140 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



products caused a fall in price, which again jeopar- 

 dised the whale fisheries. 



It became customary, in order to avoid the 

 customs duty of two per cent, to land the oil and 

 bone in foreign countries, but this was forbidden 

 by a law of 1652, according to which all Dutch 

 whalers were required to land their cargoes at their 

 home ports. In 1661 all the Dutch whalers were 

 forbidden to go into foreign service, or to sell their 

 sloops, casks, sails, harpoons, or other gear to 

 foreigners. The trade was assisted in 1675 by the 

 passing of two orders, one of which admitted the 

 Dutch whaling products free, and the other taxed 

 foreign imports into Holland with double the 

 original duty (of two per cent). There was an 

 immediate and marked revival, and soon after 

 about two hundred and fifty Dutch ships set out 

 annually to the fishery. 



Each ship had to deposit six thousand guilders 

 caution money before starting, as a security that 

 it would return with its cargo to the home port. 

 In war time the whale fishery was either forbidden, 

 the sailors being pressed into the naval service, or 

 the whaling fleet was permitted to start under 

 adequate naval protection. 



Commissaries were appointed from South and 

 North Holland, from among the leading men in 

 the trade to see that the regulations were carried 

 out. 



The whaling trade generally seems to have been 

 run on a slender margin of profit. True, there 



