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The whaling industry as depicted in Moby Dick is pretty high on my list of the most unbelievable things that really happened. Particularly the range of the boats and the method of catching the whales. Up there with the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs and how the East India company managed to dominate the entire country in terms of sheer implausibility.

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I would say the Ice trade was crazier.

And if your rulers are bloodthirsty heart burners and skin flayers, even satan will be received warmly. I mean Huitzilopochtli is giving Kali run for her money in the deities I don't to live under competition.

And east india - you replace the elite and the people underneath will continue following orders - the same happened with the Manchu conquering of china.

Strapping the whale to the side of the ship to be butchered while sharks feasted on the underside always seemed insane to me.

What other options existed?

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