Azorean and New England Whaling and Fishing

Beginnings

In the minds of many, whaling and fishing is synonymous with the
Portuguese. Actually only a small number of Portuguese have been 
involved in these maritime enterprises. But it is the adventure, the 
danger, and the high seas romance that has been told in fictional 
accounts, as well as true stories, that have generated an image
of the Portuguese whaleman lashed to his helm in heavy weather
bearly able to see five feet in front of him because of the slashing
rain and crashing seas. The classic story Moby Dick is a case in point. 
Herman Melville wrote of a man's struggle against the monster of the 
deep who has the ability to turn and thrash at moment's notice the 
enemy riding precariously in little wooden craft. There is truth to 
this, and the Azoreans have been uniquely involved in the whaling 
story. 

Whaling is a business, an economic endeavor. Profits are sought
from the products produced. A whale's cadaver was processed for  
lamp oil, candles, medicines, perfume, machinery lubricant, and 
corset staves.1 

The first type of whaling done was shore whaling. Along the New 
England coast, Native Americans sent their boats out and speared
one of the passing behemoths. This practice was followed by 
European settlers later, and then expanded to deep sea whaling 
where ships would go out for long spans of time whale hunting.2 


Azores

Azoreans began with shore whaling which is an industry that takes 
whales within sight of the shore. Whales would migrate around the 
islands and travel especially in the channel between the islands of 
Sao Jorge and Pico. The people of Pico are known for their whaling. 
The island is virtually useless for agriculture because volcanic rock is 
found everywhere; thus, whaling and fishing became necessary 
occupations for its inhabitants.3 Other islanders have done shore 
whaling as well. In fact, "canoas" or whaling boats, of about 38 feet in 
length are painted with different color stripes to tell the islanders 
apart. Pico uses blue; Faial use yellow; and Sao Jorge use green.4 Last 
century, one might have seen as many as 60 whaling boats in the Sao 
Jorge Channel at one time.5  

This account of Azorean shore whaling is vividly told giving one a 
feeling of the adventure (and also remorse) and is worth reprinting 
here. Once a fountain of water is spotted from the shore and the 
word "blos" is shouted, the whaling boats are shoved into the surf 
and the hunt is on:

	The usual technique is to approach [the whale] from behind until they are 
	almost within touching distance. The harpooner braces himself, with his knee
 	steadied against the seat in the bows, and raises his arm. There is a flash in the
 	sun, and the harpoon is embedded in the spinal column, where the hook opens
            out. The struggle starts with a great splash of water. It is a fight to the death
 	between the great beast and this slender craft, from which a line of more than
 	two thousand feet is unwinding at full speed around the bollard. The men have to
	pour cold water on it, otherwise the friction will set it on fire.

	In the meantime the huge, maddened beast dashes off, dives, comes up again,
	threshes about, and beats the sea with its great forked tail . . . the whaling-
	boat hauled in her line in order to approach the retreating beast. The 
	harpooner braced his arms to fling several sharpbladed, hookless spears,
	keen as razors, and made to deal blows to the vital organs and cause lung
	hemorrhage and death by asphyxia. Already the spouting breath had reddened.
	
	A bleeding jet gushed out at the nostrils, and a purple ring was widening in the
	broken water . . . In vain the poor crippled body, held back by the spear-lines,
	tried to escape, and, with fits of convulsion, beat the water into white foam.
	Occasionally it wheeled round, followed yard by yard by the boat, which was
	as lithe as a bull-fighter throwing his bandeillas.6  
	
The whale is then brought ashore and carved up. The blubber is 
melted down for oil and the bones tossed aside and saved. The stench
is almost unbearable and the work bloody and slick.7 (38:148) 

Yankee Whaling

The Dutch controlled whaling during the 17th century. The British 
followed in the 18th century as the chief whalers. During the 19th 
century, New Englanders led the way in whaling which peaked
about 1850 with its center being at New Bedford. In 1755,
the Yankee whaling industry sent out 304 ships and 4,059 seamen 
operating out of Nantucket, Cape Cod, and New Bedford.8 

Wages were based on a lay-system, or what could be described as
profit-sharing. The more whales taken, the more money for all. 
At the end of a cruise, money received for the oil and bone would
be tallied; then operating costs, the owner's profit, and the officers'
wages were subtracted. The crew then divided up equally the 
balance of the money9 which could be $200 to $300 for two to three
years labor.10 Normally 25% of the crew never returned from a 
whaling voyage because of death or desertion.11 

Whaling crews were always needed, and they could be found at the 
Azores. Most Yankee captains would disembark from New England 
with a skeleton crew and head for the Azores or the Cape Verde 
Islands looking for a supply of sailors. They liked the Portuguese 
because they were hard working, quiet, and cheap.12 The Azorean 
teenage male was waiting to be picked. He was seeking opportunity 
and a way to the United States generally because he was fleeing 
military service. Thus, the Yankee captains found their crews on the 
Azorean shores just for the asking. This was noted in Moby Dick:

	No small number of these whaling seamen belong to the Azores, where the
	outbound Nantucket whalers frequently touch to augment their crews from
	the hardy peasants of those rocky shores.13 

Coming from Faial, Sao Jorge, Pico, or Flores, the Azorean would
sneak aboard the whaling ship at night to avoid being caught by
Portuguese authorities. Once aboard, there was usually no discussion
of pay. At some point during the voyage, the captain would legally
sign up his Azorean crew at a U.S. consulate to allow the crew
members to enter the United States legally and to receive their 
pay.14 One took one's chances. Some captains were fair to their crew 
and others were not. A few benevolent captains were known to take 
in young Portuguese men into their own home as family members.15 

Here is a fictionalized account, but accurate in terms of reality, of two 
young Azoreans waiting to be taken off their island clandestinely:

	Francisco Marroco and Joao Peixe-Rei turned their eyes toward the night-
	darkened sea. They didn't speak, they evenfeared to breathe, terrified as 
	they were of the government's oarsmen. The waves whined, the breeze
	chilled them, the hours went slowly. Around midnight, they thought they
	saw a shadow on the water. Was it the longboat from the whaler? Or was
	it the oarsmen's boat come to capture them? Joao Peixe-Rei and his 
	companion crouched lower, their blood pounding in their veins. Then the
	flicker of a weak light shone three times out on the water. Three times!
	That was the signal they had agreed on. It was the whaler's boat come to take
	them off the island! 16 

But once on ship, life could be unbearable at times. Some captains 
were ruthless and some voyages tragically terminated like the wreck 
of the Yankee whaling brig Ardent with an Azorean crew. The ship 
wrecked at sea and many of the crew members died from starvation, 
overexposure, and drowning. Survivors were eventually rescued by a 
British ship.17 Mutinies would occur on the long voyages, and they 
were generally caused by starvation. Of course, there were the classic 
mutinous revolts against malicious captains as well.18 One writer 
summed up the violence found  aboard ship this way:

	If anyone should stack up all the ships' logs, the sailors' journals, 
	newpaper stories and other non-fiction -- all the writings into the
	workday record of the sea -- gather them in one big pile and then compare
	them with anything that has even been imagined of the doings of men ashore,
	the salt-water account would assay more violence to the ton, more con-
	vincing hardship, more human misery.19 

The first New England whaler to stop at the Azores did so about 
1730, and by 1750 Azorean crews were being taken. This went on 
for 175 years ending in 1921 when the last whaler appeared.20 In 
1780, as many as 200 whaling ships could be found in the Azores 
picking up crew members.21 Not only did the ships stop at the Azores 
for crews, they also picked up supplies and repairs were made. Some 
would deposit the whale oil and bones for shipment to New 
Bedford.22 
 
Once an Azorean sailor arrived in Massachusetts, he many times
would find work in the local area. Some would travel to California 
either by land or on another whaling ship. Sometimes the Azorean 
would return home to the islands for a visit or to bring his wife and 
children back to the United States.23 Those who stayed in the New 
Bedford area, could find jobs on shore in many of the whaling-
related industries. There were whale oil refineries, cooper shops, 
toolworks, and processing plants.24 Soon Southern New England 
became populated with Azoreans, and they could be found living in 
Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, Gloucester, Boston, and 
Providence to name a few locations.25 

But some Azoreans stayed on as whalers and eventually became
sea captains and owners of ships. It wasn't long before the whaling 
industry was mostly in the hands of the Portuguese. The first 
Portuguese whaling captain was Captain Anthony Marks who in 1844 
was in command of the Garland sailing out of New London. He was 
followed by Captain Joseph Dias who was the skipper of the St. 
George. Another was Captain Joseph Silva who operated many ships 
in the 1850's to the 1870's.26 There were as many as 50 Portuguese 
captains in New England from 1906 to 1915.27 Antone S. Sylvia, who 
came from Sao Jorge in 1855 to New Bedford at the age of sixteen, 
became a millionaire in the whaling business ultimately owning 
several vessels.28  

But the whaling industry was running out of whales. Shortly it would 
be replaced by the petroleum industry. Towards the latter years of 
the early 20th century, the whaling business became so pathetic that 
it took special skippers to squeeze profits from their voyages. 
Portuguese captains apparently had the ability to do this which is 
verified by this commentary: 

	Even the captains of to-day are mostly Portuguese and many of the vessels are
	Portuguese-owned, for the natives of the Western Islands [Azores] are
	satisfied with smaller profits, can live more cheaply, and are more thrifty
	than their American predecessors . . . the Portuguese skippers are skillful
	whalers, good business men, strict disciplinarians and secure catches which
	would make the old-time Yankee whalemen turn green with envy.29 

Thus, the Azoreans first came to the United States in large numbers
as members of whaling crews. They settled in New England or went
to California, and once at their destination, they sent for their families.30 

Fishing the Grand Banks
Some believe that the Portuguese fished the Grand Banks off 
Newfoundland before Columbus. We know for a fact that they fished 
shortly thereafter which was seen earlier in this study.31 The fishing 
industry in the Azores was never of much size. But in the United 
States, the Azoreans had better fishing grounds which produced a 
viable industry for them. 

The Portuguese established themselves in New England fishing in the 
middle of the 19th century when Azoreans began arriving in greater 
numbers on whaling ships. They replaced New Englanders who 
moved on to other locations and occupations.32 Once whaling began 
fading, the Azoreans took to fishing or found jobs in the local textile 
mills.33 

Provincetown and Gloucester became fishing centers. A hill in 
Gloucester became known as "Portygee Hill" because of the number
of Portuguese residents there.34 At first, fish were salted to preserve 
them. In the 1870's, the fresh fish industry was developed followed 
later by quick freezing techniques.35  Fortunes were made because 
there was a demand for fish in the New England area.36 Fish were 
caught by weirs (traps) and also by nets. In 1880, fishermen made 
about $300 annually, and later in 1930, about $1,200.37 Fishing the 
Grand Banks was done during April and May, with a ship full of cod, 
late last century bringing $9,000 to $16,000.38 

This was written about the Azorean fishermen in a Provincetown newspaper in 1894:

	Captains and crews are all, or nearly all Azorean, and from a mere handful in
	1840, the Portuguese population has increased to upward of 2,000 souls in
	1849. Not all of these are natives of the Western Islands [Azores]; a large
	portion were borned here. But born in America or the Azores, they take kindly
	to the sea, and make excellent fishermen.39 

But fishing was not without its danger. Between 1830 and 1881, 
Gloucester fisheries lost 2,249 fishermen at sea and 419 seacraft
at a value of $1.8 million. In one single storm in 1879, thirteen 
vessels went down carrying 143 fishermen who left 40 widows and 
115 fatherless children.40 The Portuguese "faddo" is a musical 
performance which expresses the sorrow one feels during such times 
of disaster. It is sung by a widow wearing black who gazes towards 
the sea.41 

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