Captain Seale of the Milford hath done
his part very well, in boarding the King Salamon, which held out
half an hour after she was boarded; and his men kept her an hour
after they did master her, and then she sunk, and drowned about
17 of her men.
24th. The Dutch have, by consent of all the Provinces, voted no
trade to be suffered for eighteen months, but that they apply
themselves wholly to the war. [This statement of a total
prohibition of all trade, and for so long a period as eighteen
months, by a government so essentially commercial as that of the
United Provinces seems extraordinary. The fact, as I am
informed, was, that when in the beginning of the year 1665 the
States General saw that the war with England was become
inevitable, they took several vigorous measures, and determined
to equip a formidable fleet, and with a view to obtain a
sufficient number of men to man it, prohibited all navigation,
especially in the great and small fisheries as they were then
called, and in the Whale fishery. This measure appears to have
resembled the embargoes so commonly resorted to in this country
on similar occasions, rather than a total prohibition of trade.
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