THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 133 



a stop to all whaling expeditions for two seasons, in the 

 course of which many vessels were sold out of the trade. A 

 special permission was necessary for this, as the ancient 

 laws against selling whaling ships to foreigners were still 

 in vigour ; and this permission was granted by the States of 

 Holland in 1782, provided that each person inclined to sell 

 a vessel abroad should procure a licence from the 

 Admiralty Board under which he resorted, and moreover 

 that if the ship were sold to be used as a merchantman, the 

 whaling implements should not be destroyed, but kept for 

 better times. At the same time, the Admiralty Boards were 

 empowered to grant permissions to hire out whaling sailors 

 to foreigners, English excepted, under caution for their being 

 sent back to the Republic after the war.* As a conse- 

 quence, of the vessels formerly employed in the Straits 

 fishery only nine were left in 1783, when whaling was 

 recommenced ; and the business never recovered its losses. 

 Premiums were granted till the end of the Republic, and were 

 even determined for twelve years at their former amount of 

 30 florins per head, by one of the several Resolutions taken 

 on April I7th, 1788, by the States-General for the fisheries' 

 preservation from utter ruin.f Another, and a very peculiar 

 form of encouragement was resorted to by a Resolution of 

 the States of Holland dated October 3rd, 1788 ; viz., an 

 "indemnisation ' bounty of 50 florins for every quarter of 

 train wanting to a hundred in a vessel's cargo. In order to 

 prevent mock whaling trips, by which the said bounty might 

 have been secured very easily indeed, certain conditions 

 were added as to burden and equipment of ships, strength 

 of crew and duration, and latitude where to fish. Even 



* Res. Holl. 1782, p. 138, 174 ; Res Si. Generaal 1782, p. 175, 232, 

 273, 289. 

 f Groot Placaetboek, ix. p. 1313. 



