156 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



ship's-barber (doctor) made four journeys to Spits- 

 bergen in whalers, and his book, unlike many whaling 

 treatises, is an account of his own personal experi- 

 ence. His first ship was called Jonah in the Whale 

 (Jonas im WalfiscK). They left the Elbe on the 

 1 5th April, 1671 ; on the 27th they sighted the ice, 

 Jan Mayen being ten miles distant bearing south- 

 west by west. Many ships were engaged at this 

 time in this neighbourhood, and it was customary for 

 the vessels to hail one another, the most frequent 

 question being as to the number of fish (whales) 

 caught. In his reply Martens quaintly says, after 

 giving the number, " sollte er auch nock einen 

 oder mekr> als er hat, dazu setzen, schadet eben 

 nichtsr 



When the complement of whales was obtained the 

 ship flew a special flag, illustrations of which are 

 given by Martens. On the 7th May the Jonas 

 im Walfisch sighted Spitsbergen, on the I4th 

 there were twenty ships whaling in 75 22' north. 

 On the 1 5th they sighted their first whale, 

 but failed to secure it, on the 3Oth they were 

 successful. 



After rescuing the crew of a wrecked whaler they 

 obtained their second (i3th June) and third (22nd 



Hamburg, 1675. First translated into English by Sir John 

 Narborough and others, and published in 1694, as an account 

 of several late voyages and discoveries to the south and north, 

 etc. Dedicated to Samuel Pepys. 



Also translated and published in the Hakluyt Society's publi- 

 cations for 1855. A collection of documents on Spitsbergen 

 and Greenland, under the title " Voyage into Spitsbergen and 

 Greenland." 



