PREFACE 



IT is difficult to give within brief compass a detailed 

 history of the whale fisheries, and hitherto no 

 attempt has been made to do so in the English 

 language. Since whaling falls into four or five 

 well-defined, and more or less independent, phases 

 it is possible to give a brief, and, allowing for the 

 disconnection of the periods, consecutive account of 

 the main aspects of this important fishery. 



There is no authoritative account of British 

 whaling which can be compared with M tiller's 

 " Geschiednis der Noordsche Compagnie " for the 

 Dutch fishery ; Brinner's " Die deutsche Gronland- 

 fahrt " for the German whalers, or Tower's " History 

 of the American Whale Fishery " ; each of which 

 gives a fairly complete account of special periods of 

 whaling. It is to be hoped that further research 

 may be directed to certain aspects of whaling which 

 have hitherto received inadequate attention. There 

 is material for several theses which might reason- 

 ably be proposed for research degrees by post- 

 graduate students at our Universities. Further 

 references to the subject are given under the 

 heading " Bibliography " (p. 315). 



47950. 



