The Samuel Enderby
The chapter discusses the London whaling ship named after Samuel Enderby, merchant and founder of the famous whaling house Enderby & Sons. The narrator considers this house comparable in historical interest to the royal houses of the Tudors and Bourbons. While the house’s exact founding date before 1775 is unclear, in 1775 it fitted out the first English ships to regularly hunt Sperm Whales. However, Nantucketers from Coffins and Maceys of Nantucket and the Vineyard had been pursuing Sperm Whales in the North and South Atlantic since 1726. Importantly, the Nantucketers were the first among mankind to harpoon the great Sperm Whale with civilized steel, and for half a century they were the only people on Earth to do so.
The Amelia
In 1778, the Enderbys fitted out the ship Amelia specifically for whaling and boldly rounded Cape Horn, becoming the first among all nations to lower a whale-boat in the great South Sea. The voyage was both skillful and fortunate, returning with holds full of precious sperm oil. The Amelia’s success encouraged other English and American ships to follow, thereby opening the vast Sperm Whale grounds of the Pacific.
The Syren
The indefatigable Enderby house further distinguished itself in 1819 by fitting out another discovery whale ship, the Syren, for a tasting cruise to the remote waters of Japan. This noble experimental voyage, commanded by Captain Coffin of Nantucket, introduced and popularized the great Japanese Whaling Ground. All honor is owed to the Enderbies, whose house the narrator believes still exists today.
A Fine Gam
The Samuel Enderby was a fast-sailing and noble craft. The narrator boarded her at midnight off the Patagonian coast and enjoyed good flip in the forecastle. It was a fine gam (meeting between whalers), with every soul on board being “all trumps.” During a squall off Patagonia, all hands were called to reef topsails, and the crew became so top-heavy they had to swing each other aloft in bowlines, ignorantly furling their jacket skirts into the sails. After the gale passed and they scrambled down, they were so sober they had to pass the flip again.
English Whaler Hospitality
The narrator reflects on why the Samuel Enderby and certain other English whalers were so famously hospitable—passing around beef, bread, drink, and jokes without becoming weary. While English merchant ships typically skimp on crew provisions, English whalers do not. The narrator determines that this whaling good cheer is not normal or natural to the English but incidental and particular, having a special origin that requires historical research.
The Dutch Precedent
The English were preceded in the whale fishery by Hollanders, Zealanders, and Danes, from whom they derived many terms still extant in the fishery. More importantly, the English inherited the Dutch “fat old fashions” regarding plenty to eat and drink. The English whaling hospitality is not inherent to English character but was borrowed from Dutch precedent and must have some special origin.
Dan Coopman
During Leviathanic historical research, the narrator stumbled upon an ancient Dutch volume with a musty whaling smell. The title “Dan Coopman” led the narrator to believe it was the memoirs of an Amsterdam cooper, especially since every whale ship must carry a cooper. However, Professor Dr. Snodhead of Low Dutch and High German at the college of Santa Claus and St. Pott’s, when given the book plus a box of sperm candles for translation, revealed that “Dan Coopman” actually meant “The Merchant,” not “The Cooper.” This ancient Low Dutch book actually treated of Holland’s commerce and contained an interesting account of its whale fishery.
Dutch Whaling Provisions
Within the Dutch book, under the chapter headed “Smeer” or “Fat,” the narrator found a detailed list of provisions for the larders and cellars of 180 sail of Dutch whalemen. Dr. Snodhead translated the following: 400,000 lbs. of beef, 60,000 lbs. of Friesland pork, 150,000 lbs. of stock fish, 550,000 lbs. of biscuit, 72,000 lbs. of soft bread, 2,800 firkins of butter, 20,000 lbs. of Texel & Leyden cheese, 144,000 lbs. of inferior cheese, 550 ankers of Geneva, and 10,800 barrels of beer. The narrator spent three days digesting all this information, which suggested profound thoughts capable of transcendental application.
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