fish. 673 



rings, since known by his name, Beukelm, from which our 

 word Pickle is derived. 



Whether it arose from the frequent state of hostility be- 

 tween Spain and England, or accidentally, as it is asserted, 

 in pursuing the lucrative trade of whale-fishing, does not 

 appear, but the Biscayans claim the discovery of the banks 

 of Newfoundland, a century before the voyage of Columbus. 

 Their assertion, and that of the French in favour of Cartier, a 

 native of St. Maloes, proves at least the importance attached 

 to this discovery, on account of the cod-fish which frequent 

 them, and shows that both the Biscayans and the French 

 were the earliest adventurers who frequented that fishery. 

 There is, however, a third nation, namely, the Portuguese, 

 who certainly fished on the banks at an early period. The 

 Norwegians, also, about the same time, or even before it, had 

 turned their attention to the pursuit of gadoid fish, first along 

 their own shores, and afterwards, with the progress of disco- 

 very, on the coasts of Iceland, and perhaps as far as Green- 

 land ; Hamburgh, together with other Hanseatic towns, were 

 likewise forward in all the branches of commercial fishing 

 within their reach. But the British Islands, peopled by a 

 race of most daring seamen, and of the ablest merchants, by 

 one of those unaccountable perversities incident to human 

 concerns, were nevertheless destined to be among the last to 

 appreciate the value of commercial fishery, and seem doomed 

 never to be completely successful on their own coasts, in a 

 pursuit, which by nature they ought to have cultivated para- 

 mount to every other. For round the shores of Great Britain 

 and Ireland, in every direction, lie the richest and most 

 ample fishing banks belonging to Europe, and amongst them 

 some, which even at this moment are not appreciated, nor 

 even completely surveyed. 



With a spirit of industry deserving the highest commenda- 

 tion, the Dutch have practised for ages the art of fishing with 



VOL. X. X X 



