420 THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 



as any of her crew shall have remained near the body. 

 If abandoned, the fish becomes the property of the first 

 occupant, unless it should have been killed near shore, and 

 made fast to an anchor or buoy bearing some mark of the 

 vessel by whose crew the fish was caught, in which case the 

 finder has no right to the body. 



The period between the years 1675 an< ^ 1685 was one f 

 considerable prosperity for the Greenland trade, as appears 

 from the statistics contained in Appendix B,* which also 

 shows the extreme vicissitude of whaling luck. It will be 

 remarked in consulting this table, that years of very 

 prosperous fishery were usually followed by a considerable 

 increase in the number of vessels sailed, as a proof of the 

 unabated energy and interest with which this trade was 

 carried on. Being no longer a monopoly, and being, 

 besides, free from legislative working rules, there was a 

 " considerable ardour for Greenland," as stated by a writer 

 in ' den Koopman/ f The trade was indeed a lottery ; 

 but many tried their chance in it, often with favourable 

 results. Five or six fish caught in a season were then 

 considered a fair success, as stated by Zorgdrager ; and the 



* As this table is now given for the first time in its present shape, 

 I feel bound to state the origin of its contents. The entries from 1670 

 down to 1719 are taken from Zorgdrager's book, quoted above. 

 Between 1719 and 1738, the decennial totals are taken from Mr. Brand- 

 ligt's ' Geschiedkundige Beschouwing van de Walvisch-msscherij? 

 The annual returns between 1737 and 1750 are collected from 

 the periodical called ' Europische Mercuur] and the rest is drawn 

 from the table printed as Appendix XVI. to the report of the 

 Commission on Sea Fisheries, 1854, which table appears to have been 

 compiled out of the ' Nederlandsche Jaarboeken? The figures now 

 given are tolerably reliable, for whenever statements as to one and 

 the same year are found in more than one of the works quoted, they 

 always coincide, or very nearly so. 

 f Vol. iv. p. 222. 



