I 158 ] 



fame rivers, particularly the Trent , the 

 Ouze, the Rother, &c. &c. which bring 

 them thefe fabrics, likewife give them a 

 vaft fharc ixf the corn trade, and then the 

 return by wine, deals, coals, iron, hemp, 

 A nerican produces, &c. &c. form together a 

 prodigious traffic. 1 hey have even entered 

 u ) the Greenland fifhery, which was fup- 

 poi d to be loft to this kingdom when gi- 

 ven uf • the South-Sea Company. Three 

 large (hips, of above 500 tons each, made 

 the voyage this year, one of which caught 

 four whales and an half*, and 150 feals. 

 The merchants of Hull deferve much com- 

 mendation for entering into a bufinefs fo 

 extremely expenfive, hazardous, and fo 

 often disadvantageous ; but from which 

 our neighbours, the Dutch, have made fuch 

 aflonifhing profit. There are about 150 

 fail of fhips belonging to Hull, rifing from 

 fmall craft to 600 tons. The harbour is 

 fmall, but very fecure ; at its entrance from 

 the Humber is a regular fortification, garri- 

 foned, but of no great ftrength, from 

 which you have a fine view of the river 

 and its mouth to the fea ; it is here three 

 miles broad. 



* If two fhips join in the taking a whale, they di- 

 vide it, which occafions the halves, which, without 

 explanation, appear fo odd. 



6 They 



