THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 357 



says, " catch more herrings, and prepare them better, than 

 any other nation ever will ; and the Lord has, through the 

 instrument of the herring, made Holland an exchange and 

 staple-market for the whole of Europe. The herring keeps 

 Dutch trade going, and Dutch trade sets the world's 

 afloat," whence the author states Dutch herrings to be 

 the mainspring of the world's trade and traffic. No other 

 nation, he says, ever tried this industry but to their detri- 

 ment ; and as an instance of this, he relates the fact that 

 herring caught by Englishmen at the same time and place 

 with Dutch fishermen had been found bad and corrupt at 

 the market of " Danswyck " (Dantzig ?), while the Dutch 

 produce was eagerly bought there. Besides such general 

 statements, which at any rate are additional proof that 

 herring was at the time a considerable article of exportation, 

 the author gives some valuable details about the way in 

 which the fishery was carried on in his days. The first 

 cast of the nets is made at St. John's (June 24th) about the 

 Shetlands, Fairhill and Buchan-Ness,* and the fishing 

 continued in those waters till St. James', or the 2$th of 

 July. From St. James' to Elevation Day (September I4th) 

 Buchan-Ness or "Sevenjof't was still the herring-fishers 

 place of resort ; while in the autumn they sought more 

 southerly seas, and fished in the so-called " deep water " off 

 Yarmouth till St. Catherine's Day (September 25th). But 

 these were general rules ; precise sailing orders to the fleet 

 were yearly agreed upon by the college of the herring 



* "Hitland, Phayril, ende Boekenes." The name of the latter 

 locality seems to correspond with that of Buchan-Ness. 



t As to the place designated by " Sevenjot," I do not wish to hazard 

 a guess. Luzac (Holl. Rijkdom //., p. 261) spells " Jeveniot," and the 

 name is given as " Sevenaths " in the periodical called Neder lands che 

 Hermes for Dec. 1826, p. 14. 



