DESCRIPTION OF BOATS 97 



in English waters and sold by the Dutch herring 

 busses at a sum equal to £4,500,000 sterling of 

 our money. He gives the names of boats other 

 than busses used by the Dutch for catching 

 herring in English waters, " Sword Pinks, 

 Flat-bottoms, Holland Toads, Crab-Skuits, and 

 Yevers." The herring caught at this time by 

 the Dutch were sent in large quantities to 

 Rochelle, Bordeaux, St. Malo, Paris and other 

 French towns in exchange for wine, salt, 

 feathers, rosin, woad, Normandy canvas, vitere 

 (glass), Dowlais cloth (dowlas, or coarse linen), 

 and French coin ; they were also exported to 

 Norway and Sprucia (Prussia) in exchange for 

 hoops and barrel boards. Tobias Gentleman 

 states that the Dutch considered the profit of 

 the herring fishery so certain that they invested 

 their children's money in the fishing, even trust 

 funds for orphans being placed " adventuring 

 in the Busses." The " yagers " (fish carriers, or 

 ferries) purchasing the herrings from the boats 

 at sea, paid in ready money, or tallies, which 

 tallies were regarded as bills of exchange, and 

 were paid at sight. 



The tract also deals with the excellence of the 

 Dutch commercial organisations, especially in 

 the fishing trade, and the slackness of England 

 in commercial matters ; it was followed up by 

 *' Britain's Buss, or A computation as well of 

 the Charge of a Buss or Herring Fish Ship ; 

 as also of the Gain and Profit thereby, by E. S. 

 1615," in which will be found all particulars 



