xviii INTRODUCTION 



whaling, should have made no effort to encourage 

 French fishing expeditions instead of remain- 

 ing satisfied with the destruction of Dutch 

 whalers. Probably the presence of English 

 and Dutch cruisers in the northern seas 

 rendered the success of such expeditions very 

 doubtful. On the other hand, the soap makers 

 of Marseilles procured with ease vegetable oils, 

 which rendered them immune from the periods 

 of compulsory idleness such as English manu- 

 facturers suffered from time to time. There 

 was, therefore, little inducement for the French 

 shipowner to run the risks which inevitably 

 attended whaling expeditions. 



Be this as it may, we must turn to the days 

 of Louis XVI before we find an organised at- 

 tempt made to encourage the whaling industry. 

 By this time whales had long since deserted the 

 bays, and the question now was one of deep-sea 

 rather than of shallow-water fishing, of which 

 the Americans were past masters. 



' In 1784,' so Captain Jouan informs us in 

 his interesting work on fishing, ' Louis XVI, 

 who was deeply interested in maritime enter- 

 prises, equipped six vessels at Dunkirk at his 

 own expense. He manned these vessels with 

 sailors from Nantucket, bringing them to France 

 at great expense. 



