126 THE WHALE AND 



A Doubt Started. Opinion of an Old Salt. 



dained for it and fitted so well to be its home, 

 and since I have observed the hazards that have 

 to be encountered and the perils to be sur- 

 mounted in its capture by men, and have coup- 

 led with this the consideration of the various 

 other sources from which the human family can 

 now be supplied with oil, whether for burning 

 or the arts, I begin to be somewhat doubtful 

 about the lawfulness and expediency of the 

 whale fishery. As an old whaleman once said 

 in his own way, "Whales has feelings as well 

 as any body. They don't like to be stuck in 

 the gizzards, and hauled alongside, and cut in, 

 and tried out in them 'ere boilers no more than 

 I do." 



This may seem foolish, and let it go for 

 what it is worth. But if the business can not 

 be successfully pursued without the flagrant 

 violation of the Sabbath now caused by it, and 

 the consequent disastrous effect upon the moral 

 and religious characters of those engaged in it, 

 no well-grounded Christian will be in doubt as 

 to its ^lawfulness and immorality. Whale 

 ships, almost without exception, desecrate the 

 Lord's day by taking their game and making 

 way with it just as on any common day. They 



