For devices that can display an external book cover, Transcriber added the book's title, author's name, and publication yearto the original cover that is shown below; those modifications are in the Public Domain.
A Whale biting a Boat in two.
THE
ARCTIC
WHALEMAN;
OR,
WINTER IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN:
BEING
A NARRATIVE OF THE
WRECK OF THE WHALE SHIP CITIZEN,
OF NEW BEDFORD, IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN, LAT. 68° 10' N.,
LON. 180° W., SEPT. 25, 1852, COMMANDED BY THOMAS HOWES
NORTON, OF EDGARTOWN, AND THE SUBSEQUENT
SUFFERINGS OF HER OFFICERS AND CREW
DURING NINE MONTHS AMONG
THE NATIVES.
TOGETHER WITH
A BRIEF HISTORY OF WHALING.
BY
REV. LEWIS HOLMES.
BOSTON:
WENTWORTH & COMPANY,
86 Washington Street.
1857.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
Wentworth & Company,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
STEREOTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.
TO
WHALEMEN,
IN WHOSE EMPLOYMENT, DARING ADVENTURES,
AND MANY DEPRIVATIONS,
THE AUTHOR FEELS A DEEP INTEREST,
This Volume
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
PREFACE.
Of all classes of fishermen, the whaleman takesthe precedence. This front position will be readilyconceded to him, whether we consider the stupendousobject of his pursuit, or the vast extentof waters over which he roams to secure his prey,or the dangers and perils peculiar to his avocation,or the immense pecuniary outlay with whichthe enterprise is carried on.
Some of the reasons which induced the authorto present to the public this narrative containingan account of the wreck of the whale ship Citizen,and the subsequent exposure and sufferings of herofficers and crew in the Arctic Ocean, are thefollowing:—
1. The instance has never been recorded in thehistory of marine disaster, in which a ship's company,consisting of thirty-three persons, lived somany months among the natives in so high a latitude.2. Being cast helpless and almost destituteupon such a desolate coast, they had to dependprincipally upon the kindness and generosity ofthe natives for protection, food, and clothing.83. Considering the unfavorable and forbiddingcircumstances of their condition, in living asthe natives lived, and their travels in the depthsof winter from one settlement to another in orderto avoid starvation, it is remarkable tha