114 WHALE-riSHEIlY. 



instead of becoming experienced in the trade, tliey 

 soon lost the little advance which they had made 

 in the art, wliilc tliey were under the direction of 

 the Biscayans ; and, in consequence, were long un- 

 der the necessity of hiring a great number of 

 foreigners, to assist them in the fishery. This obli- 

 gation of the British to employ the Dutch as fish- 

 ing-officers in their ships, was probably the occa- 

 sion of a popular mistake, that the Dutch Avere the 

 first whale-fishers at Spitzbergen. But, after the 

 bounty system had been established a few years, 

 the British became as expert, in the fishery as the 

 Dutch, and the two rival nations probably exer- 

 cised an equal talent for many years afterwards. 

 The talent for the whale-fishery among the Dutch, 

 however, was on the decline ; and in consequence of 

 the imitation of their manner by the Britisli, in the 

 middle, and indeed so late as the ninth decade of 

 the last century, the energies of the fishermen were 

 never brought into action. The Dutch, from in- 

 dulging a habit of coolness, became inactive, and 

 the British too closely copied their example. About 

 the close, however, of the century, two or three of 

 the captains of the whale-fishing ships, men of 

 abilities, commenced a system of activity and per- 

 severance, which was followed by the most brilliant 

 result. Instead of being contented with two or 

 three large fish, and considering five or six a great 

 cargo, they set the example of doubling or trebling 



