296 BRITISH WHALE FISHERY. 



the twenty years they were excluded from the sea, lost all 

 that practical acquaintance with the details of the fishery, for 

 which they had long been so famous, and which is so essen- 

 tial to its success. 



ESTHER. 



What other nations have entered into the whale fishery? 



MRS. F. 



Hamburg, Altona, and other parts of the Elbe, carry it on 

 with success; France, though it preceded, originally, all other 

 nations in the trade, can hardly be said, for many years, to 

 have had a share in it. The revolutionary war destroyed 

 every vestige of the rising trade which Louis XVI had en- 

 deavored to foster. But the French Government offer now 

 such immense bounties, that probably this branch of com- 

 merce may soon be revived among them. 



ESTHER. 



Who, then, are now the principal nations engaged in the 

 trade? 



The English and the Americans. The occupation of Hol- 

 land by the French, and the consequent hostilities in which 

 she became involved with this country, contributed more than 

 any thing to the promotion of the British fishery. Our go- 

 vernment wisely offered to the fishers of Holland all the privi- 

 leges enjoyed by the citizens of Great Britain, in the event of 

 their settling among us. Many availed themselves of this 

 encouragement, and bringing with them their capital, their 

 industry, and their skill, prosecuted the fishery with the 

 greatest success; but the uncertainty of finding fish, and 

 the risk of shipwrecks,* have rendered the trade more of 



* In 1830, out of 87 ships that sailed to Davis's Straits, 18 were 

 lost, 24 returned empty, and, of the remainder, not one had a full 

 cargo. 



