Hawaii
was an outpost and provisioning
port for American and
British whalers as early
as 1819, and had a central
role in the Pacific whale
fishery throughout the
19th century.
The king and queen
of Hawaii were transported
to London aboard the
English whaler l'Aigle
in 1824 for an official
royal visit (a contemporaneous
watercolor portrait
of the ship is occasionally
exhibited and is illustrated
in the book Kendall
Whaling Museum Paintings).
Hawaii provided a constant
source of personnel
for the many whalers
calling at Honolulu,
Lahaina, and Hilo in
the mid-19th century.
These included Native
Hawaiians in great numbers,
as well as stranded,
"on-the-beach"
sailors, among them
Herman Melville in the
1840s; the first Japanese
residents of the United
States, also in the
1840s; and a constant
stream of Europeans,
Polynesians, Asians,
Australians, and Africans.
The Oahu Bethel Church
was the principal outpost
of the American Seaman's
Friend Society and American
missionary activities
in the Pacific; its
pastors were famous
among mariners as contributors
to The Seamen's Friend
magazine and as counselors
and advocates; its facilities
served several generations
of whalemen, Herman
Melville among them.
(After Melville returned
to New York from the
Pacific Ocean whaling
adventures that produced
Moby-Dick,
Typee,
and Omoo, his undelivered
mail wound up to the
Bethel's dead-letter
office.)
Hawaii even had a small
but important whale
fishery of its own.
Relics are scarce --
but look for scrimshaw
featuring Polynesian
maidens; and for lei
nehi palaoa (pendant
necklaces carved out
of sperm whale teeth),
prized by native chieftains
and Hawaiian kings but
only occasionally made
available to Yankee
visitors to take home
as cherished
souvenirs.
Hawaii
was an outpost and provisioning
port for American and
British whalers as early
as 1819, and had a central
role in the Pacific whale
fishery throughout the
19th century.
