There were bickerings and occasional collisions between English and Dutch in the succeeding summers. The English fleets were led by Thomas Edge, one ship being nominally for discovery. At last there was a sort of agreement that the Dutch and Danes should have the north-west corner from Fairhaven to Hakluyt Headland, and the north coast--much the best stations for whales; while the English were to have the west coast bays from Fair Foreland, the northern point of Prince Charles Island, to the south point of Spitsbergen. The Dutch fishery brought great wealth to Holland. A station, called Smeerenburg, was founded at the south-eastern end of Amsterdam Island, which for many years had all the appearance of a large town, with warehouses, blubber-boiling sheds, dwelling huts, and even a church. Smeerenburg began to decline from 1644, when the whales retreated from the coast and were only taken at sea. But, until 1770, the Dutch fishery throve. Captain Edge was mindful of discovery as well as of the main business of whaling. He explored to the south and east, and sighted Wyche Land[79] far to the east. Indeed he and his predecessors completed the whole outline of the Spitsbergen archipelago, except North-East Land, some gaps being filled in by the Dutch. As the voyages of English and Dutch were contemporaneous, it is not always clear to which nation the discovery of each portion of coast should be attributed, though it is certain that places discovered and named by the English now have Dutch names on the charts[80]. In 1630 an English crew wintered in Spitsbergen for the first time, in a hut in Bell Sound, and all survived and were taken home in the following summer. In 1634 some Hollanders were left to winter at Smeerenburg but they all died. The archipelago of Spitsbergen, thus discovered by English and Dutch in the early part of the 17th century, is 250 miles in length, from 76° 35′ N., to 80° 35′ N., with a width of 200 miles. It is a wild region of barren mountains and glaciers, with some splendid scenery. It is fairly well stocked with animal life both on land and in its seas; bears, foxes, hares and birds on land; whales, walrus, seals, and fish in its seas. Other discoveries connected with the Spitsbergen group, especially as regards its internal physiography and geology, were reserved for later times. CHAPTER XV EARLY VOYAGES TO HUDSON’S BAY _Knight--Hudson--Button and the North-West Company_ Sir Thomas Smith was urgent in his efforts to induce the Directors of the East India Company to take up the question of a northern passage to Cathay, but they were lacking in enthusiasm. At last, in July 1601, the question appeared on the Minutes. It was not until January 1602, however, that the Directors were induced to pass a resolution that “this Company has an express interest in a voyage to discover a north-west passage” and that ships were to be got ready with all expedition.