the tenth and eleventh centuries visited the Pomeranian coast in great
shoals, it changed its course to the above-mentioned region of the
Sound. The Hanses were not slow to avail themselves of this
circumstance. They succeeded in securing a practical ownership of this
most valuable district of Denmark; thereby demonstrating how
incredibly incompetent the princes of the land were at that time as
regards the utilization of their natural resources. These princes
actually granted to several German cities, and, moreover, to each
individually, the right to establish reservations here--the so-called
_Vitten_--consisting of fenced enclosures on the coast, within which
were erected vendors' and fish-booths, dwellings, and even churches,
all under the administration of special governors appointed by the
Germans. From this point the herring grounds were readily accessible.
The fishing lasted from July until October; and during this time
merchants, fishermen, and coopers resorted here by thousands to fish
as well as to salt, smoke, pack, and load the produce of the net. In
connection with this industry there were held in the immediate
vicinity much-frequented annual markets, the distributing centres for
home consumption. At the beginning of the fifteenth century the
capricious fish suddenly took another direction, visiting the coast of
Holland, to the people of which he thenceforth became as lucrative a
source of revenue as he had been to the Hanses. It has been said that
Amsterdam with all its wealth is built upon herrings; and a similar
statement could once be applied with equal justice to the Hansa cities
of the Baltic.

Concerning the characteristic methods of conducting trade it may be
well here to add that during the distant period here under
consideration a so-called commission business could scarcely be said
to exist; and this is true also of speculation in the narrower sense.