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Captain at fifteen
On
February
2
,
1876
,
the
schooner
"
Pilgrim
"
was
in
latitude
43
°
57
'
south
,
and
in
longitude
165
°
19
'
west
of
the
meridian
of
Greenwich
.
This
vessel
,
of
four
hundred
tons
,
fitted
out
at
San
Francisco
for
whale-fishing
in
the
southern
seas
,
belonged
to
James
W.
Weldon
,
a
rich
Californian
ship-owner
,
who
had
for
several
years
intrusted
the
command
of
it
to
Captain
Hull
.
The
"
Pilgrim
"
was
one
of
the
smallest
,
but
one
of
the
best
of
that
flotilla
,
which
James
W.
Weldon
sent
each
season
,
not
only
beyond
Behring
Strait
,
as
far
as
the
northern
seas
,
but
also
in
the
quarters
of
Tasmania
or
of
Cape
Horn
,
as
far
as
the
Antarctic
Ocean
.
She
sailed
in
a
superior
manner
.
Her
very
easily
managed
rigging
permitted
her
to
venture
,
with
a
few
men
,
in
sight
of
the
impenetrable
fields
of
ice
of
the
southern
hemisphere
.
Captain
Hull
knew
how
to
disentangle
himself
,
as
the
sailors
say
,
from
among
those
icebergs
,
which
,
during
the
summer
,
drift
by
the
way
of
New
Zealand
or
the
Cape
of
Good
Hope
,
under
a
much
lower
latitude
than
that
which
they
reach
in
the
northern
seas
of
the
globe
.
It
is
true
that
only
icebergs
of
small
dimensions
were
found
there
;
they
were
already
worn
by
collisions
,
eaten
away
by
the
warm
waters
,
and
the
greater
number
of
them
were
going
to
melt
in
the
Pacific
or
the
Atlantic
.
Under
the
command
of
Captain
Hull
,
a
good
seaman
,
and
also
one
of
the
most
skilful
harpooners
of
the
flotilla
,
was
a
crew
composed
of
five
sailors
and
a
novice
.
It
was
a
small
number
for
this
whale-fishing
,
which
requires
a
good
many
persons
.
Men
are
necessary
as
well
for
the
management
of
the
boats
for
the
attack
,
as
for
the
cutting
up
of
the
captured
animals
.
But
,
following
the
example
of
certain
ship-owners
,
James
W.
Weldon
found
it
much
more
economical
to
embark
at
San
Francisco
only
the
number
of
sailors
necessary
for
the
management
of
the
vessel
.
New
Zealand
did
not
lack
harpooners
,
sailors
of
all
nationalities
,
deserters
or
others
,
who
sought
to
be
hired
for
the
season
,
and
who
followed
skilfully
the
trade
of
fishermen
.
The
busy
period
once
over
,
they
were
paid
,
they
were
put
on
shore
,
and
they
waited
till
the
whalers
of
the
following
year
should
come
to
claim
their
services
again
.
There
was
obtained
by
this
method
better
work
from
the
disposable
sailors
,
and
a
much
larger
profit
derived
by
their
co-operation
.
They
had
worked
in
this
way
on
board
the
"
Pilgrim
.
"
The
schooner
had
just
finished
her
season
on
the
limit
of
the
Antarctic
Circle
.
But
she
had
not
her
full
number
of
barrels
of
oil
,
of
coarse
whalebones
nor
of
fine
.
Even
at
that
period
,
fishing
was
becoming
difficult
.
The
whales
,
pursued
to
excess
,
were
becoming
rare
.
The
"
right
"
whale
,
which
bears
the
name
of
"
North
Caper
,
"
in
the
Northern
Ocean
,
and
that
of
"
Sulphur
Bottom
,
"
in
the
South
Sea
,
was
likely
to
disappear
.
The
whalers
had
been
obliged
to
fall
back
on
the
finback
or
jubarte
,
a
gigantic
mammifer
,
whose
attacks
are
not
without
danger
.
This
is
what
Captain
Hull
had
done
during
this
cruise
;
but
on
his
next
voyage
he
calculated
on
reaching
a
higher
latitude
,
and
,
if
necessary
,
going
in
sight
of
Clarie
and
Adelie
Lands
,
whose
discovery
,
contested
by
the
American
Wilkes
,
certainly
belongs
to
the
illustrious
commander
of
the
"
Astrolabe
"
and
the
Zelee
,
to
the
Frenchman
,
Dumont
d'Urville
.
In
fact
,
the
season
had
not
been
favorable
for
the
"
Pilgrim
.
"
In
the
beginning
of
January
,
that
is
to
say
,
toward
the
middle
of
the
Southern
summer
,
and
even
when
the
time
for
the
whalers
to
return
had
not
yet
arrived
Captain
Hull
had
been
obliged
to
abandon
the
fishing
places
.
His
additional
crew
--
a
collection
of
pretty
sad
subjects
--
gave
him
an
excuse
,
as
they
say
,
and
he
determined
to
separate
from
them
.
The
"
Pilgrim
"
then
steered
to
the
northwest
,
for
New
Zealand
,
which
she
sighted
on
the
15th
of
January
.
She
arrived
at
Waitemata
,
port
of
Auckland
,
situated
at
the
lowest
end
of
the
Gulf
of
Chouraki
,
on
the
east
coast
of
the
northern
island
,
and
landed
the
fishermen
who
had
been
engaged
for
the
season
.
