184 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



year. Two ships fitted out privately engaged in the 

 fishery. A statistical return showing the number of 

 ships fitted out for the Greenland whale fishery, 

 together with their tonnage and the amount of 

 bounty paid, is given in the Appendix (p. 306) from 

 the commencement in 1733 to the year 1824, when 

 the bounty ceased. 



The bounty first offered consisted of an annual 

 sum of twenty shillings per ton on all ships fitted 

 c at in Great Britain, of two hundred tons and 

 upwards, for the whale fishery, and navigated 

 according to law. Just previous to this the 

 ^utch were very successful at whaling, for the 

 forty-six years ending 1721 they employed five 

 thousand eight hundred and eighty-six ships, 

 capturing thirty-two thousand nine hundred and 

 3even whales, which at an average valuation of 

 five hundred pounds gives a total of over sixteen 

 million sterling. 



According to the Custom House returns four 

 vessels participated in the^fishery in 1736, of these 

 one ship brought home seven whales while one 

 hundred and thirty Dutcn ships caught six hundred 

 whales. The number of British vessels engaged in 

 die whale fisheries increased but slowly, so in 1740 

 the tonnage bounty was increased to thirty shillings 

 per ton, the additional bounty of ten shillings to con- 

 tinue " during our then war with Spain only," during 

 which time it was also enacted that no harpooner, 

 line-manager, boat-steer er, or seaman should be 

 impressed. 



