Hand-colored engraving composed of four sections portraying the phases of whale fishery and several whale and sea-related specimens. The illustrations are labeled with letters that correspond to a description with the same letter. From top to bottom: a scene of the Spitsbergen whale fishing; drawings of whales, a whale louse, a seabird, sea worms, and harpoons; (left) whaler fishing crew sailing into the ice to locate whales that like to hide under ice; and (right) a scene of the tryworks.
The illustrations of are from Friderich Martens' (1635-1699) Spitzbergische oder Groenlandische Reise-Beschreibung, gethan im Jahre 1671 published in 1675 and Cornelius Gisbert Zorgdrager's Beschreibung des Gr̦nl�_ndischen Walfischfang published in 1750. The whales on the left of the central section, the sea bird, and the ships in ice are from Martens. The scene of the tryworks is from neither Martens nor Zorgdrager.
