NORWEGIAN LOBSTER-FISHERY AND ITS HISTORY. 241 



call the custom-house officers on board in order to examine the ship and 

 exact the taxes on the lobsters which compose the cargo. The officers, 

 however, are at liberty to superintend the lading, if necessary. 



"3. The lobster-commissioners of this firm (Wallace) must faithfully 

 give an account of all the goods which the incoming ships may bring, 

 and of the number of lobsters which are to be exported, so that the 

 dues may be paid, and must also give the carrying capacity of the vessel. 



" 4. These ships are not exempt from the general custom-house super- 

 vision, but all the more, on account of the liberties accorded to them, 

 does it become a duty of the officers to keep strict surveillance ; and the 

 revenue-cutters have also to see to it that nothing unlawful is going on. 



"5. With regard to proving the correct calculation of the custom- 

 dues, it is resolved that the commissioners, in everyplace where lobsters 

 are caught, shall annually, when the fisheries cease, obtain from the 

 fishermen the exact number of lobsters caught and the number of ships 

 employed in the trade, with their carrying capacity. These data are 

 communicated to the custom-house officers, and the dues are to be paid 

 accordingly. 



" G. Ships exporting lobsters from Rognesuud are granted the same 

 privileges, only with the difference that on coming into port they must 

 come up to the custom-house, so that, consequently, the commissioner 

 alone becomes responsible for the correctness of the list of the lobsters 

 which have been exported. 



" Given at the general custom-house office January 20, 1798." 



The war between Holland and England injured the lobster-trade 

 somewhat, but it soon recovered and rose to considerable dimensions, 

 like our whale-trade, during the North American war which broke out 

 in 1775. In Farsund, the flourishing firm of Jochum Birch Lund had iu 

 178G commenced to export lobsters in vessels of their own. Several 

 years later, when the English attempted to get a foothold in their lob- 

 ster-district and pay higher prices, they petitioned the government to 

 order the fishermen to keep the conditions of the contract entered into 

 by them till its time was up ; but the government could in this case refer 

 them to the law. In 1790, they petitioned to obtain the exclusive right 

 to buy up all lobsters in the neighborhood of Farsund, agreeing to give 

 the same price as others. They referred to their heavy expenses for fit- 

 ting out vessels, and to all they had done to further the interests of Far- 

 sund, and maintained that their petition was in accordance with old 

 privileges granted to the Norwegian lobster-trade. They obtained this 

 exclusive right to buy lobsters on condition that this right should only 

 be enforced till their ships had got their full cargoes, and that they 

 should pay the same price as others. It was therefore not the same 

 privilege which had been granted to Norwegian lobster-vessels more 

 than half a century earlier, as these had only the right to let one of their 

 vessels take its cargo before foreigners could get any lobsters. Some 

 years later, they petitioned for the same privilege for all their vessels, 



even beyond Cape Lindesuses. This, however, was not granted. 

 16 F 



