Log Entries:  July 4 - July 10, 1844

Thu, Jul 4, 1844 (Sun Obscure)

All this day we had very thick fog with light airs from the S.  Saw four right whales close to the ship but too thick to lower.  Lying too all day; wore the ship twice.  Quite a dreary Fourth of July…

Here’s hoping your fourth of July was better than Mr. Smith’s.

Fri, Jul 5, 1844 (Sun Obscure)

… At 6 a.m. came in very thick fog, the end increasing all the rest of the day.  Saw nothing.

Sat, Jul 6, 1844 (Lat 53.43 Lon 164.16 E)

… At 9 a.m. [the weather cleared].  Saw right whales; lowered and chased without success.  At 2 p.m. lowered again, chased, and fastened to two right whales; killed them both – one of them sunk and the other one got him alongside.  At 7 p.m. put on the fluke chain.  The larboard quarter boat got badly stove; took her in and put another on the cranes.   

A “fluke chain” was a heavy chain that secured the rear of the whale to the ship during the cutting in process.

Sun, Jul 7, 1844 (Lat 51.00 Lon 165.07 E)

…At daylight began to cut in our whale.  Finished at 12 o’clock and began to boil.  So rugged [we] did not save the head of bone… Latter part stiff gales… One year this day since we left our native land and friends behind us.   

“Head of bone”meaning the plates of baleen in the whale’s mouth. Baleen was the “plastic” of its day; anywhere you needed strength and flexibility, baleen (or “whalebone” as it was called) was the material of choice, most famously in the manufacture of skirt hoops and corset stays. The fashionable 19th century woman was in fact beholden the whaling industry for her wardrobe.



Mon, Jul 8, 1844 (Sun Obscure)

…Brisk gales[and] thick weather.  Boiling all day.

Tue, Jul 9, 1844 (Lat 51.45 Lon 165.20 E)

… Boiling til 8 a.m.  Saw nothing but humpbacks.  At 4p.m. spoke the ship Tuscarora of Cold Spring – Nine months out, 900 bbls.  Also the India of New Bedford – 11 months [out], 1,200 [bbls].  Gammed til 11 o’clock at night… Heard [from the India that] the Illinois of Sag Harbor has 1,700 bbls.

The Tuscarora of Cold Spring, Long Island (379 tons, Captain White) departed Sep 23, 1844. Returned May 26 1845 with 2400 bbls.

The India of New Bedford (366 tons, Captain Walter) departed Nov 7, 1843. Returned Apr 9, 1845 with 3,200 bbls.

The Illinois of Sag Harbor (413 tons, Captain Jagger) departed Oct 25 1843. Returned April 5 1845 with 2,930 bbls.

Wed, Jul 10, 1844 (Sun Obscure)

This day thick fog for the most part.  Saw five right whales going fast; lowered and chased without success.  The Tuscarora in sight.  Our people employed in stowing down 110 bbls oil.  So ends this day…