VOYAGE TO GREENLAND. 
55 
found there seven hundred or eight hundred whale - 
fynnes, part of the cargo of two great Biskaine ships, 
that had been wrecked there three years before.” 
Previously to that time, ladies’ stays must have been 
made of split cane, or some tough wood, as Mr. 
Anderson observes in his Dictionary of Commerce ; 
it being certain that the whale-fishery was pursued 
for the sake of the oil, long before the use of whale- 
bone was ascertained. The great resort of these 
animals was found to be on the inhospitable shores 
of Spitzbergen ; the European ships therefore made 
that their principal place of fishery, and for a number 
of years were very successful: the English com- 
menced the business in 1598, and the town of Hul^ 
had the honour of first attempting so profitable a 
branch of trade. At present, it seems to be on the 
decline, the quantity of fish being greatly reduced 
by the constant capture during such a vast length 
of time : some recent accounts inform us, that the 
fishers, from a defect of whales, apply themselves 
to the seal-fishery, from which animals they extract 
an oil. This it is to be feared will not be of very 
long continuance ; for these shy and timid creatures 
will soon be induced to quit those shores, by being 
perpetually harassed ; as, indeed, the walrus has in 
a great measure already done. We are also told, 
that the poor natives of Greenland begin even now 
to suffer from the diminished number of seals in their 
seas, these fish being their principal subsistence ; so 
that, should they totally desert the coast, the whole 
nation would be in danger of perishing through 
