Nor, considered aright, does it seem any argument in favor
of the gradual extinction of the Sperm Whale, for example,
that in former years (the latter part of the last century, say)
these Leviathans, in small pods, were encountered much
oftener than at present, and, in consequence, the voyages
were not so prolonged, and were also much more remunerative.
Because, as has been elsewhere noticed, those whales, influenced by
some views to safety, now swim the seas in immense caravans,
so that to a large degree the scattered solitaries, yokes,
and pods, and schools of other days are now aggregated into
vast but widely separated, unfrequent armies. That is all.
And equally fallacious seems the conceit, that because the so-called
whale-bone whales no longer haunt many grounds in former years
abounding with them, hence that species also is declining.
For they are only being driven from promontory to cape; and if
one coast is no longer enlivened with their jets, then, be sure,
some other and remoter strand has been very recently startled
by the unfamiliar spectacle.
Furthermore: concerning these last mentioned Leviathans,
they have two firm fortresses, which, in all human probability,
will for ever remain impregnable.
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