120 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



which the whalers were to assist those who had lost 

 their ships. 1 



As a rule whalers did not venture beyond 80 

 N. Latitude, but entered the west ice at 79 or 79^ 

 N., neither higher nor lower. 



The Dutch navigators from 1613 to the end of the 

 eighteenth century were whalers and not explorers. 

 The first period the bay fishery (shore fishery) led 

 to the building of Smeerenburg as an oil boiling 

 establishment. The whalers at this period went 

 straight to Smeerenburg and plied their calling there 

 as described by Zorgdrager (infra). A shore 

 fishery was established on Jan Mayen in ,1617, and 

 though successful at first, the whales were never so 

 abundant there as at Spitsbergen. 



About 1626, when the shore fishery was falling 

 off, the Noordsche Compagnie sent out voyages 

 ostensibly to seek the north-east passage, but really 

 to try and discover new whaling grounds. The 

 results of these voyages were kept secret for this 

 reason. 



When the whales were much harried and 

 commenced to leave Spitsbergen they went round 

 the north-west point towards the east, whither the 

 whalers followed them. The new whaling ground 

 was called to the eastward, and the whales caught 

 there were said by the whalers to be different from 

 the species that took flight to the north-west and west 



1 Reg-lenient van de Groenlandtsche visscherye, over het berg-en 

 der g-oederen en hetgeene daeren dependeert, nevens haer Ed. 

 Gr. Mog-. Resolutie van approbatie, 22 Jan., i6gs. Gr. Plac- 

 boek, iv., 1355. 



