to Santa Fe may be said to have 
 commenced in the year 1822. The next important 
 point in its history is the introduction of wagons into 
 the caravans. The first attempt was made in 1824, 
 by a company of traders, about eighty in number. 
 Along with the pack-mules employed by this com- 
 pany, were twenty-five wheel carriages. This caravan 
 reached Santa Fe with less difficulty than might have 
 been expected from a first experiment of this nature. 
 
COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 233 
 
 The route appears to have presented fewer obstacles 
 than any ordinary road of equal length in the United 
 States. But it was not until several years after this 
 that adventurers with large capital began to embark 
 in the trade. The early traders having but seldom 
 experienced any molestation from the Indians, gene- 
 rally crossed the plains in detached bands, each indi- 
 vidual rarely carrying more than two or three hundred 
 dollars' worth of stock. This peaceful season, how- 
 ever, did not continue long ; and it is probable that 
 the hostilities of the savages were provoked by the 
 aggressions of the traders, who did not scruple some- 
 times to attack certain tribes or individuals in revenge 
 for outrages in times past. 
 
 Since the commencement of this trade, the return- 
 ing parties have performed their journeys across the 
 plains with the proceeds of their enterprise, partly in 
 specie, and partly in furs. Occasionally, straggling 
 bands have been attacked by marauding Indians, but 
 if well armed, and of resolute spirit, they find little 
 difficulty in persuading the savages to let them pass 
 unmolested. The Indians are always willing to com- 
 promise where they find they cannot rob without 
 losing the lives of their warriors, which they hardly 
 ever risk, unless for revenge, or in open warfare. 
 
 The established point of departure for the caravans 
 is the town of Independence in Missouri, about twelve 
 miles from the Indian frontier, and two or three miles 
 south of the river. They commonly begin their 
 march in May. The provisions which they carry 
 consist of flour, bacon, coffee, sugar, salt and biscuit ; 
 the numerous herds of buffalo which they encounter 
 20* 
 
234 COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 
 
 in the course of their journey, affording them an ample 
 store of meat. Each wagon is drawn by eight mules 
 or oxen, the former being preferred to horses., Oxen 
 have been found to retain their strength far beyond 
 the mules in these expeditions, especially when the 
 way lies through muddy and sandy places ; yet they 
 fail when the grass becomes dry and short, and on 
 this account, the general preference is given to the 
 mule. It is usual for the traders first to move off in 
 detached parties, till they reach Council Grove, about 
 ten days' journey distant. At this point of rendezvous 
 they halt to organize a general caravan for mutual aid 
 and defence. During the first hundred miles, more 
 trouble is experienced from the straying of cattle, and 
 from negligence in looking after them, than at any 
 subsequent time, the frequent alarms of the Indians 
 producing greater vigilance. After leaving Council 
 Grove, not a house nor even an Indian wigwam is to 
 be seen. 
 
 A caravan sometimes numbers upwards of two hun- 
 dred wagons. A cornmander-in-chief is appointed, 
 with lieutenants to the several divisions. The arms 
 are rifles and a few field-pieces, of which latter the 
 savages have a great terror. Buffaloes and Indians 
 are met with in the same regions, but the former 
 are much the more welcome strangers of the two. 
 Sometimes the adventurers encounter a grizzly bear, 
 but it does not appear that this animal, ferocious as he 
 has been represented, often attempts to attack even the 
 stragglers of a caravan. Since 1831, few or none of 
 the difficulties and dangers which once attended this 
 trade, have been experienced. No traders have been 
 
COMMERCE BY CARAVANS. 235 
 
 killed by the savages on the regular route, and hut 
 few animals have been stolen from the caravans. 
 The rates of insurance upon adventures of this kind, 
 should be hardly as high as from the United States to 
 Liverpool. 
 
 The following are the statistics of the Santa Fe 
 caravan trade for ten years. 
 
 Value of Goods Exported. Wagons. Men. 
 
 1833 . . . $180,000 ... 105 ... 185 
 
 1834 . . . 150,000 ... 80 ... 160 
 
 1835 . . . 140,000 ... 75 ... 140 
 
 1836 . . . 130,000 ... 70 ... 135 
 
 1837 . . . 150,000 ... 80 ... 160 
 
 1838 . . . 90,000 ... 50 ... 100 
 
 1839 . . . 250,000 ... 130 ... 250 
 
 1840 . . . 50,000 ... 30 ... 60 
 
 1841 . . . 150,000 ... 60 ... 100 
 
 1842 . . . 160,000 ... 70 ... 120 
 
 1843 . . 450,000 ... 230 . 350 
 
MINING. 
 
 THE art of mining seems to have been known to the 
 ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Gold and silver were 
 abundant in those days. An alloy of copper and tin 
 formed the armor and weapons of the Greeks, although 
 iron was not unknown among them, and of this metal 
 the weapons of the Romans were formed. These 
 facts, however, do not imply any great knowledge of 
 the art of mining, properly so called, as it is well known 
 that metalliferous deposites are often found near the 
 surface, as gold and copper, frequently in a state of 
 
MINING. 237 
 
 great purity ; and in early ages when they had been 
 so little sought for by the miners, these superficial 
 deposites must have been much more abundant than 
 at present, and probably furnished a large proportion 
 of the metallic produce of those times. Most of the 
 mines of antiquity were probably of a similar nature 
 to the stream-works of Cornwall ; and it appears from 
 Strabo, that the Phenicians used to trade to that place 
 for tin and lead. 
 
 In early times the demand for the metals could not 
 have been very great ; they were applied chiefly to the 
 manufacture of instruments of luxury or war, so that 
 the quantity found near the surface was in all proba- 
 bility fully adequate, leaving but little inducement for 
 deeper and more laborious research. There is, how- 
 ever, evidence to show that operations similar to those 
 of modern mining, were carried on by the nations of an- 
 tiquity. Herodotus states that a mountain in the 
 island of Thasos was completely burrowed by the 
 Phenicians in their search for the precious metals ; and 
 the curious fragment of Agatharchides, preserved in 
 Diodoms, shows that the art of forming shafts and 
 passages for exploring the mines and procuring metals, 
 was well known in Egypt. The silver mines of 
 Laurium, in Attica, were worked by the Athenians as 
 early as the fourth century before Christ. Under the 
 Romans, the quicksilver mines of Almaden, in Spain, 
 were extensively wrought. 
 
 The tin of Cornwall was undoubtedly the first metal 
 sought after in Britain ; and the ores of tin are still 
 found there at various depths. After the processes 
 for finding and separating metallic ores from alluvial 
 
238 
 
 MINING. 
 
 matter in which they were casually mixed, the next 
 step was to procure them by digging out the veins 
 themselves and following them into the solid rocks in 
 which they are formed. At first, this could only have 
 been done where, by the elevation of the mountains, it 
 was possible to work high enough for the waters to 
 discharge themselves by conduits or adits from the 
 works, and where the rock was not too hard to yield 
 to tools rudely formed, or perhaps to the agency of 
 fire. It was not till machines were applied to pump 
 the waters, that the metals could be followed to any 
 considerable depth, and not until gunpowder had fur- 
 nished the means of splitting the hardest rock, that 
 man was enabled to penetrate the strata of every 
 description that opposed his progress. 
 
 These inventions, therefore, form most important 
 epochs in the history of mining; for since man- 
 kind have called in the assistance of such powerful 
 agents, neither the influx of constantly flowing water, 
 nor the barriers which the hardest rock can present, 
 are obstacles in the way of the miner, where rich and 
 productive mines of ore tempt the pursuit. The first 
 important era was the period in which the application 
 of gunpowder to the purposes of mining took place, 
 which happened in Hungary or Germany about the 
 year 1620, and was first introduced into England at 
 the copper-mine of Ecton in Staffordshire, about 1670, 
 by some German miners. There are many mines which 
 could not possibly have been worked without the aid of 
 gunpowder, and until it was used, subterranean opera- 
 tions must have been difficult and very uncertain. The 
 hammer and wedges were probably the first instru- 
 
MINING. 239 
 
 ments employed for splitting rocks, and these were 
 followed by the pick, which is used both as a hammer 
 and a wedge. Many tools of oak have been occasion- 
 ally met with, which, according to the traditions of the 
 Cornish miners, were used by the Saxons or Danes. 
 Wedges of dry wood were used by driving them into 
 clefts of the rock, and then wetting them so as to cause 
 them to swell, and thus, by repeated similar insertions, 
 to force the rock asunder. 
 
 The means employed for raising or throwing up the 
 ores and waste stuff to the surface, were at first as 
 rude as the other operations of mining. The wind- 
 lass and bucket may be reckoned an improvement 
 which took place in a later stage of mining, as simple 
 a thing as it certainly is : it is now in a great measure 
 superseded by more effective machinery. In South 
 America the windlass is even yet hardly known, and 
 the ores are either brought up by Indians, or where 
 the situation admits of sloping roads being made to the 
 bottom of the mine, are conveyed to the surface on the 
 backs of mules. When mines were worked deep, the 
 labor of raising the water which was constantly col- 
 lecting, became too great for mere manual exertion, 
 and hydraulic machines were employed for the pur- 
 pose. The German miners seem to have had the 
 merit of this invention, yet it remains in the original 
 rude state in that country. The English miners have 
 improved the pump-work and water engines to a high 
 degree of perfection ; and there are single mines in 
 England which discharge as much water as the pumps 
 of a whole province of German mines. The invention 
 of the steam-engine gave to the miner a power capable 
 
240 MINING. 
 
 of universal application, and of an effect that added, as 
 it were, new regions of subterranean country to his con- 
 trol. Depths hitherto unattainable are now placed at 
 his command, and no limit can be assigned to his 
 exertion but that of the expense compared with the 
 value of the produce. 
 
 The miner's object, in his first operations is to get 
 at some shoot or branch of ore as quickly as possible. 
 As soon, therefore, as indications of a vein of metal are 
 perceived on the surface, the most promising spot is 
 chosen for the commencement of a shaft, which is 
 either sunk upon the vein so as to follow its dip and 
 underlay, or otherwise is carried down perpendicularly 
 from some spot on the side to which it dips, so as to 
 intersect it at a given depth, and this is usually called 
 an underlayer. As water is commonly soon met with 
 in such quantities as to impede the workmen, means 
 for removing it must be provided. Where the eleva- 
 tion of the ground will admit of an adit, or water- 
 level being made, this is usually first put in practice. 
 Where the shaft becomes deeper than the adit, steam- 
 engines to draw out the w r ater are erected, or overshot 
 wheels, when streams to drive them can be obtained ; 
 these engines are employed to work pumps. 
 
 As soon as the shaft is sunk sufficiently deep, and 
 it becomes desirable to pursue the work horizontally, 
 the shaft is suspended for a time, and a level opening 
 is commenced on each side of it ; this is usually con- 
 tiued in two opposite directions upon the course of the 
 vein. The ends of this level being driven out of the 
 way of the shaft, sinking may be again undertaken, 
 and continued until it is proper to drive another level ; 
 
MINING. 
 
 241 
 
 and thus a succession of these galleries or drifts are 
 opened under each other, and the vein is divided into 
 parallel portions which are left to be worked for the 
 ore contained in them, and which portions are called 
 backs. New openings to the surface from these levels 
 are afterwards made by sinking more shafts at proper 
 distances, and communications from one level to 
 another are formed by sinking a kind of small under- 
 ground shaft. 
 
 When a mine is put into this state, and any quan- 
 tity of ore is discovered, proper engines are provided 
 with sufficient power to admit the constant deepening 
 of the mine by keeping the bottom dry, so as to be 
 regularly sinking. When the ventilation is com- 
 pleted by proper means for that purpose, and machines 
 are constructed for drawing up the ore and waste, the 
 mine is considered to be in due course of working. 
 The shafts and levels are kept regularly sinking and 
 driving, to lead to further discovery; or to open more 
 of the lode or vein for working; and the parts of 
 the vein left between the passages thus made are 
 worked away where the ore will pay the expense. 
 
 In preparing the ores for smelting, a variety of ope- 
 rations must be gone through, which require the labor 
 of many hands ; these are carried on upon the surface, 
 sometimes by women and children. It is necessary 
 to separate the ore from the earth and its impurities ; 
 the better parts are broken to a proper size for smelt- 
 ing by hammers, or by iron cylinders set in motion by 
 water. For the coarser parts, much more labor is 
 required in pounding, sifting, washing, &c. The 
 "stamping-mills" and other apparatus for dressing 
 p xvin. 21 
 
242 
 
 MINING. 
 
 the ore, are usually fixed as near the mouths of the 
 shafts on the surface as possible, consistently with the 
 power of leading streams of water to them. The 
 erections on the surface of a mine comprise steam or 
 water engines, stamping-mills, sheds, forges, carpen- 
 ters' shops, &c. 
 
 Such is a general description of a mine in Corn- 
 wall, where the art has been carried to the greatest 
 perfection. Some mines here employ over two thou- 
 sand persons, and have several steam engines con- 
 stantly at work. In Devonshire, streams of water 
 being at hand, large overshot wheels are employed for 
 working the pumps, and some of them are equal in 
 power to the larger steam engines. 
 
 We cannot give a better idea of the mines of Corn- 
 wall, than by copying the description furnished by Pro- 
 fessor Silliman, who descended one of them some 
 years since. " I prepared for my descent by throw- 
 ing off my own dress and putting on that of the miners. 
 It consisted of a very large shirt of very coarse mate- 
 rials, and made like the frocks of the Connecticut 
 farmers ; then of a pair of large sailor trousers striped 
 across with white and black, of the coarsest stuff which 
 is here employed for horse-blankets ; and over all was 
 a loose coat, which like the rest of my apparel exhib- 
 ited the strongest evidence that it had often been below 
 the surface. I wore a pair of cowskin shoes without 
 stockings, made fast by tow strings passing under the 
 sole and over the instep. Over my head they drew a 
 white cap which they crowned with an old hat without 
 a brim. Besides the captain I had another guide, an 
 experienced miner, who went before, while the cap- 
 
MINING. 243 
 
 tain followed me. Each of them carried a supply of 
 candles tied to a button-hole, and like them, I bore a 
 lighted candle in my left hand stuck into a mass of 
 wet clay. 
 
 " The mines of Cornwall are of much more difficult 
 access than those of Derbyshire, for instead of going hor- 
 izontally, or with only a gentle descent into the side of a 
 mountain, we are obliged to go perpendicularly down 
 the shaft, which is a pit formed by digging and blast- 
 ing, and exactly resembles a well, except in its greater 
 depth and varying size, which is sometimes greater 
 and sometimes smaller, according to circumstances. 
 The descent is by means of ladders ; at the termina- 
 tion of each ladder, there is commonly a resting place 
 formed by a piece of timber or a plank fixed across, 
 on the stones or earth which form the walls of the pit ; 
 this supports the ladder above, and from it the adven- 
 turer steps on to the ladder below. With each a 
 lighted candle so held by the thumb and forefinger of 
 the left hand as to leave the other three fingers at 
 liberty to grasp the rounds of the ladder, and with the 
 right hand devoted wholly to the same service, we 
 commenced our descent. 
 
 " It was laborious and hazardous, but we did not stop 
 till we had descended 400 feet. The rounds of the lad- 
 ders are constantly wet and muddy, and therefore 
 very slippery; many of them, through length of time, 
 are decayed and worn so very small, that they seem 
 on the point of giving way. In descending perpendi- 
 cularly with these disadvantages, the utmost caution 
 is therefore requisite on the part of a novice, lest he 
 should quit his foothold before he has a firm grasp 
 
244 MINING. 
 
 with his fingers, or lest in the dim twilight shed by 
 his candle, he should make a false aim with his foot or 
 hand, or take an imperfect and untenable hold with 
 either ; not to mention the danger of the giving way 
 of the rounds of the ladder ; any of which accidents 
 would send him to a place whence he would not re- 
 turn. 
 
 " When I first began to descend, I made it very labo- 
 rious by drawing my body as near as possible to the 
 ladder, thus imposing on the muscles of the arms and 
 chest the painful task of supporting me, with my 
 arms bent in quite an acute angle ; but my guides 
 instructed me to hang off from the ladder as far as 
 possible, thus keeping the arms straight ; and it is in- 
 credible how much it diminished the labor of the mus- 
 cles. Having arrived at the depth of 400 feet, we 
 came to what the miners call an adit or level, that is, 
 a passage running horizontally or at right angles with 
 the shaft. This passage had been made through the 
 solid rock, and was high enough to allow us to pass 
 along stooping, which we did for a considerable dis- 
 tance, when the sound of human voices from below 
 indicated our approach to the populous regions of mid- 
 night ; while the rattling of mechanical instruments 
 employed in breaking off the ore, and the report from 
 the explosion of gunpowder reverberated along these 
 narrow caverns, with the sulphureous and suffocating 
 smoke, presented a combination of circumstances, 
 which might well have given one the impression that 
 he had arrived in a worse place than the mine of Dol- 
 goath. 
 
 " Proceeding along the adit, we came to another shaft 
 
MINING. 245 
 
 down which we descended 200 feet more, and were 
 then full 600 feet from the surface. This was the 
 principal scene of labor ; at about this depth there were 
 great numbers of miners engaged in their respective 
 employments. Some were boring the rock; others 
 charging with gunpowder the holes already made ; 
 others knocking off the ore with hammers, or prying 
 it with pickaxes ; others loading the buckets with ore 
 to be drawn to the surface ; others working the wind- 
 lasses to raise the rubbish from one level to another, 
 and ultimately to the top ; in short all were busy ; 
 and although to us their employment seems only an- 
 other name for wretchedness, they appeared quite a 
 contented and cheerful class of people. In their mari- 
 ners they are gentle and uncommonly civil, and most 
 of them paid me some mark of respect as a stranger. 
 
 " We occupied three hours in exploring the mine, and 
 in this time travelled a mile under ground in various 
 directions. The employment was extremely laborious. 
 We could rarely walk erect ; often we were obliged to 
 crawl on our hands and knees, over sharp, rugged 
 stones, and frequently it was necessary to lie down 
 flat and to work our way along by the points of the 
 elbows, and the extremities of the toes, like seals on a 
 beach. At one time we descended, and at another 
 ascended through a narrow aperture, where we could 
 only with difficulty squeeze ourselves through, and we 
 then continued our progress by stepping on the pro- 
 jections of the rock, as men do in going up or down a 
 well. My perspiration was so violent, that streams 
 literally ran from my nose, locks, and chin, and in 
 this state we came to the channel where the water of 
 21* 
 
246 MINING. 
 
 the mine flows off through which we were obliged to 
 wade along, half leg deep for thirty rods. 
 
 " Having seen all the interesting things of the place, 
 we began to ascend. We were drawn up a small 
 part of the way in a bucket worked by a windlass, but 
 we went up principally by ladders in a shaft quite re- 
 mote from that in which we descended. It was that 
 in which the rod of the steam-engine plays to draw up 
 the water. This engine is one of great magnitude. 
 The rod, which is made of pieces of timber, and at 
 the top cannot be less than five or six feet in diam- 
 eter, descends perpendicularly 180 fathoms, or 1080 
 feet, and motion is propagated through this whole dis- 
 tance so as to raise a weight of 30,000 pounds at every 
 stroke, for this is the power of the engine. At length 
 after a most laborious and painful ascent, less hazard- 
 ous it is true, but incomparably more fatiguing than 
 the descent, we reached the surface in safety, at a 
 great distance from the place where we first descended. 
 With joy, with gratitude, I beheld the returning light 
 of heaven, and though I could not think that, in my case, 
 the enterprise was rash, I should certainly dissuade 
 any friend from gratifying mere curiosity at so much 
 hazard. The danger is serious, even to the miners, 
 for by explosions, falls, by mephitic gases, and other 
 causes connected with the nature of the employments, 
 numbers of the people are carried off every year, and 
 on this account, Redruth and its vicinity have an 
 uncommon proportion of widows and orphans." 
 
COAL MINES. 247 
 
 COAL MINES. 
 
 IN working mines of coal or rock-salt, the process 
 differs considerably from the working of most metallic 
 veins where the object of search is fluctuating and 
 irregular in its produce, and either vertical or highly 
 inclined in its position. The design in coal mines is 
 the effectual opening and extraction of a tolerably 
 uniform mass, generally of small thickness, but of great 
 horizontal extension. The thickness of beds of coal 
 may be said to vary from three to nine feet, although 
 sometimes, when several seams come together without 
 any intervening layers of rock, they may expand to 
 twenty or thirty feet. In every coal field there are 
 several seams of coal at greater or less intervals, one 
 below another, of which as many as three or four are 
 frequently worked in the same mine ; and interstrati- 
 fied with the rock which divides them, there are in 
 many coal fields, extremely productive beds of iron- 
 stone, which are wrought at the same time, and in a 
 similar manner with the coal. 
 
 The probable existence of beds of coal having 
 been determined, and perhaps the beds themselves 
 discovered by boring, the first process is to sink a per- 
 pendicular shaft from the surface, so as to inter- 
 sect the various strata containing the coal, and of 
 course, as many of the beds of coal as are considered 
 to be worth the working. The shaft is generally cir- 
 cular, and may vary according to circumstances, from 
 six to ten feet in diameter. The upper portion as far 
 
248 COAL MINES. 
 
 down as the solid rock, is either bricked or walled, and 
 where the ground is weak, this casing is continued 
 throughout. On reaching the first workable seam of 
 coal, the sinking of the pit is for a time suspended, 
 and a broad, straight passage, termed a bord, or gate, 
 is driven from it upon the seams of coal in opposite 
 directions. The breadth of this passage is usually 
 twelve or fourteen feet, and it is formed the whole 
 height of the seam of coal, so as to expose the stratum 
 above, which is called the " roof," and the one below 
 which is termed the " thill" and its direction is always 
 arranged so as to follow the clearage of the coal which 
 forms its sides, which thus present a clean, uniform 
 surface. When the " bord" or " mother-gate" has 
 proceeded some distance on both sides of the pit, nar- 
 row passages, termed " headways," are driven from it 
 at regular intervals, and exactly at right angles ; and 
 when these have proceeded eight or ten yards, they 
 are made to communicate with another bord, which is 
 opened parallel to the first and on each side of it. By 
 continuing this system of excavation the bed is entirely 
 laid open and intersected by a series of broad parallel 
 passages, about eight yards apart, communicating with 
 each other by narrower passages or headways, which 
 cross them at rigbt angles, and likewise traverse the 
 whole extent of the mines ; immense squares or rec- 
 tangular pillars of coal being left standing between 
 the two. A coal mine in this state is in fact not unlike 
 a regularly built town : the bords and headways 
 may be compared to the streets, while the pillars of coal 
 may be said to resemble the intermediate masses of 
 buildings. 
 
COAL MINES. 249 
 
 Coal mining is a much more dangerous process than 
 the operations in other mines. It is well known that 
 coal mines, especially such as are deep, are occasion- 
 ally infested with a gaseous air called " fire-damp," 
 the chemical name of which is carburetted hydrogen. 
 By contact with fire this gas explodes, causing the 
 most frightful destruction of life ; and the accidents 
 of this sort which have happened in the Newcastle 
 collieries and other mining regions in England, are 
 innumerable. Many contrivances have been proposed 
 to prevent these fatal occurrences, but the only one 
 that has been judged safe, and come into general use, 
 is the safety lamp of Sir Humphrey Davy, who first 
 analyzed and ascertained the properties of the fire- 
 damp. This able chemist discovered on investigation 
 that it required an admixture of a large quantity of 
 atmospheric air to render it explosive, and when mixed 
 with four times its bulk of air, it burst quietly in the 
 atmosphere ; with between five and six times it ex- 
 ploded feebly ; with seven or eight times the explosion 
 was strong ; and when mixed with even fourteen 
 times its bulk of air, the compound was still explosive. 
 Proceeding with his experiments, Davy ascertained 
 that explosions of inflammable gases were incapable 
 of being passed through long, narrow metallic tubes ; 
 and that this principle of security was still obtained by 
 diminishing their length and diameter at the same time, 
 so that a great number of small apertures would not 
 pass explosion when their depth was equal to their 
 diameter. This fact led to trials made with sieves 
 of wire gauze, and he found that if a piece of the 
 latter was held over the flame of a lamp or of coal 
 
250 COAL MINES. 
 
 gas, it prevented this from passing; he also ascer- 
 tained that a flame, confined in a cylinder of any 
 fine gauze did not explode even a mixture of oxygen 
 and hydrogen, while they burnt in it with great viva- 
 city. These experiments served as the basis of the 
 safety lamp, which was long regarded as one of the 
 most important discoveries of the present age ; though 
 its utility was no doubt overrated. 
 
 In the safety lamp the apertures in the gauze should 
 not be more than the 22d part of an inch square. As 
 the fire-damp is not inflated by ignited wire, the 
 thickness of the wire is not important, but wire from 
 3*tf to sV of an inch in diameter is the most conven- 
 ient. When the lamp is lighted and introduced into 
 an atmosphere gradually mixed with fire-damp, the 
 first effect is an increase in the size of the flame. 
 When the inflammable gas forms as much as ^ of 
 the volume of the air, the cylinder becomes filled with 
 a feeble blue flame, but the flame of the wick appears 
 burning brightly within this blue flame, and the light 
 of the wick continues till the fire-damp increases to 
 ^ or 1-, when it is lost in the flame of the fire-damp, 
 which in this case fills the cylinder with a pretty 
 strong light. When the foul air constitutes of the 
 atmosphere, it is no longer fit for respiration. 
 
 It does not appear, however, that this valuable in- 
 vention has had the effect of saving the lives of the 
 miners, but the contrary ; for by trusting to it for pro- 
 tection they now venture into places which were for- 
 merly regarded as far too dangerous to approach, and 
 which even now, are entered with great hazard of life. 
 
 As an example of the numerous catastrophes which 
 
COAL MINES. 251 
 
 have happened to miners, we may mention the fol- 
 lowing. The town of St. Etienne, in France, has 
 acquired, by its manufactures of iron and silk, the 
 appellation of the Birmingham and Coventry of France. 
 Though very far from contemptible, it is however, 
 at most, only a miniature likeness of the two celebrated 
 towns to which it is compared. For its prosperity, 
 it is indebted to the circumstance of the iron ore and 
 coal being abundant in its vicinity. Among the coal 
 mines in its immediate neighborhood, is that of Bois 
 Monzil, the scene of the event which is now to be de- 
 scribed. 
 
 On the 2d of February, 183 1, about eight in the 
 morning, when there were twenty-six men at work, a 
 sudden detonation was heard, instantly followed by 
 the roar of water, rushing from the adjoining pit. 
 The cry of alarm was quickly spread through the 
 mine, but only ten of the laborers were able to reach 
 the entrance. One of them was driven forward with 
 such violence, by the condensed air and the torrent, 
 that his escape was miraculous ; another was so terri- 
 fied, that he hurried forward, without thinking to dis- 
 encumber himself of a sack of coals which he had 
 upon his shoulders ; a third, who possessed both pres- 
 ence of mind and humanity, snatched up a boy of 
 eleven years old and bore him away in his arms. 
 
 Eight individuals perished. Some of them were 
 swept away by the deluge but at least one of them 
 had to endure a lingering death. He was heard for 
 some hours knocking against the sides of his pris- 
 on ; at the end of that* time the knocking ceased 
 the flood had overwhelmed him. The remaining 
 
252 COAL MINES. 
 
 eight workmen were fortunate enough to reach a gal- 
 lery on a higher level ; but, as it had no other outlet 
 than that by which they entered, their fate was cer- 
 tain, unless the water should recede, or their friends 
 could open a passage through the rock beneath them. 
 
 On hearing of the accident, the engineers of the mine 
 hastened with their assistants to the spot. Thirty 
 hours elapsed before the miners could penetrate into 
 some of the lower galleries from which the water had 
 retired. They repeatedly called aloud to their lost 
 companions, but no voice was heard in reply. They 
 then struck with their pickaxes upon the roof, and 
 after several fruitless trials, they were rejoiced to hear 
 an equal number of answering knocks. 
 
 Measures were immediately adopted for opening a 
 communication with the imprisoned men ; the princi- 
 pal of them were the boring a hole through the rock, 
 in the supposed direction whence the sound came, and 
 the forming of an inclined tunnel. But there was 
 much difficulty in ascertaining the point to which they 
 ought to direct their efforts ; for the sound of their 
 blows on the roof, far from offering a certain criterion, 
 or at least a probable one, seemed each time to excite 
 fresh doubts. The rock, too, was so hard and thick, 
 that the gunpowder employed in blasting it produced 
 but a trifling effect; nor could the pumps be got to 
 work, and they were therefore obliged to resort to the 
 slow and incompetent method of forming a line of men 
 from the gallery to the mouth of the mine, and pass- 
 ing the buckets from hand to hand. 
 
 The persons who were thus employed, had to work 
 upon a rapid slope, in a crouching posture, with the 
 
COAL MINES. 253 
 
 water dropping all round them, and generally rising 
 up to the middle of their bodies. They had to endure 
 that which was still worse to men not devoid of hu- 
 manity. The wives of the hapless miners had heard 
 that all hope was not extinct, and they hastened to the 
 spot. With heart-rending cries, and shedding tears 
 alternately of despaii and hope, they exclaimed, " Are 
 they all there ? Where is the father of my children ? 
 Is he amongst them, or has he heen swallowed up by 
 the waters ? " 
 
 When it became known at St. Etienne and its 
 vicinity, that there was a prospect of saving a part of 
 the victims, the whole of the National Guards, and 
 several hundreds of miners and other persons, throng- 
 ed to lend their assistance. The pumps were now made 
 to work, and the line of men with buckets was conse- 
 quently discontinued. Yet, notwithstanding the num- 
 ber of additional hands, the work proceeded but 
 slowly. Such was the flinty hardness of the rock, 
 that frequently the tools either broke, or remained im- 
 movably fixed in the stone. The water also filtered 
 in rapidly through the perforation which they were 
 making, and seemed to threaten another irruption. 
 
 It was now Sunday, and the spirits of the workmen 
 began to flag. On the following day an alarming 
 incident occurred which spread a general panic. A 
 terrific noise was heard, which was prolonged in 
 echoes throughout the mine. When their terror had 
 sufficiently subsided to allow of their investigating its 
 cause, they found that an enormous mass of rock had 
 fallen into one of the draining wells. Though this 
 fall was attended by no bad consequences, the work- 
 xviii. 22 
 
254 COAL MINES. 
 
 men were so much disheartened by it, that it required 
 much management to bring them back to their labors, 
 and revive their courage and perseverance. 
 
 By dint of persuasion and argument, the superin- 
 tendents at length prevailed on the men to make a 
 vigorous effort. In a very short time, that exertion was 
 crowned with success. The instrument of one of the 
 miners penetrated into the shut-up gallery, and was 
 drawn from his hands by the poor imprisoned miners. 
 But the man who had thus been the first to open a 
 way into the dungeon, was still more unfortunate than 
 they were. At the moment when hope dawned to 
 them, it set forever to him. He was the father of one 
 of the men who had disappeared in the mine. His 
 paternal feelings seemed to have endowed him with 
 superhuman strength. Night and day he quitted his 
 work only for a few moments to return to it with 
 redoubled vigor. 
 
 One absorbing thought occupied his whole soul; 
 the idea that his son, his only son, was with those 
 who were heard from within. In vain he was solicited 
 to retire ; in vain they strove to force him from labors 
 too fatiguing for his age. " My son is among them," 
 said he ; "I hear him ; nothing shall prevent me from 
 hastening to his release ; " and from time to time he 
 called on his son, in accents that tore the hearts of the 
 by-standers. His first question, on the instrument 
 being drawn from his hand, was, " My child ! " His 
 Antoine was no more ; he had been drowned. 
 
 For four days, medical men had been present in the 
 mine, to be ready to give their aid, as soon as a pas- 
 sage should be opened. They now directed soup to 
 
COAL MINES. 255 
 
 be introduced through a tube, and air to be forced into 
 the gallery by means of bellows. Food was, however, 
 by no means the most urgent want of the captives ; 
 light was what they first and most pressingly requested. 
 A tinder-box was conveyed to them, but the vitiated 
 air rendered it of no use. At first, they seemed to be 
 strengthened by the soup, of which they had made 
 their oldest and weakest companions the earliest par- 
 takers ; but afterwards it had a contrary effect. They 
 therefore for the present rejected the nourishment 
 which was occasionally applied, and expressed but one 
 wish, which was that their friends would make haste. 
 Yet one at least there was, who had not lost all his 
 gaiety. This was a man, named Fereol. When he 
 was asked what day he thought it was, he replied, 
 " Sunday ; " and upon being told it was Monday, he 
 rejoined, "Ah, I ought to have kno>vn that for yes- 
 terday we indulged ourselves by tippling freely of 
 water." 
 
 But though some of them retained their cheerful- 
 ness, the strength of all was rapidly failing. Their 
 utterance grew gradually more faint ; and about six in 
 the evening, the last words that could be distinguished 
 were, " Brothers, make haste." By ten in the even- 
 ing, they had broken through sixteen feet of solid 
 rock, and liberated the captives. Looking more like 
 spectres than human beings, the miners, one by one, 
 slowly traversed the gallery, and emerged into open 
 air, which they had so recently almost despaired of 
 ever breathing again. From the mouth of the mine 
 to the temporary residence allotted them, the whole 
 way was illuminated. The engineers, the pupils, and 
 
256 COAL MINES. 
 
 the workmen, with the National Guard under arms, 
 were drawn up in two lines to form a passage ; 
 and thus, in the midst of a religious silence, did 
 these poor fellows traverse an attentive and sympa- 
 thizing crowd, who, as they passed along, inclined 
 their heads, as a sort of respect and honor to their 
 sufferings. 
 
 The most extensive and important coal mines in the 
 United States are the anthracite mines of Pennsyl- 
 vania. In no other part of the world is this kind of 
 coal found so abundantly as in this state. The value 
 of this article particularly for mechanical purposes, can 
 hardly be too highly estimated. For the manufacture 
 of iron, it is peculiarly advantageous, as it contains 
 little sulphur or other injurious ingredients, and pro- 
 duces an intense steady heat. Bar-iron, chains, steam- 
 machinery and wrought iron of every description, have 
 more tenacity and malleability with less waste of metal 
 when fabricated by anthracite than by the aid of bitu- 
 minous coal or charcoal, with the important advantage 
 of the diminution of expense of at least fifty per cent. 
 in labor and fuel. Iron castings are also stronger \vhen 
 the melting has been effected by the means of anthra- 
 cite. For breweries, distilleries, and the raising of 
 steam, anthracite is decidedly preferable to bituminous 
 coal or other fuel, the heat being more steady and 
 manageable, and the boilers less corroded by sulphu- 
 reous acid, while no bad effects are produced by smoke 
 and bitumen. 
 
 The anthracite district of Pennsylvania lies mostly 
 between the Blue Ridge and the river Susquehannah. 
 It is chiefly occupied by mountains, often broad, with 
 
COAL MINES. 257 
 
 table-land summits, generally about 1500 feet above 
 the ocean. The mines are not subterraneous as the 
 coal lies so near the surface that it is rendered access- 
 ible by removing a layer of soil sometimes only a few 
 inches deep. In the colliery of the Mauch Chunk on 
 the Lehigh, the excavation is carried thirty or forty feet 
 deep, forming an enormous hollow square, inclosed by 
 lofty mural precipices of coal. Wagons enter these 
 excavations by the avenues that serve to discharge the 
 water from the mine. The coal is easily detached by 
 picks and bars. It is conveyed down the stream of 
 the Lehigh, and thence down the Delaware to market 
 in flat-bottomed boats. 
 
 Of all the mineral products, that of coal is one of 
 the most important to man. It is impossible to look 
 upon the immense beds of this, scattered throughout 
 every clime, without feeling that Providence has exer- 
 cised a wise and beneficent care in furnishing it for the 
 use of man. When we consider the means by which 
 it has been prepared ; the mighty agents that have been 
 employed, and the countless years that have been ex- 
 pended, in the production ; and when we see, moreover, 
 that iron, not less important to man than coal, is laid 
 in exhaustless beds by the side of it, and thus in situ- 
 ations to be easily wrought we shall remark one of 
 the many instances of Omniscient beneficence, which 
 true philosophy unfolds to the mind. 
 
 The uses of coal are various ; in countries where 
 the population becomes crowded, and the natural fuel 
 supplied by the forest is exhausted, it is the indispensa- 
 ble substitute in the kitchen and the parlor ; it supplies 
 the gas which banishes %e gloom of night from the 
 Q 22* 
 
258 COAL MINES. 
 
 streets of the city ; it turns the wheel of the factory, 
 urges the steamer through the waves and impels the 
 locomotive upon its track. There is not a magician 
 in the whole range of romance, which produces scenes 
 so wonderful as mineral coal. The black, senseless 
 mass, is dug from the earth, where it has slumbered 
 for countless ages, and now, as if in compensation of 
 its long repose, it liquifies the stubborn metal in the 
 forge ; it turns the ponderous crank of the steam 
 engine ; it delves in the mine, it toils on the land and 
 the sea ; it dispenses warmth in the parlor, heats the 
 tea kettle, broils the steak, and illuminates the city. 
 In every quarter of the world, with a thousand hands, 
 it is toiling for the benefit of man. What Arabian 
 tale presents us with magic equal to this ? 
 
 We are told that a bushel of coal is sufficient, if its 
 power were properly applied, to carry a man from the 
 valley of Chamouni, to the top of Mont Blanc ; yet 
 the quantity annually taken out in Great Britain 
 and Ireland alone, is twenty millions of tons. It is 
 estimated that 15,000 steam engines are moved by it 
 in England, some of them equal in power to a thou- 
 sand horses ; and performing as much work in con- 
 nection with machinery, as could be executed by four 
 millions of men ! It is impossible for the mind to 
 compass, in a single view, the extent to which mineral 
 coal is contributing to the comfort, luxury and civiliza- 
 tion of men. Was such a product the result of acci- 
 dent or chance ? 
 
 The annual product of the mines of Pennsylvania 
 is about two million of tons ; and there are other mines, 
 
COAL MINES. 259 
 
 as in Rhode Island, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, &c., 
 from which considerable quantities are taken. * 
 
 There are considerable coal mines in France, Bel- 
 
 * " The Apalachian system of mountains in the United States, 
 contains the Anthracite, and the Alleghany the Bituminous, 
 extending to the West over an immense area. 
 
 To have the usual coal measures we should be elevated 
 many hundred feet. There are small deposites in Massachu- 
 setts and Rhode Island. No part of the world equals Penn- 
 sylvania in coal beds. Here are found three kinds. 1st. Can- 
 nel, 2d. Bituminous, 3d. Anthracite. It occupies a part, or the 
 whole, of thirty out of fifty-four counties in that State. 
 
 In Pennsylvania, one bed of the Anthracite is sixty miles 
 long, two wide and 100 feet deep. 
 
 The Anthracite regions lie to the north-east of the Susque- 
 hannah ; the principal fields of this description are three in num- 
 ber, with an aggregate of sixty -five miles in length, and three 
 miles in breadth, embracing 624,000 square acres. 
 
 The Bituminous region in Pennsylvania is still more exten- 
 sive. The beds vary from one to twelve feet in thickness. It 
 abounds in all the Western counties, except Erie, embracing a 
 field of seventy thousand square miles, or thirteen millions 
 four hundred and forty thousand square acres. Two million 
 of tons are annually taken from these beds, equal to one tenth 
 of what is annually taken from all Great Britain ; and nearly 
 half of what is obtained from all other countries of E urope, and 
 about equal to that in France. 
 
 In Maryland there are two fields, one of which embraces 
 400 square miles ; the other is of unknown extent. 
 
 The coal beds in Virginia are from forty to sixty feet in 
 thickness. 
 
 Nearly all the south-east part of Ohio is one vast field of 
 coal. Some places will yield 9.000,000 tons to a square mile, 
 and there are not less than 12,000 square miles of coal. 
 
 It is also found in the north-eastern part of Kentucky, in 
 Tennessee, and Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, &c." 
 
260 COAL MINES. 
 
 gium, and other parts of Europe, but they are nowhere 
 wrought to so great an extent as in Great Britain. 
 
 The important part that mineral coal is playing in 
 human affairs, is obvious from the preceding facts, but 
 yet it must not be forgotten that it is obtained at a 
 prodigious expense of human life and comfort. The 
 accounts of the miserable condition of thousands of the 
 English miners, is truly appalling. Not only men, 
 but women and even girls and boys, are made to toil in 
 the bowels of the earth, in the most constrained posi- 
 tions, with poor fare, and often performing what might 
 rather seem the offices of brutes than human beings. 
 Grimed with coal, pent up in dim and dismal caverns, 
 children from ten to fifteen years of age, are har- 
 nessed to cars, and on all fours, are made to draw them 
 loaded, through the passages of the mines; and 
 women, dingy as Vulcan himself, are seen emerging 
 from the mouths of the excavations, loaded with sacks 
 of coal ! 
 
 Nor are the degradations of whole communities, 
 the only price paid by society for mineral coal. The 
 most fearful catastrophes have sometimes happened, 
 either from sudden inundation, or the caving in of the 
 earth. We have described a case of the former; 
 the following instance of the latter, occurred at 
 Moxly Heath, England, in 1817. On the morning 
 of the eventful day, about a dozen men were at work 
 at the extremity of the mine, when they suddenly 
 heard a heavy crushing sound toward the opening. 
 At the same moment, their lights were extinguished 
 by a violent concussion of the air. The accident was 
 soon made known to the people without, and the alarm 
 
COAL MINES. 261 
 
 was communicated like wildfire throughout the adja- 
 cent districts. Thousands were soon seen rushing to 
 the fatal spot, fathers, mothers, wives and children, 
 presenting by their cries an indescribable scene of 
 panic and distress. 
 
 Immediate measures were taken to deliver the suf- 
 ferers, if possible, from their tomb. Working gangs 
 were found sufficiently numerous to relieve each other 
 by short relays. Day and night the work proceeded, 
 with unabated activity. The accident occurred on 
 Monday, and on the morning of the following Sunday 
 the tapping of hammers was heard from within. The 
 state of feeling at this moment was indescribable. 
 The men wrought with a feeling almost amounting to 
 frenzy. The state of excitement among the assembled 
 crowd at the mouth of the excavation cannot be 
 imagined. 
 
 Early on Monday morning, an opening was made 
 into the cavern, and the joyous intelligence was soon 
 communicated that nine of the men and one boy were 
 still alive. The sensations of the assembled relations 
 of these unhappy persons were most intense, and one 
 woman died with excess of joy upon hearing that her 
 husband was living. 
 
 The sufferers in the mine were in a state of extreme 
 exhaustion, but medical men were in attendance, and 
 by judicious treatment, they all recovered. The 
 account which they gave after their restoration, was 
 in the highest degree interesting. The boy who was 
 among the party was about twelve years old. He sat 
 upon his father's knees and slept the greater part of 
 the time, occasionally waking and crying for his 
 
262 IRON MINES. 
 
 mother. One of the men who was injured by the 
 falling mass of stones, expired in great agony, for 
 amid the darkness, no help could be rendered to him. 
 
 IRON MINES. 
 
 IRON is the most useful of all the metals, and has 
 contributed more to the civilization of man, than all 
 others, put together. It furnishes the tools by which 
 we cut wood, stone and other substances, and therefore 
 lies at the foundation of nearly all the arts of life. 
 The shoemaker, carpenter, mason, wheelwright, tailor, 
 hunter, fisherman, farmer all are dependents upon 
 iron. Without this useful metal, society must have 
 remained either in a savage or barbarous state. 
 
 It is fortunate for mankind that this necessary min- 
 eral is scattered throughout every clime, and is found 
 in almost every country. While gold and silver are 
 only met with in particular regions and in small 
 quantities, iron abounds and is obtained as well in 
 rocky ores, as mixed with earth, it being produced by 
 growth, in the latter state. 
 
 Iron has, in a few cases, been found nearly pure, 
 in large masses, lying on the top of the ground. In 
 1750, a Cossack blacksmith secured a large lump of 
 this kind, lying on the top of a mountain near the river 
 Yenisei. It weighed 1512 pounds, and was regarded 
 by the Tartars with superstition, there being a tradi- 
 tion that it had fallen from heaven. A mass weighing 
 29,120 pounds, was found in South America, 800 
 miles north-east of Buenos Ayres. These detached 
 
IRON MINES. 263 
 
 masses of iron, are deemed meteoric, and are sup- 
 posed to be parts of aerolites, that have fallen upon 
 the earth. The iron for use is almost wholly dug 
 in mines, in the form of iron-stone, or in the state 
 of bog ore. 
 
 After this ore is obtained, it has to undergo a pro- 
 cess of smelting, in order to separate the metal from 
 the stony or earthy portion. The first step in this 
 operation is to reduce it to a liquid state by means of 
 heat. For this purpose, a blast-furnace is constructed, 
 which is something in the shape of a chimney, built of 
 masonry, and carefully lined with fire-brick. The ore 
 having previously been roasted or calcined in a kiln, in 
 order to drive off the water, sulphur and aisenic, with 
 which it is more or less combined in its natural state, is 
 put into this furnace mixed up with coal and limestone, 
 which latter substance helps its fusion. The heat 
 which would be produced merely by setting fire to the 
 fuel, would be altogether insufficient to melt the ore if 
 it were not increased by forcing in a current of air. 
 For this purpose it is necessary to use a strong me- 
 chanical force, and of late years the agency of steam 
 has been most commonly employed. Water-wheels, 
 where they can be had, are of course, cheaper agents, 
 but there are not many places where a sufficiently 
 copious and regular supply of water, at all seasons, 
 can be commanded. The air, forced by the playing 
 of a number of large bellows, into the furnace, raises 
 the heat to a degree of intensity sufficient for the 
 smelting of the ore. In the more improved of these 
 machines, the ore is previously heated in cast iron 
 vessels to about 300 of Fahrenheit, by which the 
 
264 
 
 IRON MINES. 
 
 dampness always existing in atmospheric air is ex- 
 pelled, and the quality of the iron improved. 
 
 When the whole of the ore is reduced to a fluid 
 state, it is drawn off by a tap at the bottom of the fur- 
 nace into channels formed in the sand of the smelting- 
 house floor. The names of sow-metal and pig-metal, 
 which were originally given by the workmen, signify, 
 in one case, the blocks of iron which are formed in the 
 large main channels, and in the other case, the smaller 
 blocks which are formed in smaller side-channels com- 
 municating with the larger ones. These names were 
 adopted from the fancied resemblance of the cast metal 
 to a sow and her litter of pigs. This is iron in its 
 crudest state. The weight of materials lost in its 
 production is somewhat greater than that of the fuel 
 used. Large heaps of cinder are gradually accumu- 
 lated in the neighborhood of iron-works, and give a 
 dreary aspect to the country. 
 
 Forge or bar-iron is pig-iron freed from carbon 
 and oxygen. The first operation for producing this 
 change is called refining, and is performed in small, 
 low furnaces, having the hearth of fire-bricks and the 
 sides of cast iron, made hollow to allow the streams 
 of water to pass constantly through, which prevents 
 their being quickly burnt away. The iron is kept in 
 a state of fusion in the refinery, for some time, exposed 
 to an intense heat produced by a strong blast. It is 
 then drawn ofT into moulds, where by sudden cooling 
 it becomes very brittle. The next process for making 
 bars is called puddling, which is performed in a re- 
 verberatory furnace. The iron is here again melted 
 and worked over till it forms into lumps, which are 
 
IRON MINES. 265 
 
 shaped by hammering so as to pass through the rolling- 
 mills, by which they are wrought into bars. 
 
 The iron trade of Great Britain is immense. It is 
 stated that 700,000 tons are annually taken from the 
 mines, which, in its rudest state, is worth eighteen 
 millions of dollars. Beside this, some is imported from 
 Sweden, and nearly the whole is manufactured into a 
 thousand forms, from needles up to steam-engines and 
 steam-ships. It is not possible to form any adequate 
 conception of the variety and extent of these manufac- 
 tures. Staffordshire is the centre of these works, and 
 here, day and night, may be seen the blast furnaces, 
 lifting their tall tubes toward the sky, and spouting 
 forth smoke and flames for months and years, without 
 a moment's cessation. It has been stated that some 
 furnaces have been in continual blast for ten and even 
 twenty years. The art of working iron is now carried 
 to such perfection that it is used in England in a mul- 
 titude of new forms, thus greatly extending the con- 
 sumption of the article. 
 
 The iron mines of Sweden, Norway, Russia, 
 France, and the United States, are extensive. They 
 exist in Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, 
 Kentucky and Pennsylvania ; vast quantities are 
 obtained in those of the latter state. Pittsburgh is 
 largely devoted to the manufacture of iron, and the 
 smoking flues of the city give it an aspect greatly re- 
 sembling the manufacturing towns of Great Britain. 
 Beside the iron produced in our own country, large 
 quantities are imported from Sweden and Russia. A 
 great amount of manufactured iron is imported from 
 Great Britain. 
 
 xvin. 23 
 
266 COPPER MINES. 
 
 COPPER MINES. 
 
 COPPER, next to iron, is the most useful metal in the 
 arts, and it appears to have been in use, even anterior 
 to iron. It is found both in a pure state and in the 
 condition of ore. There are several mines in England, 
 but the most famous are those of Cornwall, one of 
 which, explored by Professor Silliman, has been already 
 described. The total product of the mines "of Great 
 Britain, is about fourteen thousand tons, annually. 
 
 At Fahlun, in Sweden, is the most celebrated copper 
 mine in the world, which has been worked for nearly 
 a thousand years. The ore is found, not in veins but 
 in masses, and the beds are not above a mile in circum- 
 ference. The mine has many shafts and galleries, 
 and at the deepest part is 1,020 feet below the surface 
 of the earth. The mine is private property, and con- 
 sists of 1200 shares. Four times a week the ore is 
 divided: eleven equal heaps are formed, eight are 
 distributed among the proprietors, and the three re- 
 maining heaps are sold at auction ; one is appropri- 
 ated to the repairs of the works; the second to pay the 
 workmen, and the third to pay the expenses of making 
 new excavations. 
 
 The ore is first roasted in the open air to deprive it 
 of the sulphur ; this operation is repeated five times, 
 and it is then smelted. The copper is then forwarded 
 from Fahlun to Afsta, in blocks, in a very impure 
 state. Here it is put into furnaces in the ground, the 
 ingots of copper being mixed up with charcoal. The 
 fire is kept at an intense heat by bellows worked by 
 
COPPER MINES. 267 
 
 water-power till the ingots are entirely melted. After 
 this the bellows continue to play for a long time, fresh 
 charcoal being added as often as is requisite. The 
 fluid metal is occasionally skimmed of whatever dross 
 swims on the top. After being kept a sufficient time 
 in a state of fusion, the bellows cease playing, and a 
 quantity of water is thrown on the melted copper, 
 which not being able to evaporate instantaneously, rolls 
 backward and forward on the surface in small drops. 
 This water chills the top of the metal and forms a crust, 
 which is taken off with iron instruments, forming a 
 sheet of copper. Water is again thrown on, and a 
 second crust is formed and taken off; this is repeated 
 till the furnace is empty, frequently producing forty 
 crusts or round sheets of copper, the last of which are 
 always the purest and best. 
 
 The metal has to undergo still another fusion. A 
 great number of the sheets are put into furnaces, where, 
 after melting, the copper is dipped out with large iron 
 spoons suspended on levers by chains, and poured into 
 moulds. The masses before they are entirely cold 
 are placed on anvils and beaten flat by trip-hammers. 
 They are afterwards cut into narrow plates and passed 
 between rollers to make them even and of equal 
 thickness. 
 
 Brass is manufactured at Afsta by the following 
 process. They have three subterranean furnaces, 
 each furnished with a lid. Into these furnaces they 
 let down, with large hooks, very deep crucibles filled 
 with copper and lapis calaminaris. After remaining for 
 some time they are drawn up, and the melted contents 
 poured into very flat moulds where the metal is formed 
 
268 COPPER MINES. 
 
 into sheets. Some of these are cut into long strips 
 which are put to heat again in a large oven, after 
 which they are drawn through gauges till they are 
 reduced to wire. 
 
 The water which is pumped out of the mines ot 
 Fahlun is strongly impregnated with blue vitriol, or 
 sulphate of copper. Large quantities of copper are 
 obtained by placing pieces of iron in troughs filled 
 with this water. The process is extremely simple 
 and common in chemical experiments, but one which 
 has led ignorant persons to believe that the iron is 
 changed into copper. The water having a stronger 
 affinity with iron than with copper, dissolves the par- 
 ticles of the former and precipitates a proportionate 
 number of those of the latter before held in solution, 
 which assume the places of the particles of iron previ- 
 ously dissolved ; and as this operation is constant and 
 gradual, the pieces of iron are entirely encrusted with 
 copper, and appear converted into that metal. 
 
 The mines of Fahlun, are said to have formerly 
 produced eight million pounds of pure metal, annu- 
 ally, but the amount is now considerably reduced. 
 There are other prolific mines in Sweden, and the 
 metal is also produced in Saxony, Russia, Persia, 
 Japan, China, Chili and Peru. The copper mines of 
 Japan are among the richest in the world. Large 
 masses of copper have been found around the shores 
 of Lake Superior ; but no mines are wrought in the 
 United States. A great quantity is imported into this 
 country in the form of bars and pigs, from Peru and 
 Chili, and in sheets from England. 
 
SILVER MINES* 269 
 
 SILVER MINES. 
 
 SILVER is generally found in mines which traverse 
 the primary and older secondary rocks. In some 
 cases, large masses of the pure metal have been 
 found ; but in general, it is in the state of ore, in which 
 the silver bears a small proportion to the stony sub- 
 stance with which it is mixed. 
 
 This metal is found in Asia, Europe, and South 
 America. The most celebrated mines are those of 
 Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, and Chili. There are also 
 valuable mines at Kongsberg in Norway, Friburg in 
 Saxony, in Sweden, Russia, Spain, and Hungary. 
 Those of Chemnitz and Cremnitz, in the latter coun- 
 try have been worked for a thousand years. The sil- 
 ver mines of Asia are in Armenia and China. This 
 metal is not found in Africa. 
 
 Gold and silver have been in request from the ear- 
 liest ages, and they are still sought for with an avidity 
 which triumphs over every obstacle. The description 
 of one of the mines, where the latter metal has been 
 sought for many years, will give some idea of the 
 patient labor and indomitable enterprise which have 
 been bestowed in procuring it. The traveller Reynard 
 gives us the following account of one of the mines in 
 Sweden. " Salberg is a little village two days' jour- 
 ney from Stockholm, and one of the most delightfully 
 situated places in the country. The silver mine has 
 three large mouths, but the bottom is too deep to be 
 seen. A tub attached to a cable is used for the pur- 
 pose of descending this abyss, and it is lowered and 
 23* 
 
270 SILVER MINES. 
 
 hoisted by a very curious machine driven by water. 
 The extent of the danger may easily be conceived, 
 when a person must descend in this manner with 
 only one foot in the machine, and his life depending 
 on the strength of a rope. A satellite, black as a devil, 
 holding in his hand a torch of pitch and rosin, de- 
 scended with us, and screamed out an air so melan- 
 choly, that it seemed to have been made on purpose 
 for the infernal descent. About half way down we 
 felt great cold, which joined to the water that fell upon 
 us from all quarters in torrents, roused us from the 
 lethargy into which we had fallen on entering these 
 subterranean regions. We at length reached the bot- 
 tom of the gulf after half an hour's journey. Here our 
 fears and gloomy feelings vanished ; we no more be- 
 held anything frightful ; on the contrary, everything 
 was brilliant. 
 
 " We then descended still further below ground for 
 the purpose of visiting a saloon, the roof of which is 
 supported by several columns of silver, with which metal 
 everything is covered. Four spacious galleries dis- 
 close themselves, and the reflection of the lights which 
 shone on all sides, and dazzled our eyes by reflection 
 from the vaults of silver and a clear rivulet which ran 
 at their foot, did not tend so much to give light to the 
 workmen as to render this abode more magnificent 
 than the palace of Plato. Men of all countries are to 
 Le seen in these galleries ; some draw carriages ; 
 others roll stones ; and others are tearing the rocks 
 asunder. There is a town below a town, containing 
 houses, taverns, stables, horses, &c. ; and what is very 
 remarkable, there is a mill in the bottom of this gulf 
 which raises the water out of the mine. 
 
SILVER MINES. 271 
 
 " The first stones taken out of the mine, are dried in 
 a furnace which burns very slowly, and which separ- 
 ates the antimony, arsenic and sulphur from the stone, 
 the lead, and the silver which remain together. This 
 operation is followed by another in which the dried 
 stones are thrown into triangles, and piled on each 
 other to be pulverized by large hammers, set in mo- 
 tion by water. The pounded ore is kept in a stream of 
 water, which runs constantly over a large cloth placed 
 in a sloping position ; by this means all the thick and 
 earthy matter is carried off, while the lead and silver 
 remain at the bottom. It is afterwards removed and 
 thrown again into a furnace which separates the silver 
 from the lead ; this last is converted into scum." 
 
 The richest and most famous mine in the world is 
 the silver mine of Potosi in Peru. The place is 
 thus strikingly described by the traveller Temple. 
 " Suddenly appeared before me in the distance, a high 
 mountain of a reddish brown color, in the shape of a 
 perfect cone, and altogether distinct in its appearance, 
 from anything of the kind which I had ever seen. 
 There was no mistaking it ; it was that mountain 
 which was made known to the world by the merest 
 accident ; by an Indian who in pursuit of a llama up 
 a steep, to save himself from falling, caught hold of a 
 shrub, which being torn from the soil, exposed a 
 mass of solid silver at the roots. It was that moun- 
 tain, incapable of producing even a blade of grass, 
 which yet had attractions sufficient to cause a city to 
 be built at its base, at one time containing a hundred 
 thousand inhabitants ; it was that mountain whose 
 hidden treasures have withstood the laborious plunder 
 
272 SILVER MINES. 
 
 of two hundred and fifty years, and still remain unex- 
 hausted. 
 
 " The height of the Cerro del Potosi has been ascer- 
 tained by Dr. Redhead, to be 15,981 feet above the 
 level of the Pacific Ocean; and the town of Potosi is 
 situated at an elevation of 13,265 feet above the same 
 level, being probably the highest inhabited place upon 
 the globe. On the side next to the town, and at 
 the foot of the great mountain, rising, as it were, 
 against it, is a smaller, called by the Indians Huagua 
 Potocsi, (son of Potosi, or Potosi the younger.) It 
 facilitates the ascent to, but does not partake of the 
 riches of the former, almost every stone of which is in 
 some degree metalliferous. There are however in the 
 small mountain, some mines from which considerable 
 quantities of silver have been extracted. In the large 
 one there are not less than five thousand bocas minas, 
 mouths of mines, but it does not follow that there 
 are five thousand distinct mines, for several have 
 two and some three different mouths or entrances. 
 This may convey a tolerably fair idea of the manner 
 in which the cerro is perforated. But no idea can be 
 formed of the nature and state of the mines them- 
 selves, which have been worked from their discovery 
 to the present day, without the slightest regard to 
 method, or even common convenience. I entered 
 several in which I was obliged to crawl for many 
 yards on my hands and feet. An estimate may 
 thence be formed of the disadvantage at which the 
 laborers work, and of the great loss of time that must 
 ensue in conveying the ores out of the mines in sheep- 
 skin aprons, as practised by the Indians. 
 
SILVER MINES. 273 
 
 " As many Indians as can work in the space within 
 the mine are employed with implements and gunpow- 
 der, in detaching the ore from the veins. The pieces 
 so detached are carried out to the mouth of the mine 
 where they are broken to small and nearly equal 
 sizes, resembling the stones for repairing roads upon 
 Macadam's principle. In this state, they are put into 
 sacks and conveyed to the ingenio (the laboratory or 
 amalgamation works,) upon asses and llamas, the for- 
 mer carrying 125 pounds each, and the latter half that 
 quantity. If the ore is quite dry, it is discharged into 
 a store-house ; if wet or damp, it is spread in a place 
 called pampeo, where it is exposed to the sun till dry. 
 It is next pounded to powder by a heavy and awkward 
 stamping-mill, moved by a water-wheel, after which it 
 is passed through wire sieves. The men attending 
 this last operation are obliged to stuff their nostrils and 
 ears with cotton, and wear a sort of mask to protect 
 them from the noxious dust, which is so injurious to 
 health, that the place where the sifting is carried on 
 is jocularly called matagente the ' kill-people,' and 
 a serious joke it has proved to the poor Indians for the 
 last two hundred and fifty years. 
 
 " The pulverized ore is then carried to the buitron, a 
 large horizontal pavement where water and salt are 
 thrown upon it, to which when the mixture is fully 
 performed, quicksilver is added, according to the judg- 
 ment of the benefidador or * amalgamator,' who, pre- 
 vious to these operations, assays the ore and ascer- 
 tains its richness, which enables him to judge with 
 precision the quantity required, and which is grad- 
 uated according to the richness of the ore. A 
 R 
 
274 SILVER MINES. 
 
 great part of this quicksilver is subsequently recovered, 
 but the ascertained certain loss is a pound of quick- 
 silver for every pound of silver. The ore then goes 
 through a further process, with the addition of lime, 
 tin, vitriol, &c., after which it is worked, and the 
 quicksilver is driven off by the heat of a furnace, 
 leaving a solid mass of pure silver." 
 
 According to the account of Humboldt, there were 
 5000 mining establishments in Mexico at the time of 
 his visit. The mines wrought by these are from 3 to 
 4000. One of them in the district of Guanaxuato, is 
 from 130 to 148 feet wide, and has been traced and 
 worked to an extent of eight miles. The average 
 richness of the ore in Mexico, is about four ounces of 
 silver to 102 pounds of refuse. 
 
 The produce of the Mexican mines was estimated 
 40 years ago, #t about 24,000,000 of dollars, annually, 
 nineteen twentieths of which was silver. The silver 
 mines of Chili, Peru, Buenos Ayres, and New Gren- 
 ada, were supposed by Humboldt, at the same period, 
 to yield about 10,000,000 dollars annually. The an- 
 nual produce of the gold and silver mines of all Amer- 
 ica, he estimated at 9,243,750 sterling, and that of 
 the mines of Europe and Asia, at 1,000,000 sterling. 
 Since that time, the product has decreased, and M'Cul- 
 loch reckons the present annual supply of all the 
 gold and silver mines of Europe and America, at be- 
 tween 30 and 35 millions of dollars. This diminution 
 is in silver only, for the quantity of gold has increased 
 in the last few years. 
 
 The use of silver is not confined to coin, but it 
 is largely employed in the arts. In Great Britain, 
 
SILVER MINES. 275 
 
 the annual consumption of silver amounts to about 
 4,000,000 of dollars; 500,000 ounces are annu- 
 ally used for watch cases, and 900,000 ounces by 
 coach-makers, harness-makers, and iron mongers. 
 The value of the silver at all times in the hands of 
 the manufacturers there, is estimated at 16,000,000 of 
 dollars. The annual consumption of gold and silver 
 in Europe and America, for ornamental purposes, is 
 valued at 30,000,000 of dollars. The whole coin of 
 Europe and America, in gold and silver, is reckoned 
 at 1400,000,000 of dollars, and the value of ornaments 
 and utensils of the same metals, at 1900,000,000 of 
 dollars. 
 
 Notwithstanding the almost inconceivable value at- 
 tached to these masses of silver and gold, it is probable 
 that they are really of no benefit to the world. They 
 are obtained at the expense of immense toil, severe 
 privation, and prodigious waste of life. The same 
 labor bestowed upon the pursuit of humbler minerals, 
 or even in agriculture, would doubtless have yielded 
 more solid advantages to mankind. 
 
 As to the effect of mining upon those engaged in 
 it, we have the following testimony in Smith's Peru. 
 " The miner," says he, " is generally a reckless gam- 
 bler, who spends money as fast as it comes to him, 
 not in improving his mines, but indulging his vices ; 
 and in this manner, the interest of the first habilitadors 
 may be successively postponed to the claims of the 
 most recent, who frequently is disappointed in his 
 turn ; while the difficulties of the miner are not 
 removed, but prolonged, and he is involved in ever- 
 lasting disputes and litigation," 
 
276 GOLD MINES. 
 
 GOLD MINES. 
 
 GOLD is sometimes found like silver, copper, and 
 iron, in rocky beds, and in the state of ore ; but it is 
 generally obtained in alluvial districts, in the shape of 
 small scales, grains, and lumps, rounded by the attri- 
 tion of water. This is called stream gold, and seems 
 to have been produced from the disintegration of rocks. 
 It is found in the beds of many rivers, but the chief 
 localities where it is obtained in any considerable 
 quantities, are Mexico, Peru, Chili, Buenos Ayres, 
 Brazil, Russia, Hungary, Sweden, Japan, Borneo, 
 Africa and the United States. 
 
 Lumps of gold nearly pure and of very large size, 
 have been found in different parts of the world ; masses 
 weighing 20 pounds, have been met with in the Ural 
 mountains ; one weighing 25 pounds, was found in 
 Colombia, and one weighing 45 pounds was obtained 
 in La Paz. The value of the latter was over 9000 
 dollars. In the early ages of the world, it is probable 
 that such masses were common ; and from the im- 
 mense amount of the precious metals in use in Peru 
 and Mexico, at the time of their discovery, there is no 
 doubt that both silver and gold were obtained on the 
 surface of the earth in large quantities. 
 
 The gold mines of Mexico produce about one mil- 
 lion of dollars a year ; those of South America yield 
 4 millions ; those of the United States, in Virgina, N. 
 Carolina, S. Carolina, and Georgia, 1 million ; those 
 of Europe, 4 millions ; those of Asia, 7 millions. It 
 must be admitted, however, that these calculations are 
 very uncertain. Of the gold obtained from Africa we 
 
PLAT1NA MINES. 277 
 
 have no estimate. The quantity of gold coined at 
 the London mint in 1829, amounted to 200 millions of 
 dollars. 
 
 The uses of gold beside that employed for, coin, are 
 numerous. Its flexibility and softness have led to its 
 extensive adoption in the form of gilding, and a large 
 amount is consumed in the manufacture of gold leaf. 
 Two ounces of gold are beaten into 2400 leaves, these 
 being each but the one hundred and fifty thousandth 
 part of an inch thick. It may however be made much 
 thinner. It is said that gold to the value of 300,000 dol- 
 lars is annually converted into leaf in Great Britain ! 
 
 The process of seeking for gold is seldom by min- 
 ing into rocks ; but generally by washing or picking 
 among the sand. Notwithstanding the immense amount 
 actually obtained, it may still be doubted whether the 
 gold mines now wrought, actually pay the expense of 
 the working ; if they do, it is still certain that the same 
 industry and enterprise devoted to other objects, would 
 be much more productive to those employed, as well 
 as more useful to mankind. 
 
 PLATINA MINES. 
 
 THIS metal, which is even heavier and more costly 
 than gold, is found in small quantities in South Amer- 
 ca, Spain, and the Ural mountains. It is chiefly ob- 
 tained from the latter place, and Russia, to which 
 country the mines there belong, has recently issued 
 small coins of this metal, which is the only instance 
 of its being used for this purpose. In 1830, the Rus- 
 sia mines yielded 4200 pounds, in weight. 
 xviii. 24 
 
278 DIAMOND MINES. 
 
 Platina is of a silvery whiteness, but not brilliant ; 
 it is very ductile and has been reduced to wire of the 
 thirty thousandth part of an inch in thickness. It is 
 found in grains, and one lump has been discovered 
 weighing about twenty pounds, which is deposited in 
 the museum at St. Petersburg. The chief uses of 
 platina, are in the arts, it being fitted to certain pur- 
 poses by its peculiar chemical qualities. 
 
 DIAMOND MINES. 
 
 IT is a familiar fact that the diamond is the most 
 brilliant, beautiful and precious of all stones. On 
 account of its extreme hardness, the art of cutting and 
 polishing it was for a long time unknown in Europe. 
 But in 1456, a young man of the name of Louis Ber- 
 gher, of Bruges, is said to have constructed a polishing 
 wheel for the purpose, which was fed with diamond 
 powder instead of corundium, which the Chinese and 
 Hindoos had long been accustomed to employ. Ber- 
 gher was led to this discovery by observing the action 
 produced by rubbing two rough diamonds together. 
 
 For estimating the value of fine diamonds, there is 
 no fixed standard. Rough diamonds, selected as fine, 
 and well-formed for cutting, may be estimated as fol- 
 lows. Square the weight of the stone in carats, mul- 
 tiply the product by two, and the result will give the 
 value in pounds sterling. Brilliants, if fine, may be 
 estimated by squaring the weight and multiplying the 
 product by eight, which will give the value in pounds. 
 
DIAMOND MINES. 279 
 
 A very large amount of property in Europe, to say 
 nothing of other parts of the world, is invested in 
 diamonds ; and it is worthy of remark that the price 
 of these gems has not only been rising gradually for 
 several years, but is likely to continue on the advance. 
 This is owing to the fact that the diamond mines of the 
 East are unproductive, and even those of Brazil have 
 begun to show symptoms of exhaustion. 
 
 Diamonds are not used exclusively as articles of 
 ornament or luxury, but are employed with great 
 advantage in the arts. The inferior kinds are sold to 
 break into powder, and may be said to have a more 
 extensive sale than brilliants with all their captivating 
 beauty. In many operations of art they are indispen- 
 sable. The fine cameo and intaglio owe their perfec- 
 tion to the diamond, with which alone they can be 
 engraved. The beauty of the onyx would yet remain 
 dormant had not the unrivalled power of the diamond 
 been called forth to the assistance of the artist. The 
 carnelian and the agate cannot be engraved by any 
 other substance. 
 
 Diamond mines exist in Hindostan, the island of 
 Borneo, and Brazil. The most celebrated of the for- 
 mer country is that of Golconda, now called Hyderabad, 
 which, however, is no longer very productive. Ta- 
 vernier, who visited this mine, gives the following 
 description of it. " All round the place where the 
 diamonds are found, the earth is sandy and full of 
 rocks and coppice woods, nearly similar to the envi- 
 rons of Fontainbleau. In these rocks are many veins 
 from half an inch to an inch broad. The miners have 
 little iron rods, bent at the end, which they thrust into 
 these veins to draw out the sand and earth ; this they 
 
280 DIAMOND MINES. 
 
 put into vessels, and it is among this earth that the 
 diamonds are found. As the veins are not always 
 regular, but run up and down, they are obliged to 
 break the rocks in order to follow them. After the 
 earth is collected, they wash it two or three times, and 
 the diamonds are discovered. The traffic here is car- 
 ried on with liberality and good faith. On all the 
 diamonds that are sold, a duty of two per cent, is paid 
 to the king of Golconda, who also derives a revenue 
 from the merchants for permission to dig in the mines. 
 
 The merchants pay to the king at the rate of four 
 pagodas a day for a hundred miners employed by 
 them. But these poor people get no more than three 
 pagodas a year, and must be expert in their business 
 to acquire even that. As their wages are so small, 
 they have no scruple in embezzling what they can. 
 Sometimes they hide a diamond among the sand ; and 
 sometimes, as they are entirely naked with the excep- 
 tion of a small cloth round the waist, they dexterously 
 contrive to swallow them. The chief of the mer- 
 chants one day pointed out to me a miner who had 
 worked with him for several years, and who had 
 secreted a stone which weighed a mergelin, being 
 nearly equal to two of our carats. He had hidden it 
 in the corner of his eye, from which it was taken on 
 discovering the theft. To prevent such knavery, over 
 every fifty miners there are always twelve or fifteen 
 persons employed to see that they steal nothing. If 
 they, by chance, find a stone that weighs above seven 
 or eight mergelins, they carry it to the head miner, 
 who rewards them for it. 
 
 It is a pleasing sight in the morning to see the 
 
DIAMOND MINES. 281 
 
 young children of the merchants and others, from the 
 age of ten to sixteen, all assembled under a great tree 
 in the market place, each with a quantity of diamonds 
 in a little bag hung on one side, #.nd on the other a 
 purse fastened to his sash, in which some have from 
 five to six hundred pagodas of gold. There they sit 
 waiting till some person comes to offer them diamonds 
 for sale. When anything is brought, it is put into the 
 hands of the oldest, who is regarded as the chief of 
 the band ; he examines it and puts it into the hands of 
 the next, who passes it to a third ; and in this manner 
 it goes on from one to another till it returns to the 
 first, without a word being uttered by any one. He 
 then inquires the price of the seller, and buys it if he 
 thinks fit; but should he pay too much for it, the loss 
 is his own. When evening comes, these children 
 bring together all they have bought in the course of the 
 day, and after examining the different stones, separate 
 them according to their water, weight and clearness ; 
 then they affix on each a price at which they judge 
 they can be sold to strangers, and by comparing this 
 with the cost, they see what profits have been made. 
 Lastly, they carry them to some of the great diamond 
 merchants ; they dispose of them and divide the profits, 
 only the chief of the company receives one quarter per 
 cent, more than the rest. Although so young, they 
 are nevertheless such good judges of the value of 
 stones, that if one of them should purchase anything 
 on which he is willing to lose half per cent, there is 
 always some one ready to give him the money ; and 
 in offering them a dozen stones, they seldom fail to 
 select four or five with some flaw, or speck, or defect 
 in the corners. 24* 
 
282 DIAMOND MINES. 
 
 Here I must remark the singular manner in which the 
 Hindoos, idolaters as well as Mohammedans, dispose of 
 any sort of merchandize. Not a word is spoken during 
 the bargain, but all passes in profound silence. The 
 seller and buyer sit opposite to each other like a couple 
 of tailors, and one of them opening his sash, the seller 
 taking the right hand of the buyer, covers it with his, 
 under which, in the presence of as many other mer- 
 chants as happen to be in the same room, the bargain 
 is concluded without any one of them knowing the 
 terms. The buyer and seller, making use of neither 
 mouth nor eyes, carry on the traffic with their hands 
 only, which is done in the following manner. When 
 the seller takes the whole of the buyer's hand, it sig- 
 nifies a thousand ; and as many times as he presses 
 it, so many thousand pagodas or rupees are signified. 
 When he takes the five fingers only, it signifies five 
 hundred, and one finger, one hundred. When he 
 takes half the finger, just by the middle joint, he 
 means fifty, and the tip of the finger goes for ten. 
 This is all the mystery used by the Hindoos in their 
 traffic ; and it often happens that at a place where 
 there are several people together, one article is sold 
 seven or eight times without any one of the company 
 except the bargainers knowing any thing of the 
 matter." 
 
 Goa was formerly the greatest mart in Asia for 
 diamonds, rubies, sapphires, topazes, and other stones. 
 To this place all the miners and merchants resorted to 
 sell the finest productions of the mines, being here at 
 full liberty to dispose of them as they pleased. 
 Whereas in their own country, upon showing them to 
 
DIAMOND MINES. 283 
 
 the king or prince, they were compelled to accept 
 whatever he chose to give them. Goa was also famous 
 for the great trade carried on in pearls, both from the 
 Persian Gulf and from Ceylon. 
 
 Since the diamond mines of India have become nearly 
 exhausted, Brazil has supplied nearly the whole world. 
 The stones are found in the beds of rivers in the district 
 of Sejuco, which is better known as the " Diamond 
 District." At first, the search was prosecuted by private 
 adventurers, but the government finally monopolized 
 the business, and the whole district was placed under 
 peculiar laws and regulations. If diamonds were 
 found in gold washings, the adventurers were obliged 
 to abandon the works to the government, and very 
 severe measures were adopted to repress the illicit 
 search, banishment to Africa, or imprisonment for 
 life, with confiscation of property, being the punish- 
 ment annexed to this offence ; but these severe penal- 
 ties could not repress a traffic which afforded so many 
 facilities for evasion. 
 
 When Mr. Mawe, the mineralogist, visited the 
 " Diamond District," about two thousand negroes 
 were employed, divided into parties of about two hun- 
 dred each, under a sub-administrator and overseers. 
 The mode pursued was to turn the channel of the 
 river, in whose bed the precious stones were concealed, 
 and after removing the mud, to dig up the channel and 
 remove the material called cascalho for washing 1 . 
 
 When a negro finds a diamond, he rises up and 
 claps his hands, and one of the overseers receives the 
 gem, all which are found during the day, being taken 
 at night to a superior officer, who weighs and regis- 
 
284 DIAMOND MINES. 
 
 ters them. A negro who finds a diamond weighing 
 seventeen and a half carats receives his freedom, and 
 premiums are given to the discoverer of smaller stones. 
 To prevent collusion and concealment of diamonds, 
 the negroes, at a given signal, remove into different 
 troughs several times in the course of the day. 
 
 The diamonds in the treasury of Sejuco are kept in 
 chests under several locks, the keys of which are en- 
 trusted to different officers, and are sent annually 
 under a military escort to Rio Janeiro. The soldiers 
 who perform this duty are selected on account of their 
 good character, and when not thus employed, they 
 are engaged in protecting the places which are known 
 to contain precious products. The journey from 
 Sejuco to Rio Janeiro occupies about a month. The 
 average quantity of diamonds obtained from the "Dia- 
 mond District," when it was visited by Mr. Mawe, 
 was from twenty to twenty-five thousand carats, and 
 the total quantity obtained in Brazil was about thirty 
 thousand carats. Mr. Mawe was shown the diamond 
 treasury at Rio Janeiro which contained from four to 
 five thousand carats. The largest diamond yet known, 
 which weighed, in its unpolished state, one hundred 
 and thirty-eight and a half carats, was discovered 
 in 1791, in the Rio Abaite, adjoining the district 
 of Sejuco. If estimated at the standard at which 
 smaller diamonds are valued, it would be worth 
 5,644,800. 
 
 The Mogul diamond weighs 280 carats ; the Russian, 
 195 ; the Austrian, 139. The French cost $600,000 ; 
 the Russian was the eye of an Indian idol, but it was 
 stolen and sold for $400,000 and $20,000 annuity. 
 
SALT MINES. 285 
 
 The Austrian was bought at a stall as a piece of rock 
 crystal. The largest polished diamond that is known, 
 belongs to one of the princes of Borneo. 
 
 SALT MINES. 
 
 SALT is universally distributed throughout the ocean, 
 and is found mixed in greater or less quantities, in 
 almost all soils. There are also beds of rock f salt, 
 which are quarried like other mines, by digging and 
 blasting. The mines near Norwich, in England, have 
 been wrought for 200 years, and are probably the 
 most productive in the world. Beside these mines, 
 there are extensive salt springs, where salt is made by 
 evaporation. It is estimated that 363 million pounds 
 of salt are used in Great Britain annually, beside 
 which, they export almost 500 million pounds ! 
 
 Salt is manufactured along the maritime shores of 
 most countries, from sea water, by evaporation ; it is 
 also procured in large quantities from salt springs. 
 These of Salina, in New York, yield about four mil- 
 lions of bushels a year, beside which, there are other 
 extensive works of the same kind in the United 
 States. 
 
 In Spain, near Cardona in Catalonia, is a mountain 
 of nearly pure salt, 500 feet high, and three miles in 
 circumference. The mineral is of various colors, 
 though generally white. It is wrought into vases, 
 candlesticks, and various toys and utensils. In differ- 
 
286 
 
 SALT MINES. 
 
 ent parts of the world, there are also numerous beds 
 of rock salt, and in some places the earth is encrusted 
 with it for many square miles. 
 
 The salt mines of Salzburg in Austria, are exten- 
 sive, and consist of thirty-three chambers, excavated 
 in a mountain ; some of them one over the other. 
 The waters frequently reach into these apartments, 
 and then the men are obliged to work naked nine 
 hours a day, to stop the leaks; they cannot wear 
 clothes, for they become impregnated with salt, and 
 are as stiff and hard as boards. The pay of the 
 miners here is eight cents a day ! It is a curious fact 
 relating to the mines in this quarter, that the salt rock 
 grows from year to year ! It gains about three feet in 
 forty years. The excavations of the mines of Salz- 
 burg are 6,000 feet in length, and 942 deep. 
 
 The traveller Reynard, who visited the celebrated 
 salt mine of Wiebiska near Cracow in Poland, gives 
 us the following account. " In the middle of the 
 square of the city stands a shed, into which you enter 
 and behold a large wheel which horses are turning to 
 draw stones out of the mine. Near this wheel is the 
 mouth of a large pit with a covering of plank and 
 timber ; and here we began our descent into the abyss 
 having first been robed in a kind of surplice. A great 
 number of ropes and girths attached to the main cable 
 were set in motion, one after the other. Five or six 
 men made preparations to go down with us, and 
 lighted a number of. lamps, while others surrounded 
 the mouth of the pit, and began to sing that part of the 
 Passion containing the words Expiravit Jesus, and 
 continued in the most frightful tone with the De Pro- 
 
SALT MINES. 287 
 
 fund-is. All this time, I confess my blood ran cold, 
 and I imagined I saw preparations going on for a liv- 
 ing interment. I wished myself a thousand miles off, 
 but the matter had gone too far, and down I must go. 
 One of the guides fixed himself on the lower end 
 of the cable with a lamp in his hand. I then took my 
 station on the girth above his head. One of the 
 miners placed himself above me ; my comrade was 
 above him ; another was over his head with a lamp in 
 his hand, and another above him ; so that there were 
 more than a dozen of us fixed on the cable like a 
 string of beads, in a posture far from being the most 
 desirable in the world ; for we ran the risk not only of 
 the cable's giving way, but also of the snapping or 
 slipping of the girths by which we were attached to it. 
 
 We descended seven hundred feet or more in this 
 manner, and we at length found ourselves in a very 
 spacious excavation, in the middle of which stood a 
 chapel. From this place we were conducted all around 
 through the mines, by roads without end, where they 
 had removed the salt which they cut out in large 
 blocks, one of which three horses can with difficulty 
 draw. This stone is of an ash color, and sparkles like 
 diamonds. It is not very hard, and the fragments 
 which fall off in cutting are put into barrels, and sold 
 in that state. It is salter than common sea-salt, and 
 grows white by being piled up. They make a salt too 
 of the water drawn from the deepest part of the mine, 
 which on hardening, becomes the whitest and finest 
 in the world. 
 
 From this quarry, we descended to another, for 
 there are seven of them, one above another. Near the 
 
28S , TIN MINES, &C. 
 
 lowest, we found a rivulet of fresh water, the best I 
 ever drank. It is one of the greatest curiosities in the 
 world, to behold a stream of water issuing from and 
 running over stones of salt without imbibing the taste 
 of it. There are also other rivulets here, but their 
 waters are perfectly salt. After having descended for 
 two hours, we at length reached the lowest quarry, 
 where the miners were at work. They cut out for us 
 to see, a stone of salt which fifty horses would have 
 been unable, to draw ; but a single man severed it from 
 the rock with great ease. When this mass had fallen, 
 they cut it into round pieces shaped like a barrel, for 
 the convenience of rolling. We found in this pit a 
 number of men and horses, who were working at 
 wheels for the purpose of raising water. We travelled 
 nearly four hours in this mine, and were assured that 
 so great is its extent that it could not be traversed in 
 every part in less than fifteen days. Along the whole 
 length of the vaults, salt stalactites may be observed 
 hanging like icicles from a rain-spout, and when they 
 have grown hard enough to be wrought, the miners 
 work them into chaplets and other utensils and orna- 
 ments." 
 
 MINES OF TIN, LEAD, QUICK- 
 SILVER, &c. 
 
 TIN. This useful mineral is always obtained in the 
 state of ore. The chief mines are those of Cornwall, 
 in England, where it is found with copper and lead, 
 
TIN MINES, &C. 289 
 
 and in Borneo and the adjacent regions. None is found 
 in the United States. Considerable quantities are 
 obtained in Bohemia, Saxony and Silesia. 
 
 The tin mines of Cornwall, resemble those of cop- 
 per already described. The annual product of these, 
 is about nine millions of pounds. 
 
 LEAD. This mineral is rarely found in a pure 
 state, being usually met with in the form of an ore. 
 It is found in a great variety of combinations and in 
 vast abundance. 
 
 Great Britain abounds in this mineral, and yields 
 three times as much as all the rest of Europe. The 
 mines are scattered over various parts of the kingdom, 
 and produce about 47,000 tons, or nearly 100 millions 
 of pounds, annually. 
 
 Lead is found in various parts of the United States, 
 but the chief mines are those of Missouri and Fever 
 River, which yield from six to ten millions of pounds 
 a year. 
 
 MERCURY, or quicksilver, is one of the most curious 
 of minerals. At common temperatures it is liquid ; 
 but Pallas saw it frozen as hard as tin, the thermome- 
 ter standing at 80 below zero. It boils at 662, three 
 times the heat of boiling water. If placed on the hand 
 in a lump, it produces a burning sensation, and if per- 
 mitted to remain, causes a blister. Its chief use is in 
 the arts, and especially in making gauges of the 
 weather. 
 
 Quicksilver is sometimes found pure, but it is usu- 
 ally obtained in the form of ore. The chief mines 
 now wrought, are in Spain and Austria; those of 
 South America are now unproductive. The Spanish 
 s xviii. 25 
 
290 GENERAL REMARKS ON MINES. 
 
 mines of Almaden, produced, in 1833, 2,244,000 
 pounds. About 700 persons are employed in the 
 operations under ground, and 200 in separating the 
 metal from the ores. 
 
 ZINC. This metal is always found in ores, of 
 which there are many varieties. Small quantities are 
 met with in Great Britain, but the chief sources of 
 supply are in Germany and Belgium. 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS ON MINES. 
 
 IT would be easy to extend our account of mining 
 operations, and to present the reader with a great 
 variety of curious and interesting particulars ; but our 
 space allows us only to exhibit the prominent topics 
 connected with the subject, to which we may add a 
 few curious particulars. 
 
 The copper mines of Cornwall, in England, are on 
 an extensive scale, and nowhere in the world, do the 
 wonders of mining more forcibly strike the beholder. 
 One of the mines, eight miles from Falmouth, em- 
 ploys 2,200 persons; and the whole country around, 
 presents a vast scene of industry, with houses, cottages, 
 mining machinery, &c. In these mines, the larger 
 pieces are broken by women, after which, they are 
 crushed in a mill, and then smelted. 
 
 Near the Land's End, is a mine which was wrought 
 to a great distance under the sea. The rock was 
 blasted within two feet of the ocean, which was ascer- 
 tained by boring through. When the waves were 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON MINES. 291 
 
 dashed upon the shore by a storm, the roar over head 
 was terrific. 
 
 The " Levant mine," which is still wrought, is over 
 a thousand feet deep, and extends far under the bed of 
 the ocean. This furnishes copper, iron and tin. 
 Twelve miles from this, is the tin mine of Huel Vor, 
 1200 feet deep. The water is here pumped out by a 
 stupendous steam engine ; the rushing sound produced 
 by this process, reverberating in the caverns of the 
 mine, is said to be in the highest degree appalling to 
 a novice. 
 
 Many curious superstitions exist among miners; 
 among those of Cornwall as well as Mexico, no person 
 is allowed to whisper, as it bodes bad luck ; though 
 any one may sing as loud as he pleases. If a man is 
 killed, they speak of it in the soft phrase, he fell 
 away. In some districts, none of the miners will 
 work, when any one of their number has died, till the 
 funeral is closed. 
 
 In the mining districts of England, houses are often 
 undermined, and one side sinks, so as to make the 
 buildings seem as if about to be capsized; still the 
 people inhabit them till they tumble upon their heads. 
 Many such houses are to be met with, showing how 
 little danger is regarded, when people become familiar 
 with it. 
 
 A traveller in Mexico tells us that in one of the 
 entrances to the Valenciana mine of Mexico, sixty 
 fathoms down, there is a church where the lamps are 
 kept continually lighted. Here the miners spend half 
 an hour, going to and coming from their work, in their 
 
292 GENERAL REMARKS ON MINES. 
 
 devotions, and in singing. The same writer thus 
 describes the condition of the miners : 
 
 " Their houses and clothing are of little value ; the 
 former for the most part being miserable huts, which 
 it would be no hard task to erect in a single day. In 
 families of seven or eight individuals, the furniture, 
 cooking utensils, in short, the whole contents of sev- 
 eral huts belonging to the laboring classes which we 
 examined, we never found to exceed twenty shillings 
 in value. Not one house in twenty contained either 
 knife or fork, or spoon, and even in several whole vil- 
 lages, they could not be had. As for beds, they 
 never think of such a thing, but lie down on the bare 
 floor in the corner of the hut. The dress of the labor- 
 ing man, when new, would be thought dear for six 
 shillings, and this he wears at all times, and in all 
 places, in the mine and out of it, on Sunday as well 
 as every other day, and at night it serves both for beds 
 and bed-clothes, until torn off piece by piece." 
 
 In some cases, the miners spend the whole week in 
 the mines, from Monday to Saturday ; and in others, 
 families men, women and children dwell; here 
 people are born and here they die ; and here nearly 
 the whole lives of some persons are spent ! There 
 are, no doubt, many thousands to whom the sun is a 
 strange and unusual sight, and who might seem to be 
 burrowing quadrupeds rather than human beings, 
 made to walk upright in the light of heaven and the 
 image of God. Of the thousands, nay millions, that 
 have been made slaves and forced to sacrifice their 
 lives in digging for silver and gold, by the Spaniards, 
 we have no statistics ; nor will the misery these poor 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON MINES. 293 
 
 creatures have suffered, be known, till the reckon- 
 ing of the judgment day. It behoves the living 
 generation of Christian men, to see that a similar 
 reckoning is riot reserved for them, in the history of 
 existing mines, where we know that humanity is 
 reduced to a state of almost indescribable misery and 
 degradation. 
 
 25* 
 
WOOD-CUTTING. 
 
 WE have already seen the operations of human 
 enterprise and art in fishing, hunting and mining 
 out the forest is as important a source of comfort and 
 luxury as any of these. The habitations of men, as 
 well as the greater part of their furniture ; many of 
 the most useful utensils of refined, as well as barbar- 
 ous life ; the canoe of the savage, and the ship of the 
 civilized; the fuel of a large portion of the human 
 race ; the greater part of the machinery of manufac- 
 turing countries are dependent upon the vegetable 
 productions of the forest. The spontaneous supply of 
 such materials suited to the multiplied wants of man. 
 is a theme which may well excite the grateful admira- 
 tion of every reflecting mind. 
 
 This subject is too vast to be fully considered here ; 
 we shall only attempt to present one or two topics, 
 which, however, may serve as an index to the whole. 
 
 LUMBER, TRADE OF NORTH AMERICA. The great 
 forests of the continent of North America afford the 
 most plentiful supplies of timber, from which not only 
 our own country, but the British dominions in Europe 
 and elsewhere, derive their materials for ship-building 
 and other purposes. These supplies, of course, are 
 obtained chiefly from those districts which lie near the 
 
WOOD-CUTTING. 295 
 
 ocean, as the labor of transporting so bulky an article 
 to navigable waters, constitutes the greater part of the 
 expense of obtaining it. Great Britain procures her 
 American timber from Canada and New Brunswick. 
 The Atlantic states of the Union obtain their supplies 
 chiefly from the forests of Maine. A valuable species 
 of oak called " live oak," is produced in the neighbor- 
 hood of Florida, and this is used chiefly in the con- 
 struction of our ships of war. The State of North 
 Carolina furnishes a species of yellow pine, and Mas- 
 sachusetts and New Hampshire abound with white 
 oak, both of which are used to a great extent, in ship- 
 building of all sorts. 
 
 The timber procured from the woods of Maine and 
 New Brunswick, is chiefly white pine and spruce. 
 The business of felling this timber and bringing it to 
 market, is called "lumbering," the word "lumber" 
 being an American appellation for boards and timber 
 in a rough state. This business employs a large 
 number of persons, both English and American. A 
 " lumbering party " is composed of a certain number 
 of persons either hired by a master lumberer, who 
 pays them wages and finds them provisions, or of 
 individuals who enter into an understanding with each 
 other to have a joint interest in the proceeds of their 
 labor. The necessary supplies of provisions, clothing 
 &c., are generally obtained from the merchants on 
 credit, in consideration of receiving the timber which 
 the lumberers are to bring down the river the follow- 
 ing summer. The stock deemed requisite for a lum- 
 bering party, consists of axes, a cross-cut saw, cooking 
 utensils, a cask of rum, tobacco and pipes, a large 
 
296 WOOD-CUTTING. 
 
 supply of biscuit, pork, beef, fish, pease, &c., for soup, 
 with a cask of molasses to sweeten the beer which 
 they brew from spruce and hemlock. Two or three 
 yoke of oxen, with sufficient hay to feed them, are 
 also required to haul the timber out of the woods. 
 
 When all is ready, the lumberers proceed up th 
 rivers into the thickest of the woods, where they select 
 a favorable spot for their work, which is as near a stream 
 of water as possible. They begin by clearing away a 
 few of the surrounding trees, and building a log hut, 
 which is roofed with bark, and provided with a cellar 
 for lodging such of their goods as are liable to injury 
 from the frost. The fire-place is in the middle of the 
 hut, and the smoke goes out through a hole in the 
 roof. Hay, straw, or branches of trees are spread on 
 the ground, on which they all lie down at night to 
 sleep, with their feet to the fire which is kept con- 
 stantly alive. One person officiates as cook, whose duty 
 it is to have breakfast ready before daylight, at which 
 time all the party rise, and each take his " morning," 
 or the indispensable dram of spirits before break- 
 fast. Immediately after this meal, they divide into 
 three " gangs," one of which cuts down the trees, an- 
 other hews them and the third is employed with the 
 oxen in hauling the timber either to one general road 
 leading to the banks of the nearest stream, or at once 
 to the stream itself. The whole winter is thus spent 
 in unremitting labor. The ground is covered with 
 snow two or three feet deep from the beginning of 
 winter till April, and in the midst of the woods till 
 nearly the end of May. When the thaws come on in 
 April, the rivers rise, or in the phrase of the lumber- 
 
WOOD-CUTTING. 297 
 
 ers, the " freshets come down." At this time, all the 
 timber cut during the winter, is thrown into the water 
 and floated down the head streams, until the river 
 becomes sufficiently wide to make the whole collection 
 into rafts. 
 
 The construction of the vast masses of timber float- 
 ed down the St. Lawrence, and other great streams 
 of North America, is generally as follows. The rafts- 
 men commence by floating twenty or more pieces of 
 timber alongside of each other, with the ends in a 
 line. These ends are then bound close together by 
 placing logs across, and binding one log to another 
 with poles and withs. The size of the raft is then 
 increased by adding pieces of timber in the same man- 
 ner, until the whole lot to be rafted is joined together 
 in one flat mass. The water at this season is exces- 
 sively cold, yet for weeks together the lumberers are 
 in it from morning till night; and seldom less than 
 six weeks elapse from the time that the floating of the 
 timber commences, till the rafts are delivered to the 
 merchants. 
 
 Hardly any course of life can more surely undermine 
 the constitution, or be more injurious to health than that 
 of a lumberer and raftsman. The winter snow and frost, 
 although severe, are nothing to endure in comparison 
 with the extreme coldness of the snow-water of the 
 freshets, in which he is, day after day, wet up to the 
 middle, and often immersed from head to foot. The 
 very vitals are thus chilled and sapped. The intense 
 heat of a summer sun, a transition which almost im- 
 mediately follows, must further weaken and reduce the 
 whole frame, and premature old age is the inevitable 
 
298 WOOD-CUTTING. 
 
 fate of a lumberer. But notwithstanding all the toils 
 of such a pursuit, those who once adopt this life, seem 
 fascinated with it, and prefer it to any other. They 
 are, in most respects, as independent as the Indians. 
 After disposing of their rafts, they pass some weeks in 
 idle indulgence, drinking, smoking, and dashing off in 
 a long coat, dandy waistcoat and trousers, a handker- 
 chief of many colors around the neck, a watch with a 
 long tinsel chain and numerous brass seals, and an 
 umbrella. At the end of the warm season they throw 
 off all this finery, return to the woods and recommence 
 their laborious occupation. 
 
 The American lumber, besides its domestic uses, is 
 largely exported to the West India islands. Of the 
 lumber from the British provinces, it is computed that 
 the exportation into Great Britain employs 300,000 
 tons of shipping. The Americans export only sound 
 timber and boards ; but the most of the timber export- 
 ed by the British is in the shape of rough logs. 
 
 LOGWOOD-CUTTING. Logwood seems to have been 
 first brought to England soon after the accession of 
 Queen Elizabeth, but the various and beautiful dyes ob- 
 tained from it, proved, by the unskilfulness of the dyers, 
 of so little durability, that it soon fell into disrepute, 
 and an act of parliament not only prohibited the use 
 of it, but authorized the burning of the commodity 
 wherever it should be found throughout the realm. 
 It was not till the reign of Charles II., that the 
 discovery of the method of fixing the colors of log- 
 wood brought it again into high esteem, and pro- 
 cured the repeal of the prohibitions respecting it. The 
 best logwood in the world is that of Campeachy. 
 
WOOD-CUTTING. 299 
 
 No other writer has given so good a description of 
 this valuable article of commerce, and the manner of 
 procuring it, as Dampier, whose account we shall here 
 copy. 
 
 " After the English had taken Jamaica, and hegan 
 to cruise in this bay, they found many barks laden 
 with it, but not knowing its value then, they either 
 set them adrift or burned them, saving only the nails, 
 and iron work, a thing now unusual among the priva- 
 teers, taking no notice at all of the cargo ; till Captain 
 James having taken a great ship laden with it, and 
 brought her home to England to fit her for a privateer, 
 beyond his expectations, sold his wood at a great 
 rate, though before he valued it so little, that he burn- 
 ed of it all his passage home. After his return to 
 Jamaica, the English, visiting this bay, found out 
 the place where it grew, and if they met no prize at 
 sea, they would return to Champeton river, where 
 they were certain to find large piles cut to their hand, 
 and brought to the seaside ready to be shipped off. 
 This was their common practice, till at last the Span- 
 iards sent soldiers there to prevent their depredations. 
 
 " But by this time the English knew the trees as 
 growing, and understanding their value, began to 
 rummage other coasts of the Main in search of it, till 
 according to their desire they found large groves of it, 
 first at Cape Catoche, which, as I have said before, 
 was the first place where they settled to logwood-cut- 
 ting, and loaded many vessels from thence to Jamaica 
 and other places. But it growing scarce there, they 
 found out the Lagune of Trist in the Bay of Cam- 
 peachy, where they followed the same trade, and have 
 
300 WOOD-CUTTING. 
 
 ever since continued it, even to the time of my being 
 here. The land near the sea or the Lagunes, is 
 mangrovy, and always wet, but at a little distance 
 from it, it is fast and firm, and never overflowed ex- 
 cept in the wet season. The soil is a strong yellow- 
 ish clay, but the upper coat or surface is a black mould, 
 though not deep. Here grow divers sorts of trees of 
 no great bulk or height. Among these the logwood 
 trees thrive best, and are very plentiful ; this being the 
 most proper soil for them, for they do not thrive in dry 
 ground, neither shall you see any growing in rich 
 black mould. They are much like our white-thorn 
 in England, but generally a great deal bigger. The 
 rind of the young growing branches is white and 
 smooth, with some prickles shooting forth here and 
 there, so that an Englishman not knowing the differ- 
 ence, would take them for white-thorns ; but the body 
 and old branches are blackish ; the rind rougher, 
 with few or no prickles. The leaves are small and 
 shaped like the common white-thorn leaf, of a palish 
 green. 
 
 " We always choose to cut the old black-rinded trees, 
 for these have less sap, and require but little pains to 
 chip or cut it. The sap is white, and the heart red. 
 The heart is used much for dyeing, therefore we chip 
 off all the white sap till we come to the heart, and 
 then it is fit to be transported to Europe. After it has 
 been chipped a little while it becomes black, and if it 
 lies in the Water it dyes like ink, and sometimes it has 
 been used to write with. Some trees are five or six 
 foot circumference, and these we can scarce cut into 
 logs small enough for a man's burthen without great 
 
WOOD-CUTTING. 301 
 
 labor, and therefore are forced to blow them up. It is 
 a very ponderous sort of wood, and burns very well, 
 making a clear strong- fire, and very lasting. We 
 always harden the steels of our fire-arms, when they 
 are faulty, in a logwood fire if we can get it. 
 
 " The logwood-cutters inhabit the creeks of the East 
 and West Lagunes, in small companies, building their 
 huts close by the Necks' sides, for the benefit of the 
 sea breezes, as near the logwood groves as they can, 
 removing often to be near their business ; yet when 
 they are settled in a good open place, they choose 
 rather to go half a mile in their canoes to work, than 
 lose that convenience. Though they build their huts 
 bht slightly, yet they take care to thatch them well 
 with palm, or palmetto leaves, to prevent the rams 
 which are there very violent, from soaking in. For 
 their bedding, they raise a barbecue, or wooden frame, 
 three foot and a half above ground on one side of the 
 house, and stick up four stakes at each corner, one to 
 fasten their pavilions, out of which here is no sleeping 
 for moschetoes. Another frame they raise covered 
 with earth, for a hearth to dress their victuals ; and a 
 third to sit at when they eat it. 
 
 " During the wet season, the land where the log- 
 wood grows is so overflowed, that they step from their 
 beds into the water perhaps two foot deep, and cofT- 
 tinue standing in the wet all day, till they go to bed 
 again ; but nevertheless account it the best season of 
 the year for doing a good day's labor in. Some fell 
 the trees ; ethers saw and cut them into convenient 
 logs, and one chips off the sap, and he is commonly a 
 principal man ; and when a tree is so thick, that after 
 xviu. 26 
 
302 WOOD-CUTTING. 
 
 it has lodged it remains still too great a burthen for 
 one man, we blow it up with gunpowder. 
 
 " The logwood-cutters, are generally sturdy fellows, 
 and will carry burthens of three or four hundred 
 weight ; but every man is left to his choice to carry 
 what he pleaseth ; and commonly, they agree very 
 well about it, for they are contented to labor very 
 hard. But when ships come from Jamaica with rum 
 and sugar, they are too apt to mis-spend both their 
 time and money. If the commanders of these ships 
 are free, and treat all that come the first day with 
 punch, they will be much respected, and every man 
 will pay honestly for what he drinks afterwards. But 
 if he be niggardly, they will pay him with thefr 
 worst wood, and commonly they have a stock of such 
 laid by for that purpose. Nay, they will cheat them 
 with hollow wood, filled with dirt in the middle, and 
 both ends plugged up with a piece of the same, drove 
 in hard, and then sawed off so neatly that it is hard to 
 find out the deceit. But if any man come to purchase 
 with bills payable at Jamaica, they will be sure to give 
 him their best wood." 
 
 MAHOGANY. This is the wood of a tree growing in 
 the West Indies and Central America. There are 
 two other species of Swietena found in the East 
 ladies, but they are not much known in this country. 
 
 The mahogany is one of the most majestic and beau- 
 tiful of trees ; its trunk is often forty feet in length and 
 six feet in diameter ; and it divides into so many massy 
 arms, and throws the shade of its shining green leaves 
 over so vast an extent of surface, that few more magnifi- 
 cent objects are to be met with in the vegetable world. 
 
WOOD-CUTTING. 303 
 
 It is abundant in Cuba and Hayti, and it used to be 
 plentiful in Jamaica ; but in the latter island, most of 
 the larger trees, at least in accessible situations, have 
 been cut down. The principal importations into Great 
 Britain are made from Honduras and Gampeachy. 
 That which is imported from the islands is called 
 Spanish mahogany ; it is not so large as that from 
 Honduras, being generally in logs from twenty to 
 twenty-six inches square, and ten feet long ; while the 
 latter is usually from two to four feet square, and 
 twelve or fourteen feet long, but some logs are much 
 larger. 
 
 Mahogany is a very beautiful and valuable species 
 of wood; its color is red brown, of different shades 
 and various degrees of brightness, sometimes yel- 
 lowish brown ; often very much veined and mottled, 
 with darker shades of the same color. The texture is 
 uniform, and the annual rings not very distinct. It has 
 no large septa, but the smaller septa are often very 
 visible, with pores between them, which in the Hon- 
 duras wood are generally empty, but in the Spanish 
 wood, are mostly filled with a whitish substance. It 
 has neither taste nor smell, shrinks very little, and 
 warps or twists less than any other species of timber. 
 It is very durable when kept dry, but does not last 
 long when exposed to the weather. It is not attacked 
 by worms. Like the pine tribe, the timber is best on 
 rocky soils, or in exposed situations. That which is 
 most accessible at Honduras, grows upon moist, low 
 land, and is, generally speaking, decidedly inferior to 
 that brought from Cuba and Hayti, being soft, coarse 
 and spongy; while the other is coarse-grained and 
 
304 WOOD-CUTTING. 
 
 hard, of a darker color, and sometimes strongly fig- 
 ured. Honduras mahogany, has, however, the advan- 
 tage of holding glue admirably well ; and is, for this 
 reason, frequently used as a ground on which to lay 
 veneers of the finer sorts. 
 
 The best qualities of mahogany bring a very high 
 price. Not long since, Messrs. Broadwood, the dis- 
 tinguished piano-forte manufacturers of London, gave 
 the enormous sum of 3000, for three logs of mahog- 
 any. These were the produce of a single tree, each 
 about fifteen feet long, and thirty-eight inches square ; 
 they were cut into veneers of eight to an inch. The 
 wood was particularly beautiful, capable of receiving 
 the highest polish; and when polished, reflecting the 
 light in the most varied manner, like the surface of a 
 crystal ; and from the wavy form of the pores offer- 
 ing a different figure in whatever direction it was 
 viewed. Dealers in mahogany generally introduce 
 an auger before buying a log ; but notwithstanding, 
 they are seldom able to decide with much precision 
 as to the quality of the wood, so that there is a good 
 deal of lottery in the trade. Mahogany was used in 
 repairing some of Sir Walter Raleigh's ships at Trin- 
 idad, in 1597 ; but it was not introduced into use in 
 England, till 1724. 
 
 ROSEWOOD is one of the most beautiful and costly of 
 the fancy woods ; it is produced in Brazil, the Canary 
 Isles, Siam, &c. The logs often are twenty-two 
 inches in thickness. Considerable quantities are 
 imported into this country, and 300 tons are annually 
 sent to Great Britain. 
 
AGRICULTUKE, 
 
 INCLUDING the means of procuring every part of the 
 produce of the soil, is the grand source of human sub- 
 sistence ; hence, are chiefly derived the materials 
 used in the manufactures, and the objects, in the 
 exchange of which commerce consists. The modes in 
 which support is obtained from land are hunting, pas- 
 turage and tillage; the last being the only one in 
 which labor is employed directly upon the ground 
 itself, is more especially considered as agriculture. 
 
 Tillage is employed by all the more improved 
 nations as the most efficacious means of drawing sub- 
 sistence from the earth. In proportion to the general 
 improvement which any people have attained, is usu- 
 ally the skill and diligence with which this art is 
 practised. The community which derives its chief 
 subsistence from the culture of the soil, merits gene 
 rally the character of civilized. 
 
 The objects of culture vary exceedingly, and for the 
 most part, according to the varieties of soil and cul- 
 ture. Grain, the main staff of human subsistence, 
 forms everywhere the most extensive and most impor- 
 tant object of tillage. Climate chiefly determines the 
 grain cultivated in any particular region ; in the trop- 
 ical countries, it is rice ; in the best parts of the tern- 
 T 26* 
 
306 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 perate zones, wheat and barley ; in the colder tracts, 
 oats and rye. Of luxuries, wine and oil are in the 
 most general demand; they are almost exclusively 
 confined to the warmer regions of the temperate 
 zones. The delicate fruits from which they are pro- 
 duced, do not flourish in the excessively luxuriant soil 
 of the tropics. Here, however, the fragrant aromatic 
 plants, and those filled with rich and saccharine 
 juices, produce valuable substances that are eagerly 
 sought after by the natives of less genial climates. 
 
 Europe, though settled at a later period than 
 Asia and parts of Africa though containing but one 
 sixteenth part of the land surface of the globe, and 
 but about one fourth of the whole population of the 
 earth, still presents an amazing spectacle of wealth, 
 industry and art, in its cultivated lands, its flocks and 
 herds, and the annual products of its soil. The fol- 
 lowing table, which may be regarded as an approxi- 
 mation to the truth, is calculated to excite astonish- 
 ment at the accumulative power of man. 
 
 Agricultural Statistics of Europe. 
 
 Cultivated lands, .... 100,000,000 acres. 
 
 Arable lands, 372,145,000 " 
 
 Meadows and pastures, . . 150,000 ; 000 " 
 
 Vineyards, 12,275,000 " 
 
 Woodlands, . ... . . 425,250,000 " 
 
 Grain, 3,150,000,000 bushels, annually. 
 
 Wine, 1,709,100,000 gallons 
 
 Horses and Mules, . . . 26,417,600 owned at one time. 
 
 Cattle, 70,270,974 
 
 Sheep, 170,577,220 " 
 
 Swine, 42,974,610 " " 
 
 Goats, 6,513,225 
 
AGRICULTURE. 307 
 
 Some parts of Europe have been cultivated for many 
 centuries, but such is the skill of the husbandmen, that 
 the oldest lands are sometimes rendered the most pro- 
 ductive. In England, especially, the depths of chemis- 
 try have been explored, to discover salts and gases, which 
 may be used as the means of resuscitating the jaded 
 soils ; and every kingdom of nature has been put in requi- 
 sition to supply the fructifying principle. Not only the 
 bones of animals are ground into powder and scattered 
 upon the lands, but even those of the heroes who fell 
 at Waterloo, it is said, have been dug from their " dread 
 abode," and made to manure the fields of Britain. 
 
 Nor is even this all; the guano fever is not one of 
 the least curious symptoms of this insatiate hunger 
 and thirst of the exhausted English lands. Guano is 
 the excrement of sea fowl, which, having accumulated 
 for ages on certain lonely rocky islands, is found in 
 almost exhaustless masses. There are large supplies 
 of this along the western coast of South America, and 
 it appears to have been used as a manure in the days 
 of the Incas, by the Peruvians. Immense quantities of 
 it have been shipped to England ; but of late, the 
 island of Ichaboe, on the south-eastern coast of Africa, 
 has been the chief resort of English and American 
 vessels for this article. The following account, written 
 by one from the scene of action, is lively and graphic. 
 
 " Here I am in the father of all dunghills, an enor- 
 mous mass of birds' manure, called guano, lying thirty 
 feet deep on the island of Ichaboe. Conceive a barren, 
 desolate, sandy coast ; but so barren, so desolate, so 
 sandy ! without a soul, or a bush, or a stream near, 
 where it never rains, where the dew wets you through, 
 
303 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 where it is so cold one gets the horrors, where the air 
 is so clear, that one cannot see the land till one is a 
 mile or two off. An enormous surf beating over the 
 shore, rocks, reefs, shoals, in all directions ; conceive 
 a barren rock of an island off this coast, to be covered 
 to the depth of thirty feet, with a beastly smelling-bot- 
 tle sort of mess, looking like bad snuff mixed with 
 rotten kittens ; conceive 132 ships lying packed 
 between this island and the aforesaid sand and surf; 
 fancy 132 masters of merchantmen, with 132 crews, 
 and 132 sets of laborers, all fighting ; conceive a gale 
 of wind on the top of all this, and you will then only 
 have half an idea of the rum place I have at last got 
 into." 
 
 To this curious account, we might add many others, 
 to show the blending of the great operations of agri- 
 culture, commerce and manufactures, and enabling us 
 to see how they mutually aid and support each other. 
 A single example will suffice. The article of flax 
 seed is imported into Boston from Calcutta, where it is 
 in part paid for in the manufactures of Lowell, spars 
 and oars wrought from our forests, ice from the 
 laboratory of our Yankee winter, and other articles. 
 Flax-seed is also brought from Russia, our vessels 
 taking sugar in the West Indies and exchanging the 
 cargo at St. Petersburg. Flax-seed is also obtained 
 from the Mediterranean, where it is purchased with 
 raw cotton. 
 
 The seed thus gathered from various quarters of the 
 world, is sent to some one of the mills, of which there 
 are several in the country, where the oil, at the rate of, 
 perhaps, 100,000 gallons a year, is pressed out, and the 
 
AGRICULTURE. 309 
 
 " linseed cake," now almost as hard as rock, is ship- 
 ped to London, where it is used in feeding milch 
 cows and stalled cattle. Thus the infant of the Brit- 
 ish metropolis that takes its spoonful of milk, lays two 
 hemispheres under contribution, and John Bull, in 
 eating his beef stake, not only taxes the industry of his 
 Yankee cousins but makes the dusky children of 
 Hindostan, the bearded cerfs of Russia, and the swarthy 
 sons and daughters of the Levant, the tributaries to 
 his pleasure. Thus it is, that humdrum husbandry, 
 viewed in its thousand ramifications, opens trains of 
 thought as wonderful as the revelations of Aladdin's 
 magic lamp. 
 
 We now proceed to notice in detail, some of the 
 more remarkable productions of Agriculture. 
 
 TEA. This article is an original production of 
 China, and the cultivation of it is still almost exclu- 
 sively confined to that country. Attempts have been 
 made to introduce the tea-plant into the East India 
 islands, various parts of Hindostan, and Brazil, but 
 with little success, owing, it appears, to the difference 
 of the climate from that of China. 
 
 There are several species of the tea-plant ; of which 
 three principal ones may be particularized. First the 
 song-lo, which grows in the mountainous district of 
 Kiang-nan. Second, the vou-y, produced on the hilly 
 tracts of Fo-kien. The two are well known to us un- 
 der the appellations of green and bohea teas. The 
 third species is the pou-el, and grows in the elevated 
 regions of Yun-nan ; but although this variety of tea 
 is highly esteemed at Pekin, it has not been imported 
 into Europe or America. In its general characteris- 
 
310 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 tics, the tea-plant may be described as an evergreen 
 shrub, which grows in the open air in that tract of 
 climate comprised between the equator and the lati- 
 tude of 45, but the most favorable situation is between 
 25 and 33. In appearance it somewhat resembles a 
 myrtle, and bears yellow flowers extremely fragrant. 
 About three years after it is planted, the leaves may 
 be plucked for use. A few taken off early in spring, 
 when they are first unfolded, are of exquisitely fine 
 flavor. At subsequent periods, three crops are gather- 
 ed, always diminishing in delicacy of flavor, but in- 
 creasing in bulk. In this manner the black teas are 
 separated into four qualities, peko, souchong, congo 
 and simple bohea, and the green likewise into four, 
 namely, gunpowder, imperial, hyson and twankay ; 
 the hyson is subdivided into hyson, young hyson, and 
 hyson-skin. 
 
 In preparing the teas for market, they are made to 
 pass through several processes. The leaves are sep- 
 arately worked between the hands, by which they are 
 rolled into the curled shape in which they appear to 
 us ; after this they are separated into different lots ac- 
 cording to quality. They also undergo two succes- 
 sive dryings, which in the case of the green, involve 
 a very nice operation. The leaves are placed in iron 
 pots, or vases, above a large fire, while a person con- 
 tinually stirs them with his hand to prevent their 
 scorching. These labors are performed partly by the 
 cultivators of the tea, and partly by the traders who 
 resort to the tea-marts at particular seasons to make 
 purchases. 
 
 Although we have specified certain localities for the 
 
AGRICULTURE. 311 
 
 production of this plant, yet it is raised in greater or 
 less abundance in every province of China, except the 
 extreme north. Until recently the whole of the black 
 tea was brought from the province of Fo-kien, and the 
 whole of the green from Kiang-nan ; but the cultivation 
 of green tea for exportation is now extended to Tche- 
 kiang, and that of black to Kuang.-tung, or Canton. 
 The Chinese tea-merchants generally begin to arrive in 
 Canton early in October, with the crop of the season. 
 At the beginning of the present century, the quan- 
 tity of tea exported from China, did not probably ex- 
 ceed thirty millions of pounds. For above a century 
 and a half, the sole object of the English East India 
 Company's trade with China, was the importation of 
 tea into Great Britain. The association enjoyed this 
 trade to the exclusion of all other British subjects, and 
 were bound from time to time, to send orders for tea, 
 and to provide ships to import the same, and always 
 to have a year's consumption in their warehouses. 
 The only port at which tea could be admitted into 
 Great Britain, was London. The sales took place 
 every three months, and the Company was bound to 
 sell the teas to the highest bidder, provided an advance 
 was offered of one penny a pound on the price at 
 which each lot was put up, which price was determin- 
 ed by adding together the precise cost at Canton, and 
 the charges of freight, insurance, interest on capitol, 
 and other necessary expenses ; but by the mode of 
 calculating these items, and the heavier expenses which 
 always attend every department of a trade monop- 
 oly, the ultimate prices were greatly enhanced. In 
 1834, the monopoly of the East India Company was 
 
312 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 abolished, and tea is now imported by private mer- 
 chants into all the large seaports of Great Britain. 
 
 The tea-plant is to the Chinese in a great measure, 
 both in culture, trade, and consumption, what the vine 
 is to the people of Southern Europe; coffee to the 
 Arabians, and the sugar cane to the inhabitants of the 
 West Indies. The consumption of tea in China is 
 immense. Every district generally speaking produces 
 its own supply, though only the finest teas are con- 
 sumed by the wealthy. The exportation from Canton 
 may be estimated at 50,000,000 pounds annually, and 
 6,500,000 pounds are exported by land to Russia. 
 The greatest consumers of tea out of China, are the 
 English, and next to them the Americans. In Great 
 Britain are consumed annually 30,000,000 pounds ; 
 in the United States, 8,000,000; in France, 2,000,000; 
 in Holland, 2,800,000. The proportion of black to 
 green tea consumed in England, is as 5 to 1 ; but in 
 the United States, the use of green tea is the greatest. 
 
 SUGAR. The sugar cane was first made known to 
 the western parts of the world, by the conquests of 
 Alexander the Great. Strabo relates that Nearchus, 
 his admiral, found it in the East Indies, in the year 
 325 before Christ. Varro who lived B. C. 68, de- 
 scribes sugar as a fluid pressed from reeds of a large 
 size, sweeter than honey. Dioscorides, somewhat 
 later, says "there is a kind of honey called saccharon, 
 which is found in India and Arabia Felix. It has the 
 appearance of salt, and is brittle when chewed." He 
 also specified its medicinal qualities. Galen pre- 
 scribed it as a medicine. Pliny mentions Arabia and 
 India, as the countries which produced sugar, and 
 
AGRICULTURE. 313 
 
 there is the strongest reason to believe that the sugar 
 cane is an indigenous plant in some part of the East 
 Indies. Marco Polo relates that sugar was raised in 
 abundance in Bengal, in the thirteenth century ; and 
 Vasco de Gama in 1497 found a considerable trade in 
 the article at Calicut. 
 
 Sugar appears to have made its way into Europe 
 about the time of the crusades. The first circumstan- 
 tial account of it, is by Albertus Agnensis, who wrote 
 about the year 1108. He informs us that " sweet 
 honeyed reeds " called Zucra, were found by the cru- 
 saders growing in the meadows near Tripoli. These 
 reeds were sucked by the soldiers, who highly relish- 
 ed their sweet taste. He describes also the process 
 of making the sugar by crystallization. It is very diffi- 
 cult to trace the progress of the introduction of the 
 cane, and the manufacture of sugar from it, into the 
 islands of the Mediterranean, Italy, and Spain ; but 
 most authorities agree that this was owing to the 
 Arabs, and that it was in some degree connected with 
 the increased communication between Europe and the 
 East, occasioned by the crusades. The cane appears 
 to have been cultivated first in the Morea, and the 
 island of Rhodes, from whence it was introduced suc- 
 cessively into Malta, Sicily, Spain, Madeira, and the 
 Canary Islands. The sugar cane was not indigenous 
 to the Western continent, but was carried first to His- 
 paniola, by Columbus in his second voyage in 1493. 
 
 The Venetians are supposed to have been the first 
 
 sugar-refiners in Europe ; but their original operations 
 
 were made upon the coarse black sugar which they 
 
 imported from Egypt. Before the discovery of Amer- 
 
 XVIIL 27 
 
314 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 ica, sugar was a costly luxury in Europe, used only 
 on rare occasions. The rapid increase in the cultiva- 
 tion of the cane in the fertile islands of the West 
 Indies, soon caused it to become an article of common 
 use, and at the present day it may be reckoned among 
 the necessaries of life. 
 
 The quantity of sugar produced in different parts of 
 the world from the sugar cane, was estimated in 1839 
 as follows. 
 
 Exported into other Countries. 
 
 British Sugar Colonies, 3,571,378 cwts. 
 
 British India, 519,126 
 
 Danish West Indies, 450,000 " 
 
 Dutch " " 260,060 " 
 
 French Sugar Colonies, 2,160,000 " 
 
 United States, 900,000 " 
 
 Brazil, . . 2,400^000 
 
 Spanish West Indies, 4,481.342 " 
 
 Java, , 892,475 
 
 For internal consumption exclusive of 
 China, India, Siam, Java, and the United 
 
 States, 2,446,337 
 
 Total, 18,080,658 cwts. 
 
 Besides sugar manufactured from the cane, a con- 
 siderable quantity is made in the United States, from 
 the juice of the maple tree, and in France from the 
 sugar beet. The maple sugar, though of a delicious 
 flavor, is coarse, but capable of being refined to as 
 high a degree as that from the cane. 
 
 COFFEE. Coffee is a kind of berry produced from 
 shrubs, which bear glossy, sharp pointed leaves, .and 
 begin to yield fruit when two or three years old. It 
 is a native of that part of Arabia called Yemen ; but it 
 
AGRICULTURE. 315 
 
 is now very extensively cultivated in the southern ex- 
 tremity of India, in Java, the West Indies, Brazil, &c. 
 We are ignorant of the precise period when it began 
 to be roasted, and the decoction used as a drink, 
 though the discovery is not supposed to date further 
 back than the early part of the fifteenth century. No 
 mention of it is made by any ancient writer ; nor by 
 any of the moderns previous to the sixteenth century. 
 Leouhart Rauwolf, a German physician, is believed to 
 be the first European who has taken any notice of cof- 
 fee. His work was published in 1573, but his account 
 is in some respects inaccurate. 
 
 A public coffee-house was opened for the first time 
 in London, 1652. A Turkey merchant of the name of 
 Edwards, having brought with him from the Levant 
 some bags of coffee, and a Greek servant accustomed to 
 prepare it, his house was tlironged with visitors to see 
 and taste this new sort of liquor, and being desirous 
 to gratify his friends without putting himself to incon- 
 venience, he allowed his servant to make and sell 
 it publicly. In consequence of this permission, the 
 latter opened a coffee-house in St. Michael's Alley, 
 Cornhill, on the spot where the Virginia Coffee-house 
 now stands. 
 
 It is said that coffee was first used in France, about 
 the year 1650. The first coffee-house in that country 
 was opened at Marseilles, 1671, and the next 
 was opened at Paris, the following year. Between 
 1680 and 1690, the Dutch planted coffee-beans they 
 had procured from Mocha, in the vicinity of Batavia. 
 In 1690, they sent a plant to Europe, and it was from 
 
316 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 the berries of this that the first coffee plantations in 
 the West Indies and Surinam were supplied. 
 
 The following tables contain an estimate of the an- 
 nual exports of coffee from the principal places where 
 it is produced, and the annual consumption in those 
 countries into which it is imported. 
 
 Exports. Tons. 
 
 Arabian Ports, 10,000 
 
 Java, 18,000 
 
 Sumatra and other parts of India, 8,000 
 
 Brazil and Spanish Main, 42,000 
 
 St. Domingo, 20,000 
 
 Cuba and Porto Rico, . 25,000 
 
 British West Indies, 11,000 
 
 Dutch West Indies, 5,000 
 
 French Colonies, 8,000 
 
 Total, 147,000 
 
 Consumption. Tons. 
 
 Great Britain, 10,500 
 
 Netherlands, 40,500 
 
 Germany and Baltic Countries, . 32,000 
 
 Southern Europe, Levant, &c., 35,000 
 
 United States, 20,500 
 
 Total, 138,500 
 
 Nearly one fourth of the whole is consumed in the 
 United States and Great Britain. In the latter, the 
 consumption is less than 1 Ib. per head for the whole 
 population, in the former it is upwards of 3 Ibs. 
 
 TOBACCO derives its name, according to some, from 
 a province in Yucatan, New Spain, called Tabacca ; 
 according to others, from the island of Tobago ; and 
 according to others, from Tobasco in the Gulf of Flo- 
 
AGRICULTURE, 317 
 
 rida. It was first observed in St. Domingo, in the year 
 1496, and was used freely by the Spaniards in Yuca- 
 tan, in the year 1520. It was first brought to Eng- 
 land in Elizabeth's reign, by Sir John Hawkins ; 
 though some assert that Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir 
 Francis Drake first used it there. There is a curious 
 tale related of Sir Walter, in relation to this plant, to 
 the effect that his servant saw him smoking a pipe, 
 and thinking he was on fire, threw a pitcher of water 
 on him to put him out ! 
 
 The first public house in England, where tobacco 
 was ever smoked, was at a little inn in Islington. It 
 appears that it was much used in early days, both by 
 men and women ! Its cultivation in England was pro- 
 hibited by Charles the Second, and a duty was laid 
 upon the import, in 16S4. The plant was allowed to be 
 cultivated in Ireland, in 1779. Various statutes were 
 passed in relation to it, and among the latest and most 
 singular, are those enacted by the British parliament 
 in August, 1831, prohibiting its culture in Ireland, 
 and another in 1832, by which all the tobacco grown 
 in Ireland, was purchased up and destroyed. 
 
 The amount of tobacco used in England in 1791, 
 was nine millions and a half pounds. In 1840 it had 
 reached forty millions. 
 
 The tobacco of Virginia is best for pipe smoking ; 
 that of Maryland for segars ; the Kentucky is inter- 
 mediate in character; the Havana tobacco, however, 
 excels all others for segars. There is a Dutch tobacco 
 known in the European market, as Amersfoort, of a 
 rather poor quality. There are some German varie- 
 ties not much esteemed. The Manilla and Mexican 
 27* 
 
318 AGRICULTURE:. 
 
 tobacco is in demand for cheroots^ and the Turkish is 
 in some repute ; but on the whole, the tobacco of 
 America is the best, and is most highly valued. 
 
 The composition of tobacco has been ascertained. 
 In a hundred parts there are 88 of water ; bitter ex- 
 tract nearly 3 ; lignin, with a trace of starch, about 
 5', albumen and gluten 1; salts, not quite 1 part; 
 gum, with a little lime, nearly 2; silica, not quite 1 
 part. There are also traces of some other substances. 
 The expressed juice contains even something more, 
 and the ashes something more. 
 
 When a gentleman is smoking a segar, he little 
 knows how much of a chemist he is ; when he puffs 
 forth a volume of smoke, he eliminates carbonate and 
 acetate of ammonia, nicotianin, empyreumatic oil, 
 soot, and acids. Tobacco has been a fruitful source 
 of comment. King James was one of the principal 
 enemies of this weed, and his book, called " The 
 Counterblast to Tobacco," is quite famous. Indeed, 
 the literature of the subject, if it may be so termed, 
 would be very amusing. We have on the one hand 
 high eulogium, and on the other severe denunciation. 
 We find, in an old collection of epigrams, the follow- 
 ing lines on a tobacconist : 
 
 " All dainty meats I do defie, 
 
 Which fat men feed as swine : 
 He is a frugal man indeed 
 
 That on a leaf can dine. 
 He needs no napkins for his hands, 
 
 His fingers' ends to wipe, 
 That keeps his kitchen in his box, 
 
 And roast meat in his pipe." 
 
 Tobacco is the principal staple of Virginia and 
 
AGRICULTURE. 319 
 
 Maryland, and is now cultivated extensively in Ken- 
 tucky, Tennessee and Missouri. We learn that the 
 average crop of Virginia is about 50,000 hogsheads a 
 year. It is asserted that nearly two millions of peo- 
 ple are directly connected with the culture of tobacco 
 in the United States. The product of this branch of 
 industry is estimated in round numbers at two millions 
 of pounds annually. The value of our export of this 
 article is about ten millions of dollars. It appears 
 that there is a steady increase in the demand for the 
 article abroad, and in the price obtained per hogshead 
 at home. The market among ourselves is rapidly 
 growing greater, as the use of tobacco in some shape 
 or other is constantly spreading itself. Indeed as we 
 cannot furnish a home manufactured segar as yet of 
 the delicate flavor of the genuine Havana, our imports 
 from Cuba are very heavy nearly a million of dollars 
 in value per annum. The English Government 
 receives one of the best parts of its revenue from the 
 tobacco imports nearly sixteen millions of dollars a 
 year. The actual duty per pound is three shillings 
 sterling, levied too on what costs in this country only 
 about six cents. The duty on snuff is six shillings, 
 and on segars nine shillings sterling per pound. 
 
 It appears that the duties levied on American 
 tobacco in Great Britain, in Prussia, where the 
 charge is 30 cents a pound, and in France one dollar 
 a pound are equivalent to thirty-two millions and a 
 half of dollars charged upon an export of only about 
 ten millions of dollars. France derives by this means 
 a revenue of eleven millions of dollars a year. 
 
320 AGRICULTURE, 
 
 SILK. Aristotle is the first Greek writer who men- 
 tions the silkworm, and he states that silk was first 
 spun in the island of Cos in the Archipelago, from raw 
 materials brought from the east. Pliny affirms that 
 the silk came from Assyria, and was worked up by 
 the Greek women. It is highly probable that silk was 
 used in Western Asia before it was known to the 
 Greeks ; and that it was in use among these latter 
 people, long before they knew whence the material 
 came, or how it was produced. Virgil, in the Georgics, 
 supposes that the " Seres," that is, the Chinese, carded 
 the silk from the leaves of trees ; and Dionysius Per- 
 iegetes, a geographer of the Augustan age, speaks of 
 it as a vegetable production. Pausanias, who wrote 
 toward the end of the second century, gives a more 
 accurate account of the substance from which the 
 Seres formed their cloths. " They have," says he, 
 " a spinning insect which is kept in buildings, and 
 produces a fine spun thread which is wrapped about 
 its feet." 
 
 It was not till the sixth century that the obscurity 
 respecting this production was cleared up. At this 
 time, silk had become an article of general use among 
 the Romans, and was manufactured for them by the 
 inhabitants of Tyre and Berytus in Phenicia. The 
 Persians monopolized the supply of the raw material, 
 and guarded the trade with so much jealousy both by 
 land and sea, that travellers from or to China, were not 
 allowed to traverse the Persian dominions ; and in the 
 time of Justinian, they entirely stopped the importa- 
 tion of silk. At this juncture, two Nestorian monks 
 of Persia, who had visited China, acquainted Justinian 
 
AGRICULTURE. 321 
 
 with the method of producing silk, and offered to 
 travel to that country again, and bring back some silk- 
 worm's eggs. Being encouraged in this undertaking, 
 they set out, and returned with a quantity of eggs 
 concealed in a hollow cane. These were brought in 
 safety to Constantinople, and hatched by the heat of 
 a dunghill. The worms were fed with mulberry 
 leaves, and from these proceeded the whole of the 
 silk culture and manufacture now existing in the 
 western world. 
 
 The breeding of silkworms in Europe was for six 
 hundred years confined to the Greeks. In the twelfth 
 century the art made its way into Sicily, and a cen- 
 tury later, into Italy, from which it was successively 
 introduced into Spain and France. In the fifteenth 
 century, the silk manufacture was attempted in Eng- 
 land, but without permanent success. Early in the 
 eighteenth century the culture of silk was introduced 
 into Georgia and Carolina, but the business did not 
 thrive. Very recently the attention of the people of 
 the United States has again been drawn to the subject, 
 and the silk culture has been practised to a considera- 
 ble extent in many parts of the country ; but the final 
 success of the experiment is yet dubious. 
 
 France, Spain, and Italy produce most of the silk 
 manufactured in Europe. The silk thread is reeled 
 from the cocoons only in the countries where the silk- 
 worm is produced. In plain silk weaving, the process 
 is much the same as in weaving woollen or linen, but 
 the weaver is assisted by a machine for the even dis- 
 tribution of the warp, which frequently consists of 
 8,000 separate threads in a breadth of twenty inches, 
 u 
 
322 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 Brocade and damask, the most sumptuous articles of 
 silk manufacture a century ago, are now compara- 
 tively unknown. Persian, sarsnet, gros-de-Naples, 
 satin and levantine, are the names given to plain silks 
 which vary from one another only in texture, quality 
 or softness. Satin derives its lustre from the great 
 proportion of the threads of the warp being left visible, 
 and the piece being afterwards passed over heated 
 cylinders. Other varieties of silk goods are produced 
 by mechanical arrangements in the loom, such as 
 using different shuttles with threads of various sub- 
 stances. *The Chinese crapes have never yet been 
 successfully imitated, and they particularly excel in 
 the production of damasks and flowered satins. 
 
 COTTON. The cotton plant grows spontaneously in 
 the hot or tropical portions of the globe. It derives its 
 name from the Arabic word Koton, and is one of the 
 four great materials designed by Providence for 
 human clothing flax, wool and silk being the other 
 three. It is remarkable that neither of these useful 
 articles was the natural product of Europe. All were 
 indigenous to Asia. Cotton and flax were also natives 
 of Africa and America. 
 
 Cotton, which is the most important of these articles 
 was the last to be generally diffused. Silk, wool and 
 linen, were in use three or four thousand years ago, 
 but cotton was introduced at a later date, and up to the 
 time of our Saviour, was almost unknown as a mate- 
 rial for clothing, except in India. Even in the middle 
 ages, we hear no mention made of cotton garments in 
 Europe. The Chinese, who have taken the lead in so 
 many arts, did not adopt cotton for use till the eleventh 
 
AGRICULTURE. 323 
 
 century, though, for four hundred years previously, 
 they had cultivated it as an ornamental shrub in their 
 gardens. Even at the present day, China imports the 
 wool of this plant for manufacture. 
 
 Cotton was grown, to a small extent, in the United 
 States, nearly two hundred years ago ;. but it was not 
 extensively introduced till many years after. In 1786, 
 Mr. Madison, writing to a friend, says, " there is no 
 reason to doubt that the United States will one day 
 become a great cotton producing country." 
 
 In 1792, the whole crop of the country was only 
 138,328 Ibs. ; in 1795, it was 6,276,300 Ibs. ; and in 
 1842, it was 783,221,800 Ibs. 
 
 The annual average cotton crop of the United 
 States, is about 500 millions of pounds, of which, about 
 400 millions is exported as follows : 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 To Great Britain and Ireland, 284,500,000 
 
 France, 85,000.000 
 
 Hanse Towns, 4,000,000 
 
 Trieste, &c., 1,660,000 
 
 Netherlands, 3,920,000 
 
 Other ports, 20,500,000 
 
 Imports. Ibs. 
 
 Great Britain, 290,000,090 
 
 France, 80,000,000 
 
 Hanse Towns, 6,000,000 
 
 Trieste, 25,000,000 
 
 Netherlands, 10,500,000 
 
 Brazil, the East Indies, Egypt, &c., are, after the 
 United States, the countries that furnish the largest 
 supplies of cotton. Of 288,000,000 Ibs. imported into 
 Great Britain in 1831, 219,330,000 were from the 
 
324 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 United States; 31,695,000 from Brazil; 21,805,000 
 from the East Indies ; 7,714,000 from Egypt; 2,401,- 
 000 from the British West Indies, &c. 
 
 WOOL. Next to cotton, this is the most important 
 material for human clothing, and appears to have been 
 in use from the earliest ages. It is the produce of the 
 several varieties of sheep, though some kinds, as the 
 Angora and Cashmere wool, are obtained from goats. 
 These, however, are rather of the nature of long fine 
 hair of a silky texture. An attempt has been recently 
 made to introduce into Europe the alapaca, a small 
 variety of the llama .of South America, which fur- 
 nishes a species of wool resembling that of the Cash- 
 mere goat, but its success has not yet been deter- 
 mined. 
 
 The number of sheep in Europe is estimated at about 
 170,500,000 ; if we suppose this to be half the num- 
 ber in the world, and estimate the product of wool to 
 be 2 Ibs. each, a year, the whole annual consumption of 
 mankind is 628 millions of pounds, or less than one 
 pound to each person. 
 
 The number of sheep in Great Britain and Ireland, 
 is estimated at 32 millions, and the wool yielded, may 
 be reckoned as about 100 millions of pounds annually. 
 In addition to this, there are imported, each year, about 
 35 millions of pounds. This immense quantity is 
 absorbed by the British manufactories. 
 
 The number of sheep in the United States is esti- 
 mated at 20 millions, and their annual product of 
 wool at 45 millions of pounds. 
 
 FLAX. This plant, called linum in Latin, and 
 hence the word linen, has been cultivated from the 
 
AGRICULTURE. 325 
 
 earliest periods of history, for its fibrous bark, as a 
 material for thread and cloth. The present consump- 
 tion of flax is immense, but we have no means of 
 ascertaining the amount. In 1831, no less than 100 
 million pounds of flax and tow were imported into Great 
 Britain, and almost the whole was retained for home 
 consumption. The seed of flax is used for making lin- 
 seed oil, and it is largely imported for this purpose, 
 into our country, from Eussia, the Mediterranean, and 
 India. Several oil mills produce 100 thousand gal- 
 lons a year, and one yields nearly 100 gallons a day. 
 There are many other articles cultivated to an extent 
 which may well excite surprise. If we reflect that 
 about 
 
 800,000,000 of human beings, 
 
 50,000,000 domesticated horses, asses and mules, 
 150,000,000 domesticated cattle. 
 300,000,000 domesticated sheep, 
 
 80,000,000 domesticated swine, 
 
 12,000,000 domesticated goats, 
 
 are to be fed, every day, by the industry of man, 
 we shall have some faint conception of the vast scale 
 upon which the operations of agriculture are con- 
 ducted. If we conceive that the sun in its daily 
 course, wakes up the whole human race to their 
 labors, and imagine ourselves as accompanying his 
 morning rays in their flight over the world, we may 
 easily fancy the spectacles of activity we should wit- 
 ness, on the hills, and in the valleys, and spreading 
 out from the arctic to the antarctic circle ! 
 
 That the reader may have some adequate idea of 
 the immense extent of agriculture, in our own country, 
 xviii. 28 
 
326 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 which contains but one fortieth of the population of 
 the globe, we offer the following table : 
 
 Agricultural products of the United States for 1843. 
 
 Wheat, 100,310,856 bushels. 
 
 Barley, 3,220,721 
 
 Oats, 145,929,966 
 
 Rye, 24,280,271 
 
 Buckwheat, 7,959,410 
 
 Indian Corn, 494,618,306 
 
 Potatoes, 105,756,133 
 
 Hay, 15,419,807 tons. 
 
 Flax and Hemp, 161,707 Ibs. 
 
 Tobacco, 185,731,554 
 
 Cotton, 747,660,090 
 
 Rice, 89,879,145 
 
 Silk, 315,965 " 
 
 Sugar, 126,400,310 
 
 Wine, 139.240 gallons. 
 
 It will be remembered that this table does not 
 include garden vegetables and a great variety of other 
 products; it does not include the poultry, which 
 amounts to several millions of dollars ; nor the horses, 
 cattle, sheep and hogs, of which there are probably 40 
 millions. We see that the grain annually produced 
 in our country amounts to 500 millions of bushels ; 
 that the value of the potato crop is 25 millions of 
 dollars ; the hay crop 150 millions of dollars : and the 
 Indian corn crop 200 millions of dollars ! It is sup- 
 posed that the whole value of the agricultural products 
 of the United States, exceeds 1000 millions of dollars 
 a year ! ! 
 
MANUFACTURES. 
 
 THERE is no branch of human industry which so 
 wonderfully displays the energy, industry and art of 
 man, as manufactures. The skill required in hus- 
 bandry, navigation, hunting, fishing or mining, is 
 insignificant when compared with that exhibited in the 
 diversified products of spinning, weaving, dying, forg- 
 ing, sawing, building, printing, stamping, carving, cast- 
 ing, &c. It was said by a Hindoo, in allusion to the 
 steam engine, " These English are very cunning, we 
 Hindoos catch horse, ox, elephant, water, wind, and 
 make him all work ; but they catch fire and make him 
 work too !" Thus, not only the mechanical powers of 
 the lever, wedge and wheel, are made to aid man in his 
 industrial pursuits, but the very elements are subjected 
 to his sway, and made to do his bidding. In order 
 to aid the mind in forming conceptions of the extent 
 of manufactures, we shall notice separately some of 
 the leading branches of this kind of industry. 
 
 COTTON MANUFACTURES. It is probable that most 
 of our readers have been into a cotton factory, for 
 these establishments are now spread over New Eng- 
 land and the Middle States. The scene presented in 
 the interior of one of them, is certainly calculated to 
 impress the beholder with admiring wonder. The 
 
328 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 ponderous wheel that communicates life and activity to 
 the whole establishment ; the multitude of bands and 
 cogs, which connect the machinery, story above story ; 
 the carding engines, which seem like things of life, 
 toiling with steadfast energy; the whirring cylin- 
 ders, the twirling spindles, the clanking looms the 
 whole spectacle seeming to present a magic scene in 
 which wood and iron are endowed with the dexterity 
 of the human hand and where complicated machi- 
 nery seems to be gifted with intelligence is surely 
 one of the marvels of the world. It is only because 
 such scenes are familiar and because we have acquired 
 our knowledge of them by slow degrees, that we fail 
 to regard them with unceasing admiration. 
 
 Nor will our wonder be abated, when we consider 
 the results of these establishments. A single cotton 
 factory that of the Merrimack at Lowell produce's 
 250,000 yards of cotton cloth a week, or 12,500,000 
 yards a year. There are about 5000 yards of thread 
 in a yard of cloth ; thus every working day, this fac- 
 tory spins 600 million feet of thread; 50 millions 
 every working hour, and nearly one million every 
 minute ! Thus, a cord of sufficient length to belt the 
 world at the equator, is produced by a single factory, 
 in three hours. This is the work of one establish- 
 ment, and is not more than a two hundredth part of 
 the whole manufacture of the United States ! The 
 length of thread, drawn out by the cotton factories of 
 the world, cannot be less than fifteen millions of feet 
 every working second, or every time the heart beats ! 
 Such is the bewildering magnitude of the scale upon 
 which this single branch of human industry is con- 
 ducted. 
 
MANUFACTURES. 329 
 
 The following table will give some idea of the 
 amazing extent of the manufactures of the single town 
 of Lowell. 
 
 Yards of cloth, produced annually, . 71,141,600 
 Pounds of cotton consumed, .... 22,880,000 
 
 Wages paid, 1,800,000 dollars. 
 
 Consumption of starch, 800.000 pounds. 
 
 Flour for starch, 4,000 " 
 
 Charcoal, 600,000 bushels. 
 
 Number of persons employed, 8,540 
 
 In these establishments, cotton is the principal arti- 
 cle of manufacture ; but there are also machine shops, 
 and factories devoted to the production of calicoes, 
 woollen cloths, flannels, carpets, &c. The print- 
 works surpass all the other establishments in the dis- 
 play of human skill. Machinery is so contrived that 
 pieces of cloth hundreds of yards in length, receive 
 their figures in passing rapidly over cylinders, several 
 colors being stamped at the same instant. 
 
 Beside the establishments at Lowell, there are nearly 
 1000 others in the United States, and in several, 1000 
 pieces of stamped prints, about 28 yards in each, are 
 produced every day. The whole manufacture of 
 this article in the country, is estimated at 100,000 
 pieces a week ! The whole value of the cotton 
 goods manufactured in the United States, annually, is 
 about $40,000,000. Great Britain consumes 363 
 millions of pounds of cotton each year, and the value 
 of her cotton manufactures, is supposed to be about 
 162 millions of dollars annually. Manchester is the 
 great seat of her cotton manufactures, and at night, the 
 numerous establishments present a spectacle like that 
 28* 
 
S30 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 of an illuminated city of palaces. Beside this, there 
 are extensive cotton manufactories in France, Nether- 
 lands, Belgium, Prussia, &c. 
 
 WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. These are on an im- 
 mense scale, in the United States as well as in Eng- 
 land, France, Belgium, &c. In the wool factories, we 
 see the same skill of machinery, and the same magi- 
 cal results, as in those for the cotton manufactures. 
 The looms, wrought by steam or water power, to pro- 
 duce figured patterns of cloth, shawls, carpets, &c., 
 display amazing ingenuity. 
 
 The annual value of the woollen manufactures of 
 the United States is estimated at about 40 millions of 
 dollars ; that of those of Great Britain producing 
 cloths, kerseymeres, baizes, flannels, carpets, blankets, 
 &c., at 96 millions of dollars; and of those of 
 France at 46 millions. &c. 
 
 SILK. In the United States, the manufacture of 
 silk is not extensive, though it is increasing ; in Great 
 Britain it is considerable ; in France, the annual value 
 is 25 millions of dollars a wonderful fact, when we 
 consider that every thread is spun by a worm ! Thus 
 human skill has not only made the elements, and the 
 larger beasts, the servants of man, but even a worm, 
 and that too, pursuing its own pleasure in the fulfil- 
 ment of its destiny is made to contribute to the 
 highest luxuries of our race. The waving tissue of 
 silk, seeming like woven water the gorgeous shawl, 
 emulating the ruby or the sapphire, in its hue and its 
 gloss the light kerchief, the rich brocade, the supple 
 crape these, destined to add grace to the graceful 
 and become the pride and ornament of the fairest of 
 
MANUFACTURES. 331 
 
 the fair all are the product of that wondrous mechanic, 
 the silk worm ! And the amount of toil how im- 
 mense how wonderful ! Twenty-five millions of 
 dollars, each year, in France ; and this is but a small 
 part of the whole produce of the world ! 
 
 LINEN MANUFACTURES. The linen manufactures 
 of the United States, are small, compared with foreign 
 countries. Those of Great Britain produce the value 
 of 30 millions of dollars, annually, and those of France, 
 about 36 millions. The lace of Belgium, chiefly 
 linen, is valued at 5 millions of dollars annually. 
 
 IRON MANUFACTURES. The manufactures of iron 
 have been greatly extended within a few years, owing 
 to the increased facility with which it is wrought, and 
 the new uses to which it has been applied. Though a 
 stubborn metal, the blast furnace now makes it flow 
 like water, and the slitting and rolling mills work it as 
 if it were paste. The wonderful skill, and the amazing 
 mechanical power, now exerted in the manufacture of 
 iron, enable man to mould it to any form which may 
 suit his necessities or even his caprice. The Great 
 Britain, a new steamer, of 3500 tons, now floats upon 
 the water, a mighty palace of iron ; iron is used in 
 England for the roofing of houses, the sashes of win- 
 dows, for posts and pillars ; and every year it is being 
 devoted to some new and unwonted use. Within 
 the last fifteen years, it has been introduced for rail- 
 roads, and now, 40,000 tons are annually used for this 
 purpose in the United States ; and 500,000 tons in 
 Europe ! 
 
 The amount of iron annually produced in the 
 United States, is 300,000 tons, all of which, and much 
 
332 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 more, is consumed in this country. The amount of nails 
 alone is supposed to be 50,000 tons. Forty thousand 
 casks, or four million pounds, are annually made by the 
 Boston Co., on the mill-dam. If we suppose that the 
 nails will average 160 to a pound, the number here 
 produced each working day, would be nearly two mil- 
 lions ! This is supposed to be but the twenty-fifth 
 part of the nail manufacture of the United States ! It 
 seems incredible that about 50 millions of nails are 
 made, bought, sold and used, every day. in the United 
 States yet such seems to be the fact. 
 
 The annual value of the iron manufactures of the 
 United States is reckoned at 50 millions of dollars ; 
 in Great Britain it is much more, and iron manufac- 
 tures are extensive over the whole continent. The 
 great seat of the iron factories of England is Bir- 
 mingham, and it is amazing to behold the scene pre- 
 sented in some of the large establishments. The bel- 
 lows, heaving as if with the lungs of a whale ; the ham- 
 mers, striking the blows of giants ; the enormous cyl- 
 inders rolling and crushing the cold metal as if it were 
 potter's clay ; and all taking place amid the deafening 
 roar of machinery, the spattering of fiery scintillations, 
 and the glare of furnaces afford an almost appalling 
 spectacle. 
 
 It is impossible to enumerate the diversified uses of 
 iron ; we can only say that it directly or indirectly 
 enters into almost every article of comfort and luxury. 
 The house in which we dwell ; the clothes we wear ; 
 the food we devour , the ship in which we sail ; the 
 vehicle in which we travel ; the book we read ; the 
 pen with which we write ; the spit with which we 
 
CONCLUSION. 333 
 
 roast ; the pan in which we fry ; the knife and fork 
 with which we eat ; the bed on which we lie all, all, 
 are more or less the gift of this important mineral. 
 Iron, indeed, lies at the very foundation of civilization, 
 and without it no great progress can be made in the 
 arts and refinements of life. 
 
 We cannot further extend this view of manufactures 
 though there is a multitude of articles, and some ot 
 great amount, not here enumerated. In 1837, the 
 manufactures of Massachusetts alone, amounted to 90 
 millions of dollars, and these included over seventy 
 different kinds of productions. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 WE have not space to dilate upon the subjects of 
 this volume, further than to suggest to the reader, that 
 all the great branches of human industry here noticed, 
 are mutual aids and supports of each other. Agricul- 
 ture, mining, hunting and fishing, are the great produc- 
 ing powers ; manufactures endow these products with 
 new value by adapting them to the diversified wants 
 of man, and commerce transports them to the place 
 where they are needed. Thus, the great human fam- 
 ily are knit together by commerce, diffusing and dis- 
 tributing the results of human labor, and enabling the 
 people of each clime to enjoy the luxuries of every 
 other ! 
 
334 CONCLUSION. 
 
 It appears to be one of the common vices of man- 
 kind, for those engaged in one pursuit to be jealous of 
 those engaged in another. A liberal and enlarged 
 view of the diversified industry of man, will dissipate 
 this pernicious error, and teach us to see, in the 
 adjustment of human affairs, the same providential 
 wisdom and care that are displayed in balancing the 
 powers of nature. The lone fisherman upon the 
 banks of Newfoundland, the adventurous whaler in the 
 Pacific, the miner in Sweden, the silk spinner of Savoy, 
 the hunter of Siberia, the manufacturer at Lowell, 
 the merchant of Boston with his ship upon the sea, 
 directly or indirectly benefit the farmer upon the 
 hills of Berkshire ; and he, in return, is a benefit to 
 them. The minute history of the farmer's home, with 
 its food, clothing and utensils, would show that every 
 one of those we have enumerated is that farmer's bene- 
 factor. Let him annihilate the fisherman, and his 
 codfish breakfast can be no more enjoyed ; let him 
 destroy the whaler, and his lamp goes out; let him 
 dispose of the miner, and his tools his very knife 
 and fork are gone; let him kill the silk worm, and 
 the silk gown and ribbon, which please his wife and 
 children, and him also are banished; let him dis- 
 courage the hunter, and the wife's tippet, with the boy's 
 fur cap, must be dispensed with ; let him destroy 
 manufactures, and his facilities for clothing are de- 
 stroyed ; let him banish the merchant, and the means 
 by which he exchanges his surplus produce for these 
 comforts, are gone forever. Even if he chooses to live 
 without such comforts, let him annihilate the people who 
 produce them, and his purchasers his markets are 
 
CONCLUSION. 335 
 
 also annihilated. Let these abandon their several em- 
 ployments, and devote themselves to his, and the world 
 will be overstocked with agricultural products, while 
 they will be in a state of destitution as to a thousand of 
 the common comforts of life. The true philosophy is 
 to regard the whole human race, who hold commercial 
 intercourse, as one family, and continually contrib- 
 uting to each other's happiness. He who would sow 
 the seeds of jealousy or envy among them, is no 
 friend, but an enemy to humanity. Such is the lesson 
 of Christianity and political economy. 
 

 
 
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