CHAP, ii.] THE WHALE-FISHERY. 55 



annals of the sea is the whale-fishery. At one time a goodly 

 number of British vessels were fitted out in order to follow 

 this dangerous pursuit in the Arctic Seas, and many a thrilling 

 narrative has been founded on the adventures of enterprising 

 whalers. This fishery has fallen off very much of late years, 

 both as regards the pursuit of the right or the Greenland 

 whale, and also in the case of the sperm whale, the capture of 

 which used to be an " enterprise of great pith and moment" 

 in America, the head-quarters of the fishery being situated at 

 New Bedford. It is a good thing that the invention of gas 

 has superseded in a great measure our dependence on the 

 whale ; and the discovery of other lubricants, vegetable and 

 mineral, suitable for machinery, has rendered us altogether 

 independent of the Leviathan of the deep. Although this 

 particular fishing industry may almost be said to be extinct, it 

 was at one time of considerable importance, at least to Scottish 

 commerce. 



To come down to the present time, it is pleasant to think 

 that the seas of Britain are crowded with many thousand boats, 

 all gleaning wealth from the bosom of the waters. As one 

 particular branch of sea industry becomes exhausted for the 

 season another one begins. In spring we have our white 

 fisheries ; in summer we have our mackerel ; in autumn we 

 have the great herring -fishery ; then in winter we deal in 

 pilchards and sprats and oysters ; and all the year round we 

 trawl for flat fish or set pots for lobsters, or do some other work 

 of the fishing in fact, we are continually day by day despoil- 

 ing the waters of their food treasures. When we exhaust the 

 inshore fisheries we proceed straightway to the deep waters. 

 Hale and strong fishermen sail hundreds of miles to the white- 

 fishing grounds, whilst old men potter about the shore, setting 

 nets with which to catch crabs, or ploughing the sand for 

 prawns. At different places we can note the specialities of the 

 British fisheries. In Caithness-shire we can follow the greatest 



