The northern whale-fishery

by William Scoresby

A Danish work, which there is reason to believe is of a date much earlier than that which we assign to the first fishery of the Basques, declares that the Icelanders were in the habit of pursuing the whales, which they killed on the shore, and that these islanders subsisted on the flesh of some one of the species. And Langebek does not hesitate to assert, that the fishery of the whale (hovlfangst, by which he probably means a species of delphinus,) was practised in the most northern countries of Europe in the ninth century.

Under the date of 875, in a book entitled the “Translation and Miracles of St. Vaast,” mention is made of the whale-fishery on the French coast. In the “Life of St. Arnould, bishop of Soissons,” a work of the eleventh century, particular mention is made of the fishery by the harpoon, on the occasion of a miracle said to have been performed by the saint. There are also different authorities for supposing that a whale-fishery was carried on near the coast of Normandy and Flanders, from the eleventh to the thirteenth century.

The English, it is to be expected, did not remain long behind their continental neighbours in this lucrative pursuit. It is difficult to determine whether the whales referred to in the few early documents which we possess, were such as were run on the English shore by accident, or subdued by the English on the high sea. By Acts of Parliament, A.D. 1315 and 1324, the wrecks of whales, cast by chance upon the shore, or whales or great sturgeons taken in the sea, were to belong to the king. Henry IV. gave, in 1415, to the church of Rochester, the tithe of the whales taken along the shores of that bishopric. In the sixteenth century, the inhabitants of the shores of the Bay of Biscay were the most distinguished whale-fishers. At first, they confined their attacks to those animals, probably the Balæna rostrata of Linnæus, which used to present themselves in the Bay of Biscay at a certain season every year. Gradually becoming bolder, the Biscayans advanced towards the coasts of Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland, in the pursuit. The Icelanders united their energies with the Biscayans, and conducted the whale-fishery on so extensive a scale, that, towards the end of the sixteenth century, the number of vessels annually employed by the united nations amounted to a fleet of fifty or sixty sail.

The first attempt of the English to capture the whale, of which we have any satisfactory account, was made in the year 1594. Different ships were fitted out for Cape Breton at the entrance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, part of which were destined for the walrus-fishery, and the remainder for the whale-fishery. The Grace, of Bristol, one of these vessels, took on board 700 or 800 whale-fins, or laminæ of whalebone, which they found in the Bay of St. George, where two large Biscayan fishermen had been wrecked three years before. This is the first notice I have met with of the importation of this article into Great Britain.

However doubtful it might have appeared at one time whether the English or the Dutch first visited Spitzbergen, the claim of the English to the discovery and first practice of the whale-fishery on the coasts of these islands stands undisputed, the Dutch themselves allowing that the English preceded them four years. The merchants of Hull, who were ever remarkable for their assiduous and enterprizing spirit, fitted out ships for the whale-fishery so early as the year 1598, which they continued regularly to prosecute on the coasts of Iceland and near the North Cape for several years; and after the re-discovery of Spitzbergen by Hudson, in 1607, they were the first to push forward to its coasts. Captain Jonas Poole was, in the year 1610, sent out on a voyage of discovery by the “Company for the Discovery of unknown Countries,” the “Muscovy Company,” or the “Russia Company,” as it was subsequently denominated. On his return, the company fitted out two ships for the fishery; the Marie Margaret, of 160 tons, under the direction of Thomas Edge, factor; and the Elizabeth, of 60 tons, Jonas Poole, master. In this voyage, both ships were lost, but the cargo was brought home in a Hull ship.

Such a novel enterprize as the capture of whales, which was rendered practical, and even easy, by the number in which they were found, and the convenience of the situations in which they occurred—an enterprize at the same time calculated to enrich the adventurers far beyond any other branch of trade then practised—created a great agitation, and drew towards it the attention of all the commercial people of Europe. With that eagerness which men invariably display in the advancement of their worldly interests, but which is seldom directed with equal vigour to objects of higher and eternal importance, the mercantile spirit was concentrated on this new quarter, and vessels from various ports began to be fitted for the fishery. In the next year, three foreign ships made their appearance along with the two belonging to the Russia Company. The English, jealous of the interference of the Dutch, would not allow them to fish, and obliged them to return home. In the following year, the English Russia Company obtained a royal charter, excluding all others, both natives and foreigners, from the fishery, and they equipped seven armed vessels for the purpose of maintaining their prerogative. In the course of the season, the English attacked the foreign vessels, and took from them the greater proportion of the blubber, or oil, and whale-fins, which they had procured, driving them, together with some English ships fitted out by private individuals, out of the country. In 1614, a company was established in Amsterdam, and a charter obtained for three years; ships of war were sent out, and the Hollanders, in defiance of the English, were able to fish without interruption. The English got but half-laden, and the Dutch made but a poor fishing. After various disagreements, and the arrival of the vessels of other powers on the fishing-stations, which tended to divide the quarrel, a conference for the purpose of adjusting their differences ensued between the captains of the rival nations, and they agreed at length to a division of those fine bays and commodious harbours with which the whole coast of Spitzbergen abounded. The English obtained the first choice, and a greater number of bays and harbours than any of the rest. After the English, the Dutch, Danes, Hamburghers, and Biscayans, and, finally, the Spaniards and French, took up their positions. Thus we perceive the origin of the names of the different places called English Bay, Hollanders’ Bay, Danes’ Bay, etc.

These arrangements having been adopted, each nation prosecuted the fishery in its own possession, or along the sea-coast, which was free for all. It was understood, however, that the ships of any nation might resort to any of the bays or harbours whatever, for the convenience of awaiting a favourable wind, taking refuge from a storm, or any other emergency. To prevent the prosecution of the fishery in bays belonging to other nations, it was agreed that whenever a boat was lowered in a strange harbour, or happened to row into the same, the harpoon was always to be removed from its rest, so as not to be in readiness for use.

All the early adventurers on the whale-fishery were indebted to the Biscayans for their superintendence and help. They were the harpooners, and the coopers “skilful in setting up the staved cask.” At this period, each ship carried two principals; the commander, who was a native, was properly the navigator, as his chief charge consisted in conducting the ship to and from Greenland; the other, who was called by the Dutch, specksynder, or cutter of the fat, as his name implies, was a Biscayan, and had the unlimited control of the people in the fishery, and, indeed, every operation belonging to it was entirely confided to him. When, however, the fishery became better known, the commander assumed the general superintendence, and the specksynder, or specksioneer, is now the principal harpooner, and has the “ordering of the fat,” and the extracting or boiling of the oil of the whale, but serves under the direction of the commander.

The Dutch pursued the whale-fishery with more vigour than the English, and with still better effect. It was no uncommon thing for them to procure such vast quantities of oil that empty ships were required to take home the superabundant produce. In 1622, the charter of the Amsterdam Company was renewed for twelve years, and the charter of the Zealand Society was extended about the same time, whereby the latter were allowed to establish themselves in Jan Mayen Island, and to erect boiling-houses and cooperages in common with their associates. The privileges of these companies, occasioning the exclusion of all other persons belonging to the United Provinces, produced a considerable degree of discontent, when the fishery, towards the expiration of these last charters, was in its most flourishing state. The states-general of Friesland were induced to grant a charter to a company formed in that province, which endowed them with similar privileges to those of the other companies of Holland. The Frieslanders, in the year 1634, perceived the advantage of procuring the sanction of the Zealand and Amsterdam companies to their right to participate in the fishery, and after negotiation, the three companies, according to stipulated conditions, contracted a triple union. The Dutch followed the whale-fishery with perseverance and profit, and were successfully imitated by the Hamburghers and other fishermen of the Elbe, but the English made only occasional voyages.

It became apparent to the adventurers in the whale-fishery, that considerable advantages might be realized could Spitzbergen be resorted to as a permanent residence, and they were desirous of ascertaining the possibility of the human species subsisting throughout the winter in this inhospitable climate. The English merchants offered considerable rewards, and the Russia Company procured the reprieve of some culprits who were convicted of capital offences, to whom they promised pardon and a pecuniary remuneration if they would remain a single year in Spitzbergen. The fear of immediate death induced them to comply; but when they were carried out and showed the desolate, frozen, and frightful country they were to inhabit, they shrank back with horror, and solicited to be returned home to suffer death in preference to encountering such appalling dangers. With this request the captain who had them in charge humanely complied, and on their return to England the company interceded on their behalf, and procured pardon.