Dane. There are two places in Norway not far from Gothenburg which are easy to be taken, and are excellent harbours, wherein England might keep some ships constantly, and command all that pass by to the Baltic Sea.

Wh. What are the names of those places?

Dane. The one of those havens is called Marstrang; but that I do not like so well because of the Paternoster Rocks, which are very dangerous for coming out if the wind sit northerly, and the fort there is commanded by the hills near it. But the other place, called Flecker Town, is an island, and hath a going-in and coming-out two ways; it is an excellent harbour, and ships may ride in it at such a distance from the land (being a broad water) that none from the land can hurt them. There is a little fort in this island which may easily be taken, not having above forty or fifty men in it, and the works decayed. Those who assail it must land their men on the south-east side of the island, the fort being on the other side, and they may easily be masters of it; and from thence having some ships, they may go in and out at their pleasure, and command all passing by; and none can come into the harbour to them if they make up the fort, which is soon done, and the passage not above musketshot to be commanded, and there are no guns there of any consideration at this time.

Wh. How shall they do for victuals there to get fresh from the land ?

Dane. There is plenty of butter and cheese, sheep and hogs; and the poor country people will be no trouble to you, but be willing to be commanded by

you.

Wh. What towns are there near it?

Dane. Higher in the country is Bergen, the chief town for trade there, and rich enough. Your ships may easily come into that harbour, and plunder the town and get a great booty, and return to Fleckeren Town again.

Wh. Is there anything to be done at Iceland?

Dane. I wonder you do not send, in August or September, four or five ships to Iceland, being men-ofwar. They may have twenty or thirty Dutch ships, laden with fish, butter, and hides, which will make no resistance at all; and it would be a rich prize, and might be had without danger or difficulty.

Wh. Is the castle of Elsinore so strong a piece that it cannot be taken without much expense and danger?

Dane. This will not be the best design for England it is a small, strong castle, and doth not signify much; though it be esteemed a piece of importance, it is

not so.

Wh. It commands the passage of the Sound.

:

Dane. Most men believe so, but it is mistaken. I have seen an experiment to the contrary, that a boat, being placed in the middle of that narrow passage of the Sound, they shot at it from the castle of Elsinore, and likewise from the castle of Helsingborg on the other side, with the greatest guns they had, and yet they could not reach the boat from either side by two thousand paces; nor is it so narrow in the passage but that a ship may, when she pleaseth, sail by those castles in despite of them.

Wh. What harbour is there at Elsinore?

Dane. There is no harbour for ships to ride in, and in foul weather they will be in danger to be all lost,

because they must ride in the open sea, which there is extreme perilous; and therefore Elsinore is not worth the keeping, if England had it. But their best design would be to go directly to the town of Copenhagen with fifty or sixty good ships, with landsmen in them; and it is easy enough to take that town, for the works of it are not strong, nor is it well guarded, and it would be easier to take that town than Elsinore; and if England were masters of it, the castle would quickly come in to them; and at the town they should have a good haven for their ships, and a small matter would build a better fort near the town than Elsinore is, and would command the passage more than the castles do, and make you masters of the Sound and of all the trade of the Baltic Sea.

Wh. What revenue would be gained thereby ?

Dane. More than will maintain your ships and forces there, and will command all the island of Zealand.

Wh. I should be glad to meet you there.

Dane. If you summon me by your letters, I will give you a meeting at Copenhagen, or those whom the Protector will send thither; and if you will meet me there, I doubt not but to show you a way to get that town without much difficulty; and then you will have all the isle of Zealand, which is the best part of Denmark, and the rest will follow, being weary of the present tyranny and ill-usage of their King. And if you were masters of Zealand, you might thereby keep in awe the Swede, the Hollander, and all the world that have occasion for the commodities of the Baltic Sea.

Wh. Why then doth not the King of Denmark now keep them in such awe?

Dane. Because he hath neither the money nor ships nor men that England hath.

Wh. What is the ground and reason of payment of the tolls at Elsinore, if ships may pass by without the leave of the castles there?

Dane. Because that is known but to a very few; and what I have told you is under secresy, and I desire that none but the Protector may know it from you; and as for the grounds of paying the tolls at Elsinore, it is rather from the keeping of the lights in Jutland and upon that coast, than from any command that Elsinore hath of the ships that go that way.

Wh. I have heard those lights are very useful.

Dane. Unless they were kept, it would be impossible for ships to sail there in the long nights in winter; and the trade doth enforce them to come that way in October and November, when the nights are very long, because of bringing wine into those parts after the vintage, which is in September.

Wh. They are likewise to carry home corn, which is not inned till August and September. Did not the Hollanders refuse to pay the toll?

Dane. Once they did, and thereupon the last King of Denmark, by advice, commanded that the lights upon the coast should not be kept; and the Hollanders in that autumn lost above thirty ships upon the Danish coast, and came and entreated the King that the lights might be kept again, and promised to pay the tolls as formerly, and have done so ever since.

Wh. Let me say to you, in freedom, how can you, being a native of Denmark, satisfy yourself to discover these things to me, whereby prejudice may come to your country?

Dane. I do not think I betray my country in this, though, my country having left me to be an exile, I

Effects of the English

North.

might justly leave them; and wheresoever I breathe
and am maintained is more my country than that
where I was born, and which will not let me breathe
there; yet in this I think I may do good service to
Denmark, to free them from the tyranny they are
under, and to bring them into the free government of
the Protector, to whom I shall do any service in my
power. But for the King of Denmark, he is governed
by his Queen and a few of her party, men of no ho-
nour nor wisdom nor experience in public affairs, but
proud and haughty, according to the way of these
parts of the world.

Wh. I shall not fail to make known to the Protec-
tor your great affections to him.

April 6, 1654.

Monsieur Miller, who had been Resident at Hamfleet in the burg for her Majesty, came to visit Whitelocke, and after dinner discoursed much of the English fleet now at sea, which, he said, did amuse all the northern parts of the world, what the design thereof might be. Whitelocke did not lessen the wonder, especially in relation to Denmark; yet affirmed nothing positively, as indeed he could not. He inquired of Monsieur Miller if the King of Denmark were making any preparations at sea, or of land forces, or had any design towards Hamburg. Miller said he knew of none, and in his discourse gave Whitelocke good information of the government, strength, and trade of that Hanse Town.

The Secretary Canterstein came to Whitelocke from the Chancellor, and brought to him the articles upon

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