The Origin of Whaling. 17 
for their maritime exploits and they were more assiduous 
in the northern whale fishery than any other nation, 
pursuing the trade for a long time with great vigor. To 
them is attributed the improvement of the harpoon, 
the use of the reel and line and the lance. The Dutch 
began whaling about 1612, following the English into 
the Spitzbergen region, and they were consistently more 
successful than any other nation. It was no uncommon 
thing, says Scoresby,” for them to procure such vast 
quantities of oil that empty ships were required to take 
home the superabundance of the product. 
During the early years the Dutch whaling industry 
was a monopoly in the hands of a company similar to 
the English Russia Company. In 1642 this monopoly was 
removed, but the fishery continued to flourish with 
even greater prosperity. Between 1660 and 1670, 400 
to 500 Dutch and Hamburg ships visited the coast of 
Spitzbergen yearly, while the English sometimes did not 
send a single vessel.* But the inevitable consequence 
of such activity was soon apparent, because of the con- 
stant and vigorous pursuit, the whales became scarce, 
receding first to the open sea and then to the protec- 
tion of the ice. The fishery was more dangerous, and 
where success had been so regular as to be regarded as 
a certainty there were now frequent unsuccessful 
voyages and losses from encounters with ice. The trade, 
therefore, began to decline. But the decline of the 
Spitzbergen fishery resulted in the opening of the Davis 
Straits fishery, the Dutch, in 1719, being the first to send 
vessels there.” 
All through the seventeenth and early eighteenth 
centuries the Dutch whaling industry was in a pros- 
perous condition, sending out an average of over 150 
*® Ricketson, New Bedford, p. 55. 
7b. 41-42. 
#8 Scoresby, p. 56. 
* Scoresby, p. 64. 
