4 i 6 THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 



fore prepared to try their luck in the Polar Seas as soon as 

 the Republic's naval preparations had come to a close, 

 " deeming the prohibition might as well be withdrawn 

 after the country's fleet had sailed ; " but they were re- 

 minded of the placard of January by another dated March, 

 1665, besides which, on the 25th of April, the States went 

 the length of cancelling all contracts between sailors and 

 shipmasters or shipowners for the Greenland trade. The 

 whaling prohibition was moreover renewed in December, 

 1665, and February, 1666 ; and there was no whaling, as 

 far as can be traced, during the whole of the war. No 

 sooner had peace been concluded (July ult. 1667) than 

 Dutch Whalers set about their business with renewed 

 energy, to stimulate which an amnesty was granted in 

 1669 to all whaling commanders and sailors who had, 

 against the placard, taken service abroad during the late 

 war. Moreover, Holland in 1670 decreed differential 

 duties against the importation of foreign whalebone and 

 blubber,* while the prohibitions against selling whaling 

 implements to foreigners were re-enacted more than once. 

 Zorgdrager's statistics of the trade, which begin at the 

 year 1670, mention 148 vessels to have sailed in that year 

 and mastered 792 whales (see Appendix B). 



The disastrous war of 1672 soon put another forcible 

 stop to the proceedings. All whaling expeditions were 

 expressly prohibited as early as February, 1672 ;f and 

 while the other fisheries were at one time re-opened during 

 the war, the prohibition against whaling lasted for three 

 years without an interruption. But the suspense does not 

 appear to have done much prejudice, as the trade was 

 recommenced in 1675, with a number of vessels scarcely 



* Res. HolL 1669, p. 120 ; 1670, pp. 434, 534, 552. 

 f Gr. PL B. iii. p. 298. 



