THE OCEAN AS A SOURCE OF FOOD SUPPLY 167 



price, owing to the greed of the middleman and the 

 difficulties of distribution, will one day certainly be 

 lowered as the need arises, for men will no longer 

 consent to go hungry while such superabundant 

 supplies of food are being wasted. 



But, after all, vast as are the supplies of herring 

 and mackerel brought to our thresholds by the 

 instinct of the creatures themselves, there are also 

 enormous hosts of other fish which abound in our 

 seas within comparatively easy reach, but which, 

 owing to the lack of distributional facilities, are dear, 

 and indeed almost unattainable by people of moderate 

 means in inland towns and villages. The west coast 

 of Ireland, for instance, teems with fish of the best 

 quality, which are obtainable, weather permitting, all 

 the year round. Yet the people of Ireland lack food 

 to the extent of living upon potatoes, buttermilk, and 

 Indian meal, with all this wealth of succulent brain- 

 building food clamouring at their very doors. It is 

 sad to think of, but I console myself by remembering 

 that these anomalies right themselves, or rather, are 

 righted, in time ; only the marvel is, that an intelligent 

 people should for so long be content to submit to such 

 deprivation of what is not only their undoubted right, 

 but what would, properly handled, secure to a large 

 proportion of coast dwellers a good livelihood. At 

 present, however, food of many kinds is fairly easy to 

 procure from the land nay, from many lands having 

 a surplus because of the ease and facility with which 

 our ships come and go. But if, and when, these new 

 lands need their food for themselves, or the commerce 

 on which we rely is hindered by any cause, it will 

 become absolutely necessary to find other sources of 



