Ahab's trade : the saga of south sea whaling / Granville Allen Mawer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mawer, G. A. (G. Allen), 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Whaling--History.

Whaling.

History.

Whaling--South Pacific Ocean--History.

South Pacific Ocean.

Physical Description:

xiv, 393 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : St. Martin's Press, 1999.

Summary:

The good, the mad, and the ugly tell their tales of high-seas excitement, focusing on the history of South Sea whalers known as the Nantucketers. Illustrations.

Contents:

Introduction: Loitering with Intent xi

1 South for Spermaceti 1

Trumpo: What's in a Name? 21

2 The British Are Coming 36

Lay On, Cut In, Try Out, Stow Down: From Blubber to Oil 53

3 Beyond the Capes 77

Fast and Loose: The Rules of Whaling 97

4 Free Trade and Sailors' Rights 113

Rope's End: Discipline and its Dangers 129

5 Honour Without Profit 145

Melting Pots: Race, Rations and Other Accommodations 165

6 Of Currents and Backwaters 179

Clouds: How a Whaleman Vanished and a Whale Appeared 208

7 The Princes of Whales 222

Boat and Barque: The Mother Ship and Her Offspring 239

8 Seas Aflame 258

Spun Yarn: Being an Attempt to Find the Truth in Art, and Vice Versa 275

9 Frozen Fleets 289

Craft: The Instruments of Destruction 307

10 So Ends 322

Epilogue: Dead Whales and Stove Boats 341.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [370]-377) and index.

ISBN:

0312228090

OCLC:

41892393