M. Fischer,[244] who, as well as Sir Clements Markham, has given an important account of the whaling industry on the Basque shores, quotes an account of the methods pursued in the sixteenth century. It was at Biarritz--or as Ambroise Pare, from whom Fischer quotes, spelt it, Biaris--that the main fisheries were undertaken. The inhabitants set upon a hill a tower from which they could see "the Balaines which pass, and perceiving them coming partly by the loud noise they make, and {361} partly by the water which they throw out by a conduit which they possess in the middle of the forehead." Several boats then set out in pursuit, some of which were reserved for men whose sole duty it was to pick out of the water their comrades who had overbalanced themselves in their excitement. The harpoons bore a mark by which their respective owners could recognise them, and the carcase of the animal was shared in accordance with the numbers and owners of the harpoons found sticking in the dead body of the Whale. At this period the fishery was at its height. But it continued to be an occupation along those shores until the beginning of the eighteenth century, after which it gradually declined. The fishery of Whales began to be carried farther afield than the shore, and for a long time the Basques furnished expert harpooners to whaling vessels proceeding to the Arctic seas. A curious example of the continuance of the fishery until at least 1712 is given by Sir C. Markham. In the parish records of Lequeito for that year, it is noted that a couple were married who possessed between them all the necessary outfit for a whaling cruise.