Stove by a Whale: Owen Chase and the Essex

2. Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex, of Nantucket

Chapter Two NARRA TIVE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY AND DISTRESSING SHIPWRECK OF THE WHALE-SHIP ESSEX, OF NANTUCKET; BY OWEN CHASE TO THE READER I AMAWARE that the public mind has been already nearly sated with the private stories of individuals, many of whom had few, if any, claims to public attention; and the injuries which have resulted from the promulgation of fictitious histories, and in many instances, of journals entirely fabricated for the purpose, has had the effect to lessen the public interest in works of this description, and very much to undervalue the general cause of truth. It is, however, not the less important and necessary, that narratives should continue to be furnished that have their foundations in fact; and the subject of which embraces new and interesting matter in any department of the arts or sciences. When the motive is worthy, the subject and style interesting, affording instruction, exciting a proper sympathy, and withal disclosing new and astonishing traits of human character:-this kind of information becomes of great value to the philanthropist and philosopher, and is fully deserving of attention from every description of readers. On the subject of the facts contained in this little volume, they are neither so extravagant, as to require the exercise of any great credulity to believe, nor, I trust, so unimportant or uninteresting, as 14 STOVE BY A WHALE to forbid an attentive perusal. It was my misfortune to be a considerable, if not a principal, sufferer, in the dreadful catastrophe that befell us; and in it, I not only lost all the little I had ventured, but my situation and the prospects of bettering it, that at one time seemed to smile upon me, were all in one short moment destroyed with it. The hope of obtaining something of remuneration, by giving a short history of my sufferings to the world, must therefore constitute my claim to public attention. PREFACE The increasing attention which is bestowed upon the whale fishery in the United States, has lately caused a very considerable commercial excitement; and no doubt it will become, if it be not at present, as important and general a branch of commerce as any belonging to our country. It is now principally confined to a very industrious and enterprising portion of the population of the States, many individuals of whom have amassed very rapid and considerable fortunes. It is a business requiring that labour, economy, and enterprise, for which the people of Nantucket are so eminently distinguished . It has enriched the inhabitants without bringing with it the usual corruptions and luxuries of a foreign trade; and those who are now most successful and conspicuous in it, are remarkable for the primitive simplicity, integrity, and hospitality of the island. This trade, if I may so call it, took its rise amongst the earliest settlers, and has gradually advanced to the extended, important, and lucrative state in which it now is, without any material interruption, and with very little competition until the present time. The late war temporally, but in a great degree affected its prosperity, by subjecting numerous fine vessels with their cargoes to capture and loss; but in its short continuance, it was not sufficient to divert the enterprise of the whalemen, nor to subdue the active energies of the capatalists embarked in it.l At the conclusion of peace, those energies burst out afresh; and our sails now almost whiten the distant confines of the Pacific. The English have a few ships there; and the advantages which they possess over ours, it may be feared will materially affect our success, by producing in time a much more extensive and NARRATIVE 0' '1'1111 MOST EXTRAORDINARY AND DIS1'RESSING SHIPWRECK 01' THE OF NANTUCKET; ~HICB WAS 4TTACKED .llfD F1J(ALIA' D£.TROnD .Y.LAaGZ SPERl\IACETI-WHALE, IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN; WlTB AN ACCOUNT 01' '1'•• ,~. - , .. , '" UNPARALLELED SUFFERINGS OF THE CA'PTAIN AND CREW DVllftO £ 11'.ct 0' ..lInT·,.IIU& o£.. £'1' •••• I~ 0',:'( 10.T! IN THE'HARS 18191c 1120. !!!!!!! BY OWEN CHASE, !!!!!!!!! .VEW-YORK: . ~ . .' ... :, PUBLlSU£l) IIY W. B. GILLEY, 9! aao.Alnv.n ......... 1821. FIRST EDITION 16 STOVE BY A WHALE powerful competition. They are enabled to realize a greater profit from the demand and price of oil in their markets; and the encouragement afforded by parliament, not only in permitting the importation of it free of duty, but in granting a liberal bounty. It...