FISH FOUND AT SEA. our sea laws, he tells us, when those animals used to come on Art. XLIV. these coasts; and because there is something historical in the relation, we shall give the reader a short abstract of it. The whales used to pass by the coasts of Guienne, near the ruins of the old castle of Ferragers, about a league from Bayonne, from the autumnal equinox till the winter was almost over. The fishermen had then some of their band always out upon the watch night and day, in huts built on purpose by the sea-side, having their boats and fishing tackle ready. When these centinels discovered a whale, which they knew by the noise he makes in breathing, and the exhalation that rises from it like smoke, they gave notice, by a token they had for that purpose, to their fellows, who immediately ran to them, and leaping into their boats put off to sea, rowing up to the animal, to whom they approached very near, and attacked him in the head, that the wounds they gave him might be the more mortal; besides they were afraid of being struck by it, which was commonly mortal to them: when they had killed him, they towed him ashore and extracted the oil. The fishermen were for the most part Biscainers, who were very bold and dexterous in this dangerous fishery but what my author says on this subject will surprise the reader. The great gains the inhabitants of cape Bezton near Bayonne, and the Biscainers of Guienne, found in the whale fishery, and the ease with which they did it, tempted them to run any hazards to come at whales. They ventured into the ocean, and set out ships to seek after the common abode of these monsters: insomuch, that following their route, they discovered the great and little banks of cod-fish, the island of Newfoundland, and Canada or New France, where the sea abounds in whales, one hundred years before Christopher Columbus's navigation; and if the Spaniards have been so unjust, as to rob the French of the glory of having first discovered the great Atlantic isle called the West Indies, they should confess with Cornelius Vuytfler and Anthony Magin, Flemish cosmographers, F. Antonio St. Roman, Monge de St. Benico, del Historia general de la India, lib. i, cap. ii, page 8, that the pilot who carried the first news to Christopher Columbus, and gave him any knowledge of the New World, was one of the French Newfoundland BiscaiBut all this is so contrary to every other history, that there is no credit to be given to it. Indeed it would have been ners. CABLES AND ANCHORS LEFT BY SHIPS IN DISTRESS. Art. XLV. very extraordinary, if there should have been any honour pretended to by any nation, and the French had not put in a claim to it. In the year 1627, some Biscainers, assisted by the merchants of Bordeaux, fitted out a ship for the whale fishery towards the frozen sea of Greenland, to the north of Ireland and Scotland, and at Spitzberg: where they at last found the common station of the whales during a six months stay which they made there. But now we come to what he is pleased to say of the English. The English, who had not the address or industry for this fishery, being advised of it, grew jealous. They hastened thither and did all they could to molest them in their work, and hinder their landing, which they did every year. At last they positively forbad them to land in Greenland, to melt their whales' fat into oil. The Biscainers complained to Lewis XIII, and cardinal Richlieu; but there were so many things of more importance then negociating between the crowns of France and England, that they could not obtain any article in their favour, nor truce for their fishery. Afterwards they fished in the open sea, caught whales where they could, and with much trouble brought the fat home, where they melted it into oil. The company of north Holland, tempted some of these Biscainers to shew their fishermen the art of whale-fishing, and after they were become expert in it, they also forbad them to fish on the coast of Greenland, and then this fishery was lost to them. There is an air of fiction in this history:-By what authority could the English forbid the Biscainers to land in Greenland; does that country belong to the crown of England? But it is not a little the French will go out of their way to carry any point they drive at. Cables and anchors left by vessels in distress. ART. XLV. If a vessel by stress of weather be constrained to cut her cables or ropes by the end, and so to quit and leave behind her both cables and anchors and put to sea at the mercy of the wind and weather; in this case the said cables and anchors ought not to be lost to the said vessel, if there were any PARTS OF A SHIP WRECKED, THROWN ON SHORE. buoy at them; and such as fish for them, shall be Art. XLVI. bound to restore them, if they know to whom they belong; but they ought to be paid for their pains, according to justice. And if they know not to whom to restore them, the lords of the place shall have their shares, as well as the salvors; but for preventing further inconveniences, every master of a ship shall cause to be engraven, or set upon the buoys thereof, his own name, or the name of his ship, or of the port or haven to which she belongs: and such as detain them from him shall be reputed thieves and robbers. ART. XLVI. If any ship, or other vessel, by any casualty or misfortune happens to be wrecked and perish, in that case, the pieces of the hulk of the vessel, as well as the lading thereof, ought to be reserved and kept in safety for them to whom it belonged before such disaster happened, notwithstanding any custom to the contrary. And all takers, partakers, or consenters of, or to the said wreck, if they be bishops, prelates or clerks, they shall be deposed and deprived of their benefices respectively; and if they be laymen they shall incur the penalties aforesaid. De his autem quos diripuisse probatum sit, præsides ut de latronibus, gravem sententiam dicere convenit. l. ne quid. l. quo Naufrag. D. Incendio, ruina, & naufragio. l. navigia, C. furtis. The penalties aforesaid are in the 25th 26th and 29th articles. h Art. XLVII. PIRATES SHIPWRECKED. The goods tored to them. ART. XLVII. This is to be understood only when the said ship or vessel so wrecked, did not exercise the trade of pillaging, and when the mariners thereof were not pirates, sea-rovers, or enemies to our holy Catholic faith; but if they are found to be either the one or the other, every man may then deal with such as with rogues, and despoil them of their goods without any punishment for so doing. OBSERVATIONS On the three foregoing Articles. Every one has a Droit de Bris against pirates. Pirata communes generis humani hostes sunt, quos idcirco omnibus rationibus persequi incumbit, says the lord Verulam, de Bello sacro, p. 346. For which reason, according to the civilians, Sunt ipso jure dissidiati, cum quibus publice bellum habemus. Strachia in tertia parte de nautis; and again it is cruelty to have any mercy towards pirates, Solum pietatis genus est in hac re esse crudelem. There is no right of action amongst them, and they have none to bring against one who attacks them or robs them. Quia in omnium furum persona constitutum est,ne ejus rei nomine furti agere possint, cujus ipsi fures sunt, lege cum qui § quarto, lege qui re sibi § primo. lege qui res. § si ego. De Furtis, &c. They have no action among themselves. Communi dividundo lege. communi § inter Pradiones. D. communi dividundo. On the contrary, for one pirate to take from another is very lawful, and will bear no action. Lege sed ipsi Nauta, &c. The test of these laws in this copy, is, Witness the Seal of the Isle of Oleron, established for all contracts in the said isle, the Tuesday after the feast of St. Andrew, in the year one thousand two hundred and sixty-six. PIRATES SHIPWRECKED. This date of 1266, is too modern, and does not agree with Art. XLVII. the time when this piece was put forth, as the learned and curious Selden, libro secundo, capite 24. De Dominio maris, very well observes: so that it is thought that this date of the time of the delivery of the copy, from whence the edition printed at Rouen was taken, and the test the seal established for contracts in the isle of Oleron, denotes, that it was a copy taken out by a notary from the original. |