20 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



portant trade in whaling products. WJiale meat, especially 

 the tongue, was sold regularly in the market-places of Biar- 

 ritz, Bayonne, Cibourre, and other less important towns on the 

 coast, and the remaining commodities enjoyed a larger market. 

 The oil was distributed over a wide area, considering the in- 

 adequacies of mediseval transportation and the complexities of 

 the countless local tariffs j whalebone was used for so many 

 different purposes that the demand insured a generous price j 

 and the blubber was salted and sold inland, particularly in the 

 east of France. 



Coincident with the final decline of Basque whaling after 

 1600 came the rise of the fishery on a larger scale at Spitz- 

 bergen. This inhospitable region had been discovered by the 

 Dutchman Barents in 1596. Not until fourteen years later 

 did an English exploring expedition under Thomas Edge sail 

 into the same teritoryj but in spite of this tardiness the Eng- 

 lish Muscovy Company, armed with a royal charter from James 

 I, claimed the exclusive right of whaling in all waters ad- 

 jacent to Spitzbergen. The vigorous opposition to this claim 

 made by the Dutch led to a decade of bitter rivalry which was 

 characterized by constant friction and some fighting. By 1623, 

 however, the Dutch had gained a clear predominance. Soon 

 the English Muscovy Company ceased its efforts to compete j 

 and by the end of the seventeenth century practically all Eng- 

 lish whalers had been driven out of these northern waters. 



Other vessels, however, flying other flags, had taken their 

 places. By 1721 the Greenland and Davis Straits fleets in- 

 cluded S5 crews from Hamburg, 24 from Bremen, 20 from 

 the Biscayan ports, and 5 from Bergen. But Holland was 

 still so far in the lead that even Hamburg was completely 

 overshadowed. During the decade 1 699-1 708 the Dutch 

 equipped no less than 1652 vessels and captured between 8,000 

 and 9,000 whales, representing a gross income of some 26,- 

 000,000 florins. 



Partly because of national jealousy, and partly because of 

 the prevailing Mercantilist philosophy, the English merchants 

 showed great concern over their lack of success in whaling. 

 Finally the South Sea Company roused itself for an attempt 

 to revive the fortunes of the fishery. Parliament was per- 



