VOYAGE TP GREENLAND. 
129 
body. Captain Scoresby also related several extra- 
ordinary instances from personal observation, of the 
destructive power and determined defence of some 
fish ; he spoke of one occasion in particular, in 
which a whale destroyed every boat as it approached ; 
and he also mentioned the fact, to shew the power 
of that fish, that, a few years since, a boat belong- 
ing to the Ainswell of Whitby was struck by a 
whale, while the crew were attempting to kill it, 
and literally shivered to pieces by the blow; of the 
crew three perished. Numerous similar accidents 
I have heard described by the commanders of 
other vessels, on board of which I went during this 
voyage. 
The life of a sailor is at all times precarious, 
and deserving the serious regard of every man who 
is a well-wisher to his country ; for sailors, by their 
honourable and useful exertions, have been the 
essential means of raising Britain above the rest 
of the world, in commerce and in naval power. 
But, there is a particular solicitude due to those 
who gain their subsistence from the Greenland 
fishery, as they are exposed to dangers which have 
often proved fatal, from masses of floating ice crush- 
ing the vessels to pieces, or sinking them beneath 
their frightful weight ; while they also encounter 
great hazards in their employment, of capturing 
the monsters of the deep for the use of man. There 
is, perhaps, no class of men more eminently useful 
than they who prosecute this branch of commerce ; 
and, certainly, none whose employment is attended 
K 
