40 WHALE-FISHERY. 



became better known, the commander likewise as- 

 sumed the superintendence of the fishery. The 

 office of spccksioneer, as it is called by the Eng- 

 lish, was nevertheless continued, and remains to 

 this day, though with a more limited preroga- 

 tive. The specksioneer is now considered the prin- 

 cipal harpooner, and has the " ordering of the fat," 

 and extracting or boiling of the oil of the whale ; 

 but he serves entirely under the direction of the 

 commander of the vessel. 



It has been observed, that the merchants of Hull 

 were among tlie most enterprising of the British 

 subjects, in equipping ships for tlie whale and waL 

 rus fishenes of Spitzbergen and the adjacent islands ; 

 besides vrhich, they distinguished themselves by the 

 discovery, on the part of the English, of Jan May- 

 en Island, called by them Trinity Island, and by es- 

 tablishing a whale-fishery there at a very early pe- 

 riod. The Russia Company wishing to monopo- 

 lize the whole of this branch of commerce, disputed 

 the right of the Hull merchants to participate 

 in it ; and wished to debar them from visiting 

 even this secluded island. In consequence, how- 

 ever, of a proper representation of the facts. King 

 James at this time (1618) privileged the corpora- 

 tion of Hull with a grant of the Jan IMayen Island 

 whale-fishery*. 



* Anderson's History of Commerce, a. d. 1618. j Macpher- 

 son's Annals, vol. ii. p. 292, ; 



