162 TRADE THROWN OPEN. 



the Dutch, with more justice, from that by 

 Barentz; the Danes, from the supposed con- 

 nexion between Spitzbergen and Greenland, 

 which belonged to them by right of coloniza- 

 tion;* the French, from the Biscayners having 

 been the first fishers in those seas ; in short, 

 each had a ready excuse for excluding the 

 other from a participation in the trade. At 

 length, after many seizures and engagements, 

 the trade was thrown open, and certain bays 

 and sounds were, by agreement, allotted to the 

 different nations. The English, from their being 

 the first in that country,! had the best bays; 

 the Dutch found harbours further north; the 

 Danes, though late, got in between them, and 

 the French and Spaniards were compelled to 

 put up with some stations upon the northern 



coast. 



The capture of the whales being thus confined 

 to the coast, it became very convenient to reduce 

 the blubber into oil on the spot, and " cookeries " 

 were erected for this purpose. The English 

 had their principal station in Bell Sound; the 

 Dutch had theirs upon Amsterdam island, and 



* In Minister's Geographia, printed in 1540, Greenland is 

 joined to the north of Europe, making the Northern Ocean 

 appear one large bay. 



■f Anderson's Commerce. 



