No. I.
The following extract from Dr. Edmonston’s work on the Shetland Isles,
gives a curious account of the popular superstitions still prevalent
among their inhabitants. “On no subject are they more superstitious
than in what relates to fishing. Some of the more skilful prophets
can foretell, from the knots in the bottom-boards of a boat, whether
it will be lucky to fish or not; and whether it will be overset under
sail, or be otherwise cast away; and boats have been rejected and torn
up in consequence of such a prophecy. When they go to the fishing,
they carefully avoid meeting any person, unless it be one who has long
enjoyed the reputation of being lucky; nor, when the boat has floated,
is it deemed safe to turn it but with the sun. If a man tread on the
tongs in the morning, or be asked where he is going, he need not go to
the fishing that day. When at sea, the fishermen employ a nomenclature
peculiar to the occasion, and scarcely a single thing then retains
its usual name. Most of their names are of Norwegian origin; for the
Norwaymen were reported to have been successful fishers. Certain names
must not be mentioned while they are setting their lines, especially
the minister and the cat; and many others equally unmeaning.
“Witchcraft is still believed by the peasantry to exist in Zetland; and
some old women live by pretending to be witches, for no one ventures to
refuse what they ask. About six years ago, a man entered a prosecution
in the sheriff-court at Lerwick against a woman for witchcraft. He
stated, that she uniformly assumed the form of a raven, and in that
character killed his cattle, and prevented the milk of his cows from
yielding butter. The late Mr. Scott, then sheriff-substitute, permitted
the case to come into court, and was at great pains to explain the
folly, and even criminality of such proceedings.
“Nearly allied to witchcraft is a firm belief in the efficacy of alms.
When a person is anxious for the accomplishment of any particular
event, or considers himself in danger, he vows alms to some person,
generally an old woman who enjoys the reputation of being provided
for in that manner; and, if his wishes are realized, he scrupulously
performs his vow. There are the ruins of an old church in the parish of
Weesdale, called _Our Lady’s Church_, which is supposed to possess a
still greater influence in this respect than any living being. Many are
the boats which are said to have arrived safe at land in consequence of
a promise to this effect, where death, without such an intervention,
appeared inevitable. Several coins have been found at different times
concealed in the walls of this Loretto of Zetland.
“A belief in the existence of _Brownie_, the tutelar saint of
husbandry, is beginning to be exploded; but the fairies or _trows_
have still a “local habitation and a name.” They occupy small stony
hillocks or _knowes_, and whenever they make an excursion abroad, are
seen mounted on bulrushes riding in the air. If a person should happen
to meet them, without having a Bible in his pocket, he is directed to
draw a circle round him, on the ground, and in God’s name forbid their
nearer approach, after which they commonly disappear. They are said to
be very mischievous, not only shooting cattle with their arrows, but
even carrying human beings with them to the hills. Child-bed women are
sometimes taken to nurse a prince, and although the appearance of the
body remain at home, yet the immaterial part is removed. Such persons
are observed to be very pale and absent; and it is generally some old
woman who enjoys the faculty of bringing soul and body together.” Vol.
ii. p. 73.
No. II.
In order to make this little work as complete as possible, I have
annexed the following accounts of the Dutch, English, and American
whale-fisheries. The two former I have compiled from authentic
documents, and the latter is extracted from the late valuable work of
Mr. Pitkin on the Commerce of the United States.
_Dutch Whale Fishery._--Towards the latter end of the sixteenth
century, the whale-fishing on the coast of Spitzbergen became
considerable. It was entirely in the hands of the English till the
year 1578. This fishery was first carried on by a company, which sent
thither annually a few ships, to the exclusion of the rest of their
countrymen, and who also endeavoured to exclude foreigners. In the
year 1613, the company’s ships amounted to seven sail, who, on their
arrival at Spitzbergen, found there fifteen Dutch, French, and Flemish
ships, besides English interlopers. Next year, the Dutch sent eighteen
sail, of which four were men of war. In 1615, the king of Denmark sent
a squadron of three men-of-war to assert his exclusive right, but with
such indifferent success, that his majesty thought fit to give up the
point. In 1617, our company were more lucky than in any other year, and
actually made one thousand nine hundred tun of oil. The Dutch made,
for many years after, very indifferent voyages; and, as their great
statesman, M. De Witt, well observes, had certainly been forced to
relinquish the trade, _had it not been laid open by the dissolution
of their Greenland Company_, to which he attributes their having in
his time, beat the English, and almost all other nations, out of that
trade, which they then carried on to a prodigious extent.
The following is a list of the ships sent from Holland to the Greenland
and Davis’ Straits whale-fishery, from the year 1661 to 1788, both
inclusive, with an account of the number of whales catched each year:
_A List of Greenland and Davis’ Straits Ships, from Holland, since the
year 1661, with the number of Fish caught each year._
+---------+----------+------------------+
| _Years_ | _Ships._ | _Fish._ |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1661 | 133 | 452 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1662 | 149 | 862 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1663 | 202 | 932 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1664 | 193 | 782 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1665 | } |
+---------+ } War with |
| 1666 | } England, no |
+---------+ } Ships out. |
| 1667 | } |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1668 | 155 | 573 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1669 | 138 | 1013 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1670 | 148 | 792 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1671 | 158 | 1088 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1672 | } |
+---------+ } War with |
| 1673 | } England, no |
+---------+ } Ships out. |
| 1674 | } |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1675 | 147 | 900 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1676 | 145 | 812 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1677 | 145 | 785 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1678 | 120 | 1118 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1679 | 126 | 792 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1680 | 151 | 1373 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1681 | 175 | 876 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1682 | 195 | 1444 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1683 | 242 | 1338 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1684 | 233 | 1153 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1685 | 200 | 1283 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1686 | 189 | 664 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1687 | 194 | 621 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1688 | 214 | 340 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1689 | 160 | 241 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1690 | 117 | 785 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1691 | 2 | War with France. |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1692 | 32 | 56 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1693 | 90 | 175 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1694 | 63 | 161 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1695 | 97 | 187 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1696 | 122 | 428 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1697 | 131 | 1279 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1698 | 139 | 1483 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1699 | 151 | 775 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1700 | 173 | 913 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1701 | 208 | 2071 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1702 | 224 | 687 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1703 | 207 | 644 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1704 | 130 | 652 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1705 | 157 | 1678 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1706 | 151 | 986 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1707 | 131 | 126 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1708 | 122 | 533 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1709 | 126 | 192 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1710 | 137 | 62 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1711 | 117 | 631 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1712 | 108 | 373 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1713 | 93 | 237 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1714 | 108 | 1291 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1715 | 134 | 698 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1716 | 153 | 535 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1717 | 179 | 392 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1718 | 139 | 280 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1719 | 211 | 346 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1720 | 228 | 455 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1721 | 260 | 733 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1722 | 254 | 1101 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1723 | 233 | 314 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1724 | 232 | 358 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1725 | 226 | 530 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1726 | 218 | 244 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1727 | 202 | 402 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1728 | 182 | 363 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1729 | 184 | 229 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1730 | 168 | 248 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1731 | 164 | 298 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1732 | 176 | 314 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1733 | 184 | 360 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1734 | 186 | 327 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1735 | 185 | 496 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1736 | 191 | 857 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1737 | 196 | 504 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1738 | 195 | 472 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1739 | 192 | 728 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1740 | 187 | 665 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1741 | 178 | 312 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1742 | 173 | 558 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1743 | 185 | 937 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1744 | 187 | 1494 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1745 | 184 | 568 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1746 | 180 | 1036 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1747 | 164 | 776 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1748 | 94 | 278 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1749 | 157 | 619 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1750 | 158 | 590 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1751 | 162 | 330 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1752 | 159 | 546 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1753 | 166 | 639 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1754 | 171 | 672 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1755 | 181 | 720 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1756 | 186 | 508 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1757 | 180 | 423 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1758 | 159 | 371 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1759 | 155 | 464 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1760 | 154 | 454 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1761 | 161 | 357 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1762 | 165 | 189 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1763 | | |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1764 | 161 | 224 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1765 | 165 | 477 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1766 | 167 | 189 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1767 | 165 | 179 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1768 | 160 | 600 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1769 | 152 | 1127 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1770 | 150 | 523 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1771 | 150 | 143 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1772 | 131 | 768 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1773 | 134 | 444 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1774 | 130 | 450 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1775 | 129 | 105 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1776 | 123 | 509 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1777 | 116 | 427 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1778 | 111 | 306 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1779 | 105 | 168 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1780 | 82 | 476 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1781 | } |
+---------+ } War with England, |
| 1782 | } no Ships out |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1783 | 55 | 330 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1784 | 62 | 198 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1785 | 65 | 300 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1786 | 67 | 476 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1787 | 67 | 239 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
| 1788 | 69 | 190 |
+---------+----------+------------------+
N. B. From the year 1719 are included the Davis’ Straits Ships.
From this period the Dutch whale-fishery rapidly declined, and was at
length totally annihilated during the late war.
_English Whale Fishery._--The English Whale Fishery, like that of
Holland, was originally carried on by an exclusive company. The first
association of merchants for this purpose was soon dissolved; but,
owing to successive grants of the same kind, the trade continued
fettered for a considerable period posterior to the Revolution. During
this time, it was, as might have been expected, carried on with almost
no success.--In 1724, the South Sea Company embarked largely in this
department of industry; but, having, in the course of eight years,
incurred an immense loss, they were glad to abandon it. In 1733, the
government being determined to encourage this fishery, a bounty of 20s.
per ton was granted to all ships of 200 tons and upwards, employed
therein; as this bounty, however, was found insufficient, in 1749
it was doubled. This extraordinary encouragement, by factitiously
determining a portion of the national capital into this channel, had
at last a considerable effect; but a long time elapsed ere the English
could, even with these superior advantages, successfully compete with
the Dutch. Since this epoch many alterations have been made in the
laws respecting the Greenland fishery; and at the commencement of
the late war, the bounties were reduced, owing to the market being
overstocked with oil.
The following account of the number of English and Scottish vessels
employed in the Greenland whale fishery, and of their tonnage, from
1771 to 1800, both inclusive, is extracted from M’Phersons Annals of
Commerce:
+----------------------------------+------------+---------+
| ENGLAND. | SCOTLAND. |
| _Years._ | _Vessels._ | _Tons._ | _Vessels._ | _Tons._ |
+----------+------------+----------+------------+---------+
| 1771 | 50 | 14,700 | 9 | 2,797 |
| 1772 | 50 | 15,378 | 9 | 2,797 |
| 1773 | 55 | 16,712 | 10 | 3,016 |
| 1774 | 65 | 19,770 | 9 | 2,773 |
| 1775 | 96 | 29,131 | 9 | 2,773 |
| 1776 | 91 | 27,047 | 7 | 2,251 |
| 1777 | 77 | 21,917 | 7 | 2,251 |
| 1778 | 71 | 20,291 | 5 | 1,587 |
| 1779 | 52 | 16,907 | 3 | 956 |
| 1780 | 50 | 14,900 | 4 | 1,282 |
| 1781 | 34 | 9,859 | 5 | 1,459 |
| 1782 | 38 | 11,122 | 6 | 1,764 |
| 1783 | 47 | 14,268 | 4 | 1,095 |
| 1784 | 89 | 27,224 | 7 | 2,047 |
| 1785 | 136 | 41,741 | 13 | 3,865 |
| 1786 | 162 | 49,426 | 23 | 6,997 |
| 1787 | 219 | 64,286 | 31 | 9,057 |
| 1788 | 216 | 63,399 | 31 | 8,910 |
| 1789 | 133 | 38,751 | 28 | 7,846 |
| 1790 | 130 | 30,290 | 22 | 5,898 |
| 1791 | 93 | 27,598 | 23 | 6,308 |
| 1792 | 73 | 21,496 | 28 | 5,487 |
| 1793 | 38 | 8,437 | 14 | 3,813 |
| 1794 | 47 | 12,906 | 13 | 3,480 |
| 1795 | 34 | 9,135 | 10 | 2,613 |
| 1796 | 42 | 11,516 | 9 | 2,317 |
| 1797 | 50 | 13,757 | 10 | 2,614 |
| 1798 | 56 | 16,140 | 10 | 2,614 |
| 1799 | 57 | 16,731 | 10 | 2,629 |
| 1800 | 51 | 15,077 | 10 | 2,652 |
+----------+------------+----------+------------+---------+
From 1788, this table is made up from the annual accounts laid before
Parliament; and the number of ships, and the tonnage, always refers to
the number of those who actually _cleared out_ for Greenland. We have
already given Dr. Colquhoun’s estimate of the value of the whale oil
and whalebone imported into Great Britain from 1805 to 1810.
_American Whale Fishery._--The whale fishery first attracted the
attention of the Americans in 1690, and originated at the island
of Nantucket, in boats from the shore. In 1715, six sloops, of
thirty-eight tons burden each, were employed in this fishery, from
that island. For many years their adventures were confined to the
American coast, but as whales grew scarce here, they were extended to
the Western Islands, and to the Brazils, and at length to the North
and South Seas[35]. For a long time the Dutch seemed to monopolize the
whale fishery, which they followed, with success, in the Greenland or
Northern Seas.
[35] See Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
As early as 1663, they had two hundred and two ships employed in this
fishery, and in 1721, as many as two hundred and sixty; in 1788, the
number was reduced to sixty-nine, and for many years past, not only has
this branch of their commerce, but almost every other, been completely
annihilated. In 1731, the Americans had about thirteen hundred tons of
shipping employed in this fishery along their coast. About the year
1750, the whale left the American coast. The hardy enterprise and
activity of the American sailor, however, soon followed him in every
part of the Northern and Southern Seas.
From 1771 to 1775, Massachusetts employed, annually, one hundred and
eighty-three vessels, of thirteen thousand eight hundred and twenty
tons, in the northern whale fishery, and one hundred and twenty-one
vessels, of fourteen thousand and twenty-six tons, in the southern;
navigated by four thousand and fifty-nine seamen. The peculiar mode of
paying the seamen, in these hazardous voyages, has contributed not a
little to the success of the voyages themselves. Each has a share in
the profits of the voyage, and is dependent on his own exertions for
the reward of his toils. Whether he shall be rich or poor, depends
on his activity in managing the boat, in pursuit of the whale, and
his dexterity in directing the harpoon. This has led to a spirit of
enterprise and hardihood, never surpassed, if ever equalled, by the
seamen of any nation in the world.
During the war of the American revolution, this fishery was destroyed;
on the return of peace, it recovered, by degrees, and, from 1787 to
1789, ninety-one vessels, of five thousand eight hundred and twenty
tons, were annually employed in the northern fishery, and thirty-one
vessels, of four thousand three hundred and ninety tons, in the
southern, with one thousand six hundred and eleven seamen. The quantity
of spermaceti oil taken annually, from 1771 to 1775, was thirty-nine
thousand three hundred and ninety barrels, and of whale oil eight
thousand six hundred and fifty. From 1787 to 1789, the quantity of
spermaceti taken annually was seven thousand nine hundred and eighty
barrels, and whale oil thirteen thousand one hundred and thirty.
In the representation made to Congress in the year 1790, by the
legislature of Massachusetts, it is stated that, before the late war,
about four thousand seamen, and twenty-four thousand tons of shipping
were annually employed, from that State, in the whale fishery, and
that the produce thereof was about £350,000 lawful money, or about
1,160,000 dollars. A great part of this fishery has been carried on
from Nantucket, where it originated, a small island about fifteen
miles in length, and two or three miles in breadth, situated about
thirty miles from the coast. Before the revolutionary war, this
small island had sixty-five ships, of four thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five tons, annually employed in the northern, and eighty-five
ships, of ten thousand two hundred tons, in the southern fishery.
From 1787 to 1789, it had only eighteen ships, of one thousand three
hundred and fifty tons, in the northern, and eighteen ships, of two
thousand seven hundred tons, in the southern fishery. For many years
past, this fishery has been carried on from this island, and from
New Bedford, a large commercial and flourishing town on the coast,
in its neighbourhood, and has employed from fifteen thousand to
eighteen thousand tons of shipping, principally in the Southern Seas.
Although Great Britain has, at various times, given large bounties
to her ships employed in this fishery, yet the whalemen of Nantucket
and New-Bedford, unprotected and unsupported by any thing but their
own industry and enterprise, have generally been able to meet their
competitors in a foreign market. The value of spermaceti and common
whale oil, whale bone, and spermaceti candles, exported since 1802, has
been as follows:--
Whale (common) Spermaceti oil
oil and bone. and candles.
_Dolls._ _Dolls._
1803 280,000 175,000
1804 310,000 70,000
1805 315,000 163,000
1806 418,000 182,000
1807 476,000 139,000
1808 88,000 33,000
1809 169,000 136,000
1810 222,000 132,000
1811 78,000 273,000
1812 56,000 141,000
1813 2,500 10,500
1814 1,000 9,000
The common whale oil finds a market in the West Indies, Great Britain,
France, Spain, and Portugal. The greatest part of the spermaceti oil
is carried to Great Britain. The late war between the United States
and Great Britain has again almost annihilated the cod and whale
fisheries.[36] While in the years previous to the restrictive system
and the war, the fisheries furnished articles for exportation to an
amount of more than three millions of dollars, in 1814 the exports of
the produce of the fisheries is reduced to the sum of 188,000 dollars.
[36] Twenty-four whalemen were taken by the British in the late war.
No. III.
During the publication of this little work, I was favoured, through
the medium of a friend, with some very important remarks made by a
Gentleman of great nautical skill and experience, in the year 1814,
on board his Majesty’s ship Sybyll, while in the North Seas, for the
protection of the Greenland fishery.
The first point to which he alludes, is the variation of the
compass; and, respecting it, he observes, “Being anxious that every
thing possible should be done for the improvement of navigation, I
determined, while in those high latitudes, to take every opportunity
of observing to what extent the variation of the compass might be
affected by the ship’s course. A paper containing Captain Flinders’s
observations on the same subject, had previously been sent to me by the
Lords of the Admiralty; and as these observations had chiefly been made
in high southern latitudes, it became doubly important to ascertain
whether the same laws were followed in high northern latitudes.
Experience has completely proved that they are; and, in fact, it
is some years since I ascertained that the course down the English
Channel, just taking the ship clear of head-lands, the opposite one up
Channel would run the ship on the French coast.
“In order to render the result of my observations on this subject as
clear as possible, I have selected a few, and inserted them in the
order they were taken. The correctness of them may be relied on, being
all calculated by two persons, examined by a third, and the whole taken
by myself.
“I boarded a good many Greenland ships when in the North, whose masters
all agreed in maintaining, that they experienced _strong south-east
currents_ on their return home, and were often confounded at making
the coast of Norway when they expected to make that of Shetland.
Now, I have no hesitation in saying, that if the same difference in
the variation is to be found on board of a Greenland ship, that was
found to exist in the Sybyll and Princess Carolina, the idea of a
strong easterly current is unfounded, and is merely resorted to, to
account for the error in their dead reckoning, arising from their not
allowing a sufficiency of westerly variation in running from the ice
to the south-west. A degree of longitude is soon lost in those high
latitudes, and the error must increase in running to the south-west, if
proper allowance be not made; for I am very certain that a different
variation will be found on every point of the compass the ship’s head
is put on. The greatest will be found when the _ship’s head is at
West_, gradually declining till it comes to East.
“The Princess Carolina, as well as Sybyll, experienced _the same
currents_ as the masters of the Greenland ships supposed to exist; for
when we made Shetland, by Arnold’s chronometer, No. 1981, to a mile,
our dead reckonings were nearly 6° _to the westward in both ships_;
and when we made the North Cape by the same chronometer, (which was
under my own care,) the longitude in both ships, by account, was 4°
to the westward also. The one error was occasioned by not allowing a
sufficient quantity of variation in running to the south-west, and the
other by allowing too much in running to the north-east.
“I do not know whether the same observations may hold good when applied
to ships coming from the Baltic; but should they do so, they must
effectually account for ships getting down on the coast of Holland,
when they suppose themselves well over in Mid-channel. Perhaps this
may, in some measure, serve to account for the loss of so many of our
brave tars when coming from that sea.
“Notwithstanding the whole tenor of my observations, as well as those
of Captain Flinders, led me to believe that the cause of the variation
must exist in the ship; yet I had great difficulty in coming to a
conclusion so remote from what had formerly been held to be truth; and
for that reason, during our stay at St. Mary’s, I took the opportunity
of making a decisive experiment on this subject. I first went with
the Azimuth compass to St. Agnes’s lighthouse, from which I set the
flag-staff on St. Mary’s Castle, E. 31° N. I next went to St. Mary’s
castle, and from it set the lighthouse W. 31° S. Finding these opposite
bearings thus correspond when on shore, I am fully persuaded the cause
of the differences observed when at sea, must exist in the ship.”
After making these remarks on the variation of the compass, he next
goes on to make some observations, as they occurred in the voyage.
“On the 16th of June, saw Bear, or Cherry Island, which, at a distance,
looks like a saddle, both extremities being very high, and the middle
low. It may be seen 20 leagues off in clear weather. At noon, it
bore by compass, N. _b_ E. ½ E. when I observed in 73° 44´ N. good
observation, and our chronometer gave good sights, 20° 3´ E. By seven
P. M. we had run 33 miles on a N.N.W. course corrected, when the south
end of the island bore by compass E. _b_ N. 3 or 4 leagues, which,
brought up from noon, will make it in 74° 19´ N. Lat. and 20° 7´ E.
Long. At this time it came on foggy, and prevented us from ascertaining
its extent. Soundings are to be obtained to the southward of this
island, and up to Spitzbergen; black mud and small shells.
“19th, Saw Spitzbergen, and on the 20th were close in with the South
Cape. We carried regular soundings to 11 fathoms, about three miles
off; but this part of the coast appearing to be surrounded with rocks,
we did not attempt approaching it more closely. Our chronometers made
it in about 16° 2´ E. We saw some beacons placed along the coast, each
in the form of a cross, which, are, no doubt, placed there for the
guidance of the Russian hunters.
“About this time we bore away for the North Cape, in order to water,
and procure any refreshments that could be got. After making the land
to the westward of the Cape, we stood into a large bay, to look for a
place of safety to accomplish our purpose, hardly suspecting that any
inhabitants were to be found. On standing in, we observed some boats
under sail, one of which was soon brought alongside, that contained a
family of Finmarkers, some of whom spoke the Danish language. They
informed us of the town of _Hammerfest_ being close by, and offered to
take us in. This offer was soon embraced, and, in a few hours, the town
opened to our view; which, to our astonishment, contained a church,
batteries, &c. The Captain of the port soon made his appearance, and
anchored us in safety. I made a survey of this place, and ascertained
its latitude and longitude as correctly as possible, which are as
follow:
The latitude of Hammerfest Town,
ascertained by a good Sextant
and False-Horizon, taken on
shore, was found 70° 38´ 34´´ N.
Longitude, by Arnold’s chronometer,
No. 1981, taken on shore, by
the same means 24 28 0 E.
Variation by same means 11 4 0 W.