208 WHALES AND WHALE FISHERIES xiv 



probably be greater than the value of the produce. Although 

 the better qualities of whalebone still maintain a very high 

 price, owing to their great scarcity, substitutes for it are being 

 gradually invented, and the competition of mineral oils, now 

 found in such abundance in so many parts of the world, and 

 the rapid advances of other methods of lighting have greatly 

 reduced the value of both sperm and train oil. Unless whales 

 can be caught easily and cheaply, they will not be worth 

 catching at all ; and this indicates their best chance of 

 maintaining their place in the world, as experience shows 

 that if any profit can be made out of them, the cupidity of 

 man will give them no quarter. 



