boats, from twenty to five-and-thirty tons burthen; but one half of them were dismantled, and a number of persons thereby deprived of employment. Our appearance drew a crowd of clamorous beggars about us, chiefly of the fisherman tribe, whose looks and gestures bespoke extreme wretchedness; some endeavoured to excite our compassion by offering for sale a few shells which the sea had cast on the beach, others by loudly proclaiming their wants, and all by sorrowful and dejected countenances.
The ruin of the great fisheries of Holland was the inevitable consequence of a war with Great Britain; but as, by the established usage of nations, in former times, fishermen were permitted, notwithstanding hostilities, to follow unmolested their avocation, for the regular supply of the domestic consumption of their country, I was surprised to find sea-fish scarce, and many boats unemployed. The reason I understood is, that the English government, contrary to its practice in former wars, will not permit the Dutch to fish at a greater distance than five
