GBEENLAND WHALE. 



CHAPTER XL 



TEE WHALE FISHERY AND ITS PERILS. 



,HE preparation for a cruise among the whales 

 is very exciting; not so much as it used to 

 be, because the supply of oil from other 

 sources, the general use of gas, and other 

 circumstances, have diminished the neces- 

 sity which formerly prevailed for a means 

 of illumination. Still there is a considerable demand for the 

 valuable products of the whale — the oil, the whalebone, the 

 spermaceti, and the ambergris, which constitute essential 

 articles of commerce. 



The Arctic regions have for several centuries been the 

 chief haunts of the whale fishery. There has been, how- 

 ever, of late years a great decrease in the number of whales, 

 and the fishery as a speculation has become more preca- 

 rious. 



Within a period of twenty years, no less than twenty 



