NAVIGATION

Marine walking canes were variously constructed by sailors onboard 19th century whaling ships from whalebone, sperm whale teeth and the spiral tusks of the Arctic narwhal. When the ship headed homeward after a three or four year voyage the whale-man’s patience was most sorely tried. The progress was slow, even if all the sails were set, and the passage took several months as the ship had to run up the Atlantic with the north-east trade winds, and was often becalmed for long periods of time. To obviate this uneasiness and prolonged boredom all hands were encouraged to construct articles of their own fancy from the available materials on board. This intense occupation continued not just for hours, but for days and in some instances, whole weeks.