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The National Geographic Magazine 



During the most profitable period of 

 the Dutch fisherj^, 1620-1635, it is within 

 bounds to say that over 300 Dutch ships 

 and more than 15,000 men annually 

 visited Spitzbergen; more than 18,000 

 men were on the coast in one summer, 

 says Lament. It is definitely known that 

 188 whalers congregated at one anchor- 

 age in 1689, and in 1680 the Dutch sent 

 out 260 ships and about 14,000 men, who 

 made a catch at nearly a million and a 

 quarter of dollars. 



In the year 1620 whales frequented the 

 bays and immediate coast of Spitzbergen 

 in such numbers that the fishers were em- 

 barrassed to transport homeward the 

 blubber and other products. These con- 

 ditions led to the summer colonization of 

 Spitzbergen (and Jan Mayen), where es- 

 tablishments for trying-out, cooperage, 

 etc., were erected, as the most economical 

 method of pursuing the industry. They 

 were occupied only in summer, although 

 the experiences of Pelham and other 

 English sailors, who involuntarily win- 

 tered in Spitzbergen in 1630-163 1,' led to 

 an attempt to establish a Dutch colony. 

 The party of 1633-1634 wintered success- 

 fully, but that of the following year per- 

 ished, and so ended the experiment. 



The most remarkable of these estab- 

 lishments was at Amsterdam Island, 

 where on a broad plain grew up the 

 astonishing village of "Smeerenberg. 

 Here, nearly within ten degrees of the 

 North Pole, 79° 50' N., for a score of 

 years, prevailed an amount of comfort 

 and prosperity that can scarcely be 

 credited by the visitor of today. Several 

 hundred ships, with more than 10,000 

 men, visited it annually. These con- 

 sisted not alone of the whalers and land 

 laborers, but of the camp-followers who 

 always frequent centers of great and 

 rapid productivity. 



In the train of the whalers followed 

 merchant vessels, loaded with wine, 

 brandy, tobacco, and edibles unknown in 

 the plain fare of the hardy fishers. Shops 

 were opened, drinking booths erected, 

 wooden (and even brick) tile-covered 

 houses constructed for the laborers or 



visiting whalemen. Even bakeries were 

 constructed, and, as in Holland, the 

 sound of the baker's horn, announcing 

 hot, fresh bread, drew crowds of eager 

 purchasers. If report errs not, even the 

 Dutch frau of 1630 was sufficiently en- 

 terprising to visit Smeerenberg. 



The shore fisheries soon failed (about 

 1640) and, the Dutch being driven to the 

 remote and open seas, Smeerenberg fell 

 into decadence ; the furnaces were demol- 

 ished, the copper caldrons removed, and 

 the tools and utensils of the cooper and 

 whaler disappeared ; only the polar bear 

 remained to guard the ruins of the 

 famous Spitzbergen fair. 



But human interest in Smeerenberg 

 did not pass away with its vanishing habi- 

 tations, for on the shores of that bay rest 

 the last mortal remains of a thousand 

 stalwart fishers, who closed their lives 

 of toil and struggle in view of the icy 

 seas that had often witnessed their 

 triumphs over the mighty leviathan of 

 the deep. Storm-stayed and ice-beset no 

 longer, their dust awaits the change and 

 fate ordained by God's eternal laws. 



Spitzbergen of recent years has been 

 claiming greater attention. A coal de- 

 posit of considerable value has been found 

 on the island, and it has become a favorite 

 resort for hunters and for excursionists. 

 It is known as "No Man's Land," as it 

 belongs to no country, Norway and 

 Sweden being unable to agree as to its 

 possession. Last year about half a mil- 

 lion dollars' worth of oil, furs, and eider- 

 down were obtained from the island. 



Some authority ought soon to take pos- 

 session of the archipelago, for the game — 

 such as reindeer, polar bears, ptarmigan, 

 geese, ducks, and other birds, formerly so 

 plentiful — is being wantonly extermi- 

 nated. A party of tourists last summer 

 killed more than 100 reindeer, leaving 

 the carcasses where they fell and taking 

 with them only a few of the finest heads 

 and antlers. Eider-duck nests are robbed 

 of eggs, which Norway on her northern 

 coasts and Denmark in Greenland pro- 

 tect by law. 



Danes Island, on the northwest coast 



