So ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



At first, so easy of approach and capture were these con- 

 fiding animals, that the seas of Spitzbergen soon swarmed with 

 vessels, first British, then of other nationalities, particularly 

 the Dutch, who for a long time ran us hard in our whaling 

 enterprise. But the brave Basques had not lost their 

 cunning, and although they do not appear to have fitted out 

 expeditions of their own to enter the icy seas they were 

 largely employed as harpooners and in other offices where 

 skill and experience were required. Extermination went on 

 at a furious rate the whales being at first attacked from the 

 shore and the blubber landed to be tried out at settlements, 

 each nationality having its recognised portion of the fore- 

 shore ; but soon the whales became shy and forsook the 

 shore, rendering it necessary to follow them into the ice. Vain, 

 however, were their efforts to evade their enemy man, and in 

 the seas where there were at that time great whales in- 

 numerable not one has been seen for several years. 



The Davis Strait fishery was initiated by the Dutch 

 in 1719. They at first killed large numbers of whales; 

 the British followed later, and still frequent these waters, 

 but although a fair quantity of whales are seen, com- 

 paratively few, owing to various causes, are captured. It is 

 the opinion of many experienced whalers that the introduc- 

 tion of steam gave the death-blow to the industry, especially 

 in the Greenland waters. 



The task of tracing the decay of this once important 

 industry is a tempting one, but cannot be indulged in on the 

 present occasion. As, however, the enterprise is now a purely 

 Scottish one, and has long been confined to the ports of 

 Peterhead and Dundee, perhaps I may be allowed to quote 

 a few facts illustrating its rapid decline. For the first 

 quarter of the nineteenth century scarcely a seaport of any 

 importance on the east coast of England was unrepresented 

 in the Arctic seas ; from Scotland, Berwick, Leith, Kirkcaldy, 

 Dundee, Montrose, Aberdeen, Peterhead, Kirkwall, Greenock, 

 and for a time Banff and Bo'ness, all took part in the whale 

 fishery. Gradually, one by one, they fell off, till only Peter- 

 head, which sent out her first whaler in 1788, and Dundee in 

 1790, were left. In 1893 Peterhead, which in 1857 sent 

 out 34 vessels, ceased to be represented in the industry, 



