If not in pity to the whale, another reason would suggest the same line of conduct. The folly of recklessly slaying the rising generation is beginning to be apparent. Already the supply of whales threatens to run short.
Although one may speak of “little ones,” and although they are genuinely “little,” compared with grown-up specimens, one must not be led astray by the term. One very young baby-whale, when measured, was found to be about twenty feet long. A fine strapping infant!
CHAPTER XXV.
“DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS”
“With Ships the Sea was sprinkled far and wide.”
Wordsworth.
“Fair is our lot—O goodly is our heritage!
(Humble ye, my people, and be fearful in your mirth!)
For the Lord our God Most High,
He hath made the Deep as dry,
He hath smote for us a pathway to the ends of all the Earth.”