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3be TUniverait? of {Toronto 
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5out of tbe proceeds of tbe fun& 
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8
9
10
11Stewart, 
12
13OB. A.D. 1892. 
14
15
16
17
18THE WORKS OF 
19HERMAN MELVILLE 
20
21STANDARD EDITION 
22
23VOLUME 
24
25VII 
26
27
28
29MOBY- DICK 
30
31OR, THE WHALE 
32
33BY 
34
35HERMAN MELVILLE 
36
37
38
39IN TWO VOLUMES 
40VOL. I 
41
42
43
44CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD 
45
46LONDON BOMBAY SYDNEY 
471922 
48
49
50
51Ps 
52
53
54
55Printed in Great Britain by T. and A. CONSTABLE LTD 
56at the Edinburgh University Press 
57
58
59
60IN TOKEN 
61
62OF MY ADMIRATION FOB HIS GENIUS 
63
64THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED 
65
66TO 
67
68NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 
69
70
71
72CONTENTS 
73
74CHAP. PAGE 
75
76I. LOOMINGS . 1 
77
78II. THE CARPET-BAG ...... 8 
79
80III. THE SPOUTER-INN . . . . . . 13 
81
82IV. THE COUNTERPANE . . . . . 31 
83V. BREAKFAST ...... 36 
84
85VI. THE STREET . . . . . 39 
86
87VII. THE CHAPEL . . . . . . 42 
88
89VIII. THE PULPIT ....... 46 
90
91IX. THE SERMON ...... 49 
92
93X. A BOSOM FRIEND ...... 60 
94
95XI. NIGHTGOWN 65 
96
97XII. BIOGRAPHICAL ...... 68 
98
99XIII. WHEELBARROW . . . . . . 71 
100
101XIV. NANTUCKET ....... 77 
102
103XV. CHOWDER ....... 80 
104
105XVI. THE SHIP . 84 
106
107XVII. THE RAMADAN ...... 102 
108
109XVHI. HIS MARK ....... 110 
110
111XIX. THE PROPHET . . . . . .115 
112
113XX. ALL ASTIR ....... 119 
114
115XXI. GOING ABOARD ...... 122 
116
117XXII. MERRY CHRISTMAS . . . . .126 
118
119XXIII. THE LEE SHORE . . . . . .132 
120
121XXIV. THE ADVOCATE . . . . . .134 
122
123XXV. POSTSCRIPT . . . . . 140 
124
125XXVI. KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES . . . .141 
126
127XXVII. KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES .... 145 
128
129XXVIII. AHAB ....... 151 
130
131vii 
132
133
134
135viii MOBY-DICK 
136
137CHAP. PAGE 
138
139XXIX. ENTER AHAB ; TO HIM, STUBB . . .156 
140
141XXX. THE PIPE ...... 160 
142
143XXXI. QUEEN MAB 161 
144
145XXXII. CETOLOGY . . . . . .164 
146
147XXXIII. THE SPECKS YNDER 180 
148
149XXXIV. THE CABIN -TABLE 184 
150
151XXXV. THE MAST-HEAD . . . . .191 
152
153XXXVI. THE QUARTER-DECK ..... 199 
154XXXVII. SUNSET . . . . . . . 209 
155
156XXXVIII. DUSK 211 
157
158XXXIX. FIRST NIGHT-WATCH . . . . .213 
159
160XL. MIDNIGHT, FORECASTLE . . . .214 
161
162XLI. MOBY-DICK ...... 222 
163
164XLII. THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE . . 234 
165
166XLIII. HARK! 245 
167
168XLIV. THE CHART ...... 247 
169
170XLV. THE AFFIDAVIT ...... 254 
171
172XLVI. SURMISES 265 
173
174XLVII. THE MAT-MAKER 269 
175
176XLVIII. THE FIRST LOWERING . . . . . 273 
177
178XLIX. THE HYENA ...... 286 
179
180L. AHAB'S BOAT AND CREW. FED ALLAH . . 289 
181
182LI. THE SPIRIT-SPOUT 293 
183
184MI. THE ALBATROSS ...... 298 
185
186Mil. THE GAM 301 
187
188LIV. THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 306 
189
190LV. OF THE MONSTROUS PICTURES OF WHALES . 331 
191
192LVI. OF THE LESS ERRONEOUS PICTURES OF WHALES 337 
193
194LVII. OF WHALES IN PAINT, IN TEETH, ETC. . 342 
195
196LVIII. BRIT 346 
197
198LIX. SQUID 350 
199
200LX. THE LINE . 353 
201
202
203
204MOBY-DICK 
205
206OR 
207
208THE WHALE 
209
210
211
212ETYMOLOGY 
213
214(SUPPLIED BY A LATE CONSUMPTIVE USHER TO 
215A GBAMMAB SCHOOL) 
216
217THE pale Usher threadbare in coat, heart, body, and brain ; 
218I see him now. He was ever dusting his old lexicons and 
219grammars, with a queer handkerchief, mockingly embellished 
220with all the gay flags of all the known nations of the world. 
221He loved to dust his old grammars ; it somehow mildly 
222reminded him of his mortality. 
223
224
225
226ETYMOLOGY 
227
228
229
230' WHILE you take in hand to school others, and to teach 
231them by what name a whale-fish is to be called in our tongue, 
232leaving out, through ignorance, the letter H, which almost 
233alone maketh up the signification of the word, you deliver 
234that which is not true.' Hakluyt. 
235
2361 WHALE. * * * Sw. and Dan. hval. This animal is 
237named from roundness or rolling ; for in Dan. hvalt is arched 
238or vaulted.' Webster's Dictionary. 
239
240' WHALE. * * * It is more immediately from the Dut. 
241and Ger. W alien ; A.S. Walw-ian y to roll, to wallow.' 
242
243Richardson's Dictionary. 
244
245Hebrew. 
246
247Greek. 
248
249Latin, 
250
251Anglo-Saxon. 
252
253Danish. 
254
255Dutch. 
256
257Swedish. 
258
259Icelandic. 
260
261English. 
262
263
264
265in, 
266
267
268
269CETUS, 
270
271WHCEL, 
272
273HVALT, 
274
275WAL, 
276
277HWAL, 
278
279WHALE, 
280
281WHALE, 
282
283BALEINE, 
284
285BALLENA, 
286
287PEKEE-NUEE-NUEE, 
288
289PEHEE-NUEE-NUEE, 
290
291
292
293French. 
294Spanish. 
295Feegee. 
296Erromangoan. 
297
298
299
300EXTRACTS 
301(SUPPLIED BY A SUB-SUB-LIBRARIAN) 
302
303IT will be seen that this mere painstaking burrower and 
304grub -worm of a poor devil of a Sub -Sub appears to have gone 
305through the long Vaticans and street-stalls of the earth, pick- 
306ing up whatever random allusions to whales he could anyways 
307find in any book whatsoever, sacred or profane. Therefore 
308you must not, in every case at least, take the higgledy-piggledy 
309whale statements, however authentic, in these extracts, for 
310veritable gospel cetology. Far from it. As touching the 
311ancient authors generally, as well as the poets here appearing, 
312these extracts are solely valuable or entertaining, as affording 
313a glancing bird's-eye view of what has been promiscuously 
314said, thought, fancied, and sung of Leviathan, by many 
315nations and generations, including our own. 
316
317So fare thee well, poor devil of a Sub-Sub, whose commen- 
318tator I am. Thou belongest to that hopeless, sallow tribe 
319which no wine of this world will ever warm ; and for whom 
320even Pale Sherry would be too rosy-strong ; but with whom 
321one sometimes loves to sit, and feel poor-devilish, too ; and 
322grow convivial upon tears ; and say to them bluntly with full 
323eyes and empty glasses, and in not altogether unpleasant 
324sadness Give it up, Sub-Subs ! For by how much the more 
325pains ye take to please the world, by so much the more shall 
326ye forever go thankless ! Would that I could clear out 
327Hampton Court and the Tuileries for ye ! But gulp down 
328your tears and hie aloft to the royal-mast with your hearts ; 
329for your friends who have gone before are clearing out the 
330seven-storied heavens, and making refugees of long-pampered 
331Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, against your coming. Here 
332ye strike but splintered hearts together there, ye shall 
333strike unsplinterable glasses! 
334
335
336
337xii 
338
339
340
341EXTRACTS 
342
343' And God created great whales.' 
344
345
346
347Genesis. 
348
349
350
351* Leviathan maketh a path to shine after him ; 
352One would think the deep to be hoary.' 
353
354Job. 
355
356' Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up 
357Jonah.' Jonah. 
358
359' There go the ships ; there is that Leviathan whom thou 
360hast made to play therein.' Psalms. 
361
362' In that day, the Lord with his sore, and great, and strong 
363sword, shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even 
364Leviathan that crooked serpent ; and he shall slay the dragon 
365that is in the sea.' Isaiah. 
366
367* And what thing soever besides cometh within the chaos 
368of this monster's mouth, be it beast, boat, or stone, down it 
369goes all incontinently that foul great swallow of his, and 
370perisheth in the bottomless gulf of his paunch.' 
371
372HollancFs Plutarch's Morals. 
373
374' The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes 
375that are : among which the Whales and Whirlpooles called 
376Balaene, take up as much in length as four acres or arpens of 
377land.' Holland's Pliny. 
378
379' Scarcely had we proceeded two days on the sea, when 
380about sunrise a great many Whales and other monsters of 
381the sea, appeared. Among the former, one was of a most 
382monstrous size. * * * This came towards us, open- 
383mouthed, raising the waves on all sides, and beating the sea 
384before him into a foam.' 
385
386Tooke's Lucian. The True History. 
387
388xiii 
389
390
391
392xiv MOBY-DICK 
393
394' He visited this country also with a view of catching horse - 
395whales, which had bones of very great value for their teeth, 
396of which he brought some to the king. * * * The best 
397whales were catched in his own country, of which some were 
398forty-eight, some fifty yards long. He said that he was one 
399of six who had killed sixty in two days.' 
400
401Other or Octher's verbal narrative taken down 
402from his mouth by King Alfred, A.D. 890. 
403
4041 And whereas all the other things, whether beast or vessel, 
405that enter into the dreadful gulf of this monster's (whale's) 
406mouth, are immediately lost and swallowed up, the sea- 
407gudgeon retires into it in great security, and there sleeps.' 
408Montaigne 1 s Apology for Eaimond Sebond. 
409
410' Let us fly, let us fly ! Old Nick take me if it is not 
411Leviathan described by the noble prophet Moses in the life 
412of patient Job.' Rabelais. 
413
414' This whale's liver was two cart-loads.' 
415
416Stowe's Annals. 
417
4181 The great Leviathan that maketh the seas to seethe like 
419boiling pan.' Lord Bacon's Version of the Psalms. 
420
421' Touching that monstrous bulk of the whale or ork we 
422have received nothing certain. They grow exceeding fat, 
423insomuch that an incredible quantity of oil will be extracted 
424out of one whale.' Ibid. History of Life and Death. 
425
4261 The sovereignest thing on earth is parmacetti for an in- 
427ward bruise.' King Henry. 
428
429' Very like a whale.' Hamlet. 
430
431' Which to secure, no skill of leach's art 
432Mote him availle, but to returne againe 
433To his wound's worker, that with lowly dart, 
434Dinting his breast, had bred his restless paine, 
435Like as the wounded whale to shore flies thro' the maine.' 
436
437The Fairie Queen. 
438
439' Immense as whales, the motion of whose vast bodies can 
440in a peaceful calm trouble the ocean till it boil.' 
441
442Sir William Davenant's Preface to Gondibert. 
443
444
445
446EXTRACTS xv 
447
448' What spermaceti! is, men might justly doubt, since the 
449learned Hosmannus in his work of thirty years, saith plainly, 
450Nescio quid sit.' 
451
452Sir T. Browne's Of Sperma Ceti and the 
453Sperma Ceti Whale. Vide his V.E. 
454
455' Like Spencer's Talus with his modern flail 
456
457He threatens ruin with his ponderous tail. 
458****** 
459
460Their fixed jav'lins in his side he wears, 
461And on his back a grove of pikes appears.' 
462
463Waller's Battle of the Summer Islands. 
464
465' By art is created that great Leviathan, called a Common- 
466wealth or State (in Latin, Civitas) which is but an artificial 
467man.' Opening sentence of Hobbes's Leviathan. 
468
469'Silly Mansoul swallowed it without chewing, as if it had 
470been a sprat in the mouth of a whale.' 
471
472Pilgrim's Progress. 
473* That sea beast 
474
475Leviathan, which God of all his works 
476Created hugest that swim the ocean stream.' 
477
478Paradise Lost. 
4794 There Leviathan, 
480
481Hugest of living creatures, in the deep 
482Stretched like a promontory sleeps or swims, 
483And seems a moving land ; and at his gills 
484Draws in, and at his breath spouts out a sea.' 
485
486Ibid. 
487
488' The mighty whales which swim in a sea of water, and 
489have a sea of oil swimming in them.' 
490
491Fuller's Profane and Holy State. 
492' So close behind some promontory lie 
493
494The huge Leviathans to attend their prey, 
495And give no chace, but swallow in the fry, 
496
497Which through their gaping jaws mistake the way.' 
498Dry den's Annus Mirabilis. 
499
500' While the whale is floating at the stern of the ship, they 
501cut off his head, and tow it with a boat as near the shore as it 
502will come ; but it will be aground in twelve or thirteen feet 
503water.' 
504
505Thomas Edge's Ten Voyages to Spitzbergen, in Purchas. 
506
507
508
509xvi MOBY-DICK 
510
511* In their way they saw many whales sporting in the ocean, 
512and in wantonness fuzzing up the water through their pipes 
513and vents, which nature has placed on their shoulders.' 
514
515Sir T. Herberts Voyages into Asia and Africa. Harris Coll. 
516
5174 Here they saw such huge troops of whales, that they were 
518forced to proceed with a great deal of caution for fear they 
519should run their ship upon them.' 
520
521Schouten's Sixth Circumnavigation. 
522
523* We set sail from the Elbe, wind N.E. in the ship called 
524The Jonas-in-the-Whale. * * * 
525
526Some say the whale can't open his mouth, but that is a 
527fable. * * * 
528
529They frequently climb up the masts to see whether they 
530can see a whale, for the first discoverer has a ducat for his 
531pains. * * * 
532
533I was told of a whale taken near Shetland, that had above 
534a barrel of herrings in his belly. * * * 
535
536One of our harpooneers told me that he caught once a 
537whale in Spitzbergen that was white all over.' 
538
539A Voyage to Greenland, A.D. 1671. Harris Coll. 
540
541' Several whales have come in upon this coast (Fife). Anno 
5421652, one eighty feet in length of the whale -bone kind came 
543in, which, (as I was informed) besides a vast quantity of oil, 
544did afford 500 weight of baleen. The jaws of it stand for a 
545gate in the garden of Pitferren.' 
546
547Sibbald's Fife and Kinross. 
548
5494 Myself have agreed to try whether I can master and kill 
550this Sperma-ceti whale, for I could never hear of any of that 
551sort that was killed by any man, such is his fierceness and 
552swiftness.' 
553
554Richard Strafford's Letter from the Bermudas. 
555Phil. Trans. A.D. 1668. 
556
557' Whales in the sea 
558God's voice obey.' 
559
560N. E. Primer. 
561
5621 We saw also abundance of large whales, there being more 
563in those southern seas, as I may say, by a hundred to one ; 
564than we have to the northward of us.' 
565
566Captain Cowley's Voyage round the Globe, A.D. 1729. 
567
568
569
570EXTRACTS xvii 
571
572****** an( j ^e breath of the whale is fre- 
573quently attended with such an insupportable smell, as to 
574bring on a disorder of the brain.' 
575
576Ulloa's South America. 
577
5781 To fifty chosen sylphs of special note, 
579We trust the important charge, the petticoat. 
580Oft have we known that seven-fold fence to fail, 
581Tho' stuffed with hoops and armed with ribs of whale.' 
582
583Rape of the Lock. 
584
585' If we compare land animals in respect to magnitude, with 
586those that take up their abode in the deep, we shall find they 
587will appear contemptible in the comparison. The whale is 
588doubtless the largest animal in creation.' 
589
590Goldsmith's Nat. Hist. 
591
592' If you should write a fable for little fishes, you would 
593make them speak like great whales.' 
594
595Goldsmith to Johnson. 
596
597' In the afternoon we saw what was supposed to be a rock, 
598but it was found to be a dead whale, which some Asiatics had 
599killed, and were then towing ashore. They seemed to en- 
600deavour to conceal themselves behind the whale, in order to 
601avoid being seen by us.' Cook's Voyages. 
602
603' The larger whales, they seldom venture to attack. They 
604stand in so great dread of some of them, that when out at 
605sea they are afraid to mention even their names, and carry 
606dung, lime-stone, juniper-wood, and some other articles of 
607the same nature in their boats, in order to terrify and prevent 
608their too near approach.' 
609
610Uno Von Troil's Letters on Banks' s and 
611Solander's Voyage to Iceland in 1772. 
612
613' The Spermacetti Whale found by the Nantuckois, is 
614an active, fierce animal, and requires vast address and bold- 
615ness in the fishermen.' 
616
617Thomas Jefferson's Whale Memorial to the 
618French Minister in 1778. 
619
6201 And pray, sir, what in the world is equal to it ? ' 
621
622Edmund Burke's Reference in Parliament 
623
624to the Nantucket Whale Fishery. 
625VOL. I. b 
626
627
628
629xviii MOBY-DICK 
630
631' Spain a great whale stranded on. the shores of Europe.' 
632
633Edmund Burke. (Somewhere.} 
634
635' A tenth branch of the king's ordinary revenue, said to 
636be grounded on the consideration of his guarding and pro- 
637tecting the seas from pirates and robbers, is the right to 
638royal fish, which are whale and sturgeon. And these, when 
639either thrown ashore or caught near the coast, are the pro- 
640perty of the king.' Blackstone. 
641
642c Soon to the sport of death the crews repair : 
643Rodmond unerring o'er his head suspends 
644The barbed steel, and every turn attends.' 
645
646Falconer's Shipwreck. 
647
648' Bright shone the roofs, the domes, the spires, 
649
650And rockets blew self driven, 
651To hang their momentary fire 
652Around the vault of heaven. 
653
654' So fire with water to compare, 
655
656The ocean serves on high, 
657
658Up-spouted by a whale in air, 
659
660To express unwieldy joy.' 
661
662Cowper, On the Queen's Visit to London. 
663
664' Ten or fifteen gallons of blood are thrown out of the heart 
665at a stroke, with immense velocity.' 
666
667John Hunter's Account of the Dissection 
668of a Whale. (A small-sized one.) 
669
670' The aorta of a whale is larger in the bore than the main 
671pipe of the water- works at London Bridge, and the water 
672roaring in its passage through that pipe is inferior in impetus 
673and velocity to the blood gushing from the whale's heart.' 
674
675Paley's Theology. 
676
677' The whale is a mammiferous animal without hind feet.' 
678
679Baron Cuvier. 
680
681' In 40 degrees south, we saw Spermacetti Whales, but did 
682not take any till the first of May, the sea being then covered 
683with them.' 
684
685Colnett's Voyage for the Purpose of Extending 
686the Spermacetti Whale Fishery. 
687
688
689
690EXTRACTS xix 
691
692' In the free element beneath me swam, 
693Floundered and dived, in play, in chace, in battle, 
694Fishes of every colour, form, and kind ; 
695Which language cannot paint, and mariner 
696Had never seen ; from dread Leviathan 
697To insect millions peopling every wave : 
698Gather'd in shoals immense, like floating islands, 
699Led by mysterious instincts through that waste 
700And trackless region, though on every side 
701Assaulted by voracious enemies, 
702Whales, sharks, and monsters, arm'd in front or jaw, 
703With swords, saws, spiral horns, or hooked fangs.' 
704
705Montgomery' '<$ World before the Flood. 
706
707' lo ! Paean ! lo ! sing, 
708To the finny people's king. 
709Not a mightier whale than this 
710In the vast Atlantic is ; 
711Not a fatter fish than he, 
712Flounders round the Polar Sea.' 
713
714CJiarles Lamb's Triumph of the Whale. 
715
716' In the year 1690 some persons were on a high hill observing 
717the whales spouting and sporting with each other, when one 
718observed ; there pointing to the sea is a green pasture 
719where our children's grand-children will go for bread.' 
720
721Obed Macy's History of Nantucket. 
722
723' I built a cottage for Susan and myself and made a gateway 
724in the form of a Gothic Arch, by setting up a whale's jaw 
725bones.' Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales. 
726
727' She came to bespeak a monument for her first love, who 
728had been killed by a whale in the Pacific ocean, no less than 
729forty years ago.' Ibid. 
730
731' " No, Sir, 'tis a Right Whale," answered Tom ; " I saw his 
732spout ; he threw up a pair of as pretty rainbows as a Christian 
733would wish to look at. He 's a raal oil-butt, that fellow ! " ' 
734
735Cooper's Pilot. 
736
737' The papers were brought in,, and we saw in the Berlin 
738Gazette that whales had been introduced on the stage there.' 
739Eckermanris Conversations with Goethe. 
740
741
742
743xx MOBY-DICK 
744
745' " My God ! Mr. Chace, what is the matter ? " I answered, 
746" We have been stove by a whale." ! 
747
748Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Whale Ship 
749Essex of Nantucket, which was attacked and 
750finally destroyed by a large Sperm Whale in 
751the Pacific Ocean. By Owen Chace of Nan- 
752tucket, first mate of said vessel. New York, 
7531821. 
754
755' A mariner sat in the shrouds one night, 
756
757The wind was piping free ; 
758
759Now bright, now dimmed, was the moonlight pale, 
760And the phospher gleamed in the wake of the whale, 
761As it floundered in the sea.' 
762
763Elizabeth Oakes Smith. 
764
765' The quantity of line withdrawn from the different boats 
766engaged in the capture of this one whale, amounted alto- 
767gether to 10,440 yards or nearly six English miles. * * * 
768
769t Sometimes the whale shakes its tremendous tail in the 
770air, which, cracking like a whip, resounds to the distance of 
771three or four miles.' Scoresby. 
772
7731 Mad with the agonies he endures from these fresh attacks, 
774the infuriated Sperm Whale rolls over and over ; he rears his 
775enormous head, and with wide expanded jaws snaps at every- 
776thing around him ; he rushes at the boats with his head ; 
777they are propelled before him with vast swiftness, and some- 
778times utterly destroyed. 
779
780* * * It is a matter of great astonishment that the 
781consideration of the habits of so interesting, and, in a com- 
782mercial point of view, of so important an animal (as the Sperm 
783Whale) should have been so entirely neglected, or should have 
784excited so little curiosity among the numerous, and many of 
785them competent observers, that of late years must have 
786possessed the most abundant and the most convenient oppor- 
787tunities of witnessing their habitudes. 5 
788
789Thomas Beale's History of the Sperm Whale. 1839. 
790
791' The Cachalot ' (Sperm Whale) ' is not only better armed 
792than the True Whale ' (Greenland or Right Whale) ' in possess- 
793ing a formidable weapon at either extremity of its body, 
794but also more frequently displays a disposition to employ 
795these weapons offensively, and in a manner at once so artful, 
796
797
798
799EXTRACTS xxi 
800
801bold, and mischievous, as to lead to its being regarded as the 
802most dangerous to attack of all the known species of the 
803whale tribe.' 
804
805Frederick Debell Bennett's Whaling Voyage 
806round the Globe. 1840. 
807
808' October 13. " There she blows," was sung out from the 
809mast-head. 
810
811" Where away ? " demanded the captain. 
812
813" Three points off the lee bow, sir." 
814
815" Raise up your wheel. Steady ! " 
816
817" Steady, sir." 
818
819" Mast-head ahoy ! Do you see that whale now ? " 
820
821" Ay, ay, sir ! A shoal of Sperm Whales ! There she 
822blows ! There she breaches ! " 
823
824" Sing out ! sing out every time ! " 
825
826" Ay, ay, sir ! There she blows ! there there thar she 
827blows bowes bo-o-o-s ! " 
828
829" How far off ? " 
830
831c< Two miles and a half." 
832
833" Thunder and lightning ! so near ! Call all hands ! " 
834
835J. Ross Browne's Etchings of a 
836Whaling Cruise. 1846. 
837
8384 The Whale-ship Globe, on board of which vessel occurred 
839the horrid transactions we are about to relate, belonged to 
840the island of Nantucket.' 
841
842Narrative of the Globe Mutiny, by 
843Lay and Hussey, Survivors. A.D. 1828. 
844
845c Being once pursued by a whale which he had wounded, 
846he parried the assault for some time with a lance ; but the 
847furious monster at length rushed on the boat ; himself and 
848comrades only being preserved by leaping into the water 
849when they saw the onset was inevitable. 5 
850
851Missionary Journal of Tyerman and Bennett. 
852
853' Nantucket itself,' said Mr. Webster, ' is a very striking 
854and peculiar portion of the National interest. There is a 
855population of eight or nine thousand persons, living here 
856in the sea, adding largely every year to the National wealth 
857by the boldest and most persevering industry.' 
858
859Report of Daniel Webster's Speech in the U.S. 
860Senate, on the Application for the Erection 
861of a Breakwater at Nantucket. 1828. 
862
863
864
865xxii . MOBY-DICK 
866
867' The whale fell directly over him, and probably killed him 
868in a moment.' 
869
870The Whale and his Captors, or the Whale- 
871man's Adventures and the Whale's Bio- 
872graphy, gathered on the Homeward Cruise 
873of the Commodore Preble. By Rev. Henry 
874T. Cheever. 
875
876' " If you make the least damn bit of noise," replied Samuel, 
877" I will send you to hell." ' 
878
879Life of Samuel Comstock (the Mutineer), by 
880his Brother, William Comstock. Another 
881Version of the Whale-ship Globe Narrative. 
882
883' The voyages of the Dutch and English to the Northern 
884Ocean, in order, if possible, to discover a passage through it 
885to India, though they failed of their main object, laid open 
886the haunts of the whale.' 
887
888McCulloch's Commercial Dictionary. 
889
8904 These things are reciprocal ; the ball rebounds, only to 
891bound forward again ; for now in laying open the haunts 
892of the whale, the whalemen seem to have indirectly hit upon 
893new clews to that same mystic North -West Passage.' 
894
895From ' Something ' unpublished. 
896
8974 It is impossible to meet a whale-ship on the ocean with- 
898out being struck by her near appearance. The vessel under 
899short sail, with look-outs at the mast-heads, eagerly scanning 
900the wide expanse around them, has a totally different air 
901from those engaged in a regular voyage.' 
902
903Currents and Whaling. U.S. Ex. Ex. 
904
9051 Pedestrians in the vicinity of London and elsewhere may 
906recollect having seen large curved bones set upright in the 
907earth, either to form arches over gateways, or entrances to 
908alcoves, and they may perhaps have been told that these 
909were the ribs of whales.' 
910
911Tales of a Whale Voyager to the Arctic Ocean. 
912
913' It was not till the boats returned from the pursuit of these 
914whales, that the whites saw their ship in bloody possession 
915of the savages enrolled among the crew.' 
916
917Newspaper Account of the Taking and Retaking 
918of the Whale-ship Hobomack. 
919
920
921
922EXTRACTS xxiii 
923
924' It is generally well known that out of the crews of Whaling 
925vessels (American) few ever return in the ships on board of 
926which they departed.' Cruise in a Whale Boat. 
927
9281 Suddenly a mighty mass emerged from the water, and 
929shot up perpendicularly into the air. It was the whale.' 
930
931Miriam Coffin or the Whale Fisherman. 
932
933' The Whale is harpooned to be sure ; but bethink you, 
934how you would manage a powerful unbroken colt, with the 
935mere appliance of a rope tied to the root of his tail.' 
936
937A Chapter on WJialing in Ribs and Trucks. 
938
939' On one occasion I saw two of these monsters (whales) 
940probably male and female, slowly swimming, one after the 
941other, within less than a stone's throw of the shore ' (Tierra 
942del Fuego), ' over which the beech tree extended its branches.' 
943
944Darwin's Voyage of a Naturalist. 
945
946' " Stern all ! " exclaimed the mate, as upon turning his 
947head, he saw the distended jaws of a large Sperm Whale 
948close to the head of the boat, threatening it with instant 
949destruction ; " Stern all, for your lives ! " 
950
951Wharton the Whale Killer. 
952
953' So be cheery, my lads, let your hearts never fail, 
954While the bold harpooneer is striking the whale ! ' 
955
956Nantucket Song. 
957
958' Oh, the rare old Whale, mid storm and gale, 
959
960In his ocean home will be 
961A giant in might, where might is right, 
962And King of the boundless sea.' 
963
964Whale Song. 
965
966
967
968MOBY-DICK 
969
970CHAPTER I 
971
972LOOMINGS 
973
974CALL me Ishmael. Some years ago never mind how 
975long precisely having little or no money in my purse, 
976and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought 
977I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the 
978world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and 
979regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself 
980growing grim about the mouth ; whenever it is a damp, 
981drizzly November in my soul ; whenever I find myself 
982involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bring- 
983ing up the rear of every funeral I meet ; and especially 
984whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that 
985it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from 
986deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically 
987knocking people's hats off then, I account it high time 
988to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for 
989pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws 
990himself upon his sword ; I quietly take to the ship. 
991There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew 
992it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, 
993cherish very nearly the same feelings toward the ocean 
994with me. 
995
996There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, 
997belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs 
998commerce surrounds it with her surf. Right and left, the 
999streets take you waterward. Its extreme down -town is the 
1000battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and 
1001
1002VOL. I. A 
1003
1004
1005
10062 MOBY-DICK 
1007
1008cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of 
1009sight of land. Look at the crowds of water -gazers there. 
1010
1011Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath after- 
1012noon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and 
1013from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you 
1014see ? Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, 
1015stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed 
1016in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles ; 
1017some seated upon the pier-heads ; some looking over 
1018Vhe bulwarks of ships from China ; some high aloft in 
1019the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward 
1020peep. But these are all landsmen ; of week days pent 
1021up in lath and plaster tied to counters, nailed to benches, 
1022clinched to desks. How then is this ? Are the green 
1023fields gone ? What do they here ? 
1024
1025But look ! here come more crowds, pacing straight for 
1026the water, and seemingly bound for a dive. Strange ! 
1027Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the 
1028land ; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses 
1029will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the 
1030water as they possibly can without falling in. And there 
1031they stand miles of them leagues. Inlanders all, they 
1032come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues north, 
1033east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. Tell me, 
1034does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses 
1035of all those ships attract them thither ? 
1036
1037Once more. Say, you are in the country ; in some 
1038high land of lakes. Take almost any path you please, 
1039and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves 
1040you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. 
1041Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his 
1042deepest reveries stand that man on his legs, set his feet 
1043a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water 
1044there be in all that region. Should you ever be athirst 
1045in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your 
1046
1047
1048
1049LOOMINGS 3 
1050
1051caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical 
1052professor. Yes, as everyone knows, meditation andli 
1053water are wedded forever. 
1054
1055But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the 
1056dreamiest, shadiest, quietest, most enchanting bit of 
1057romantic landscape in all the valley of the Saco. What 
1058is the chief element he employs ? There stand his trees, 
1059each with a hollow trunk, as if a hermit and a crucifix 
1060were within ; and here sleeps his meadow, and there sleep 
1061his cattle ; and up from yonder cottage goes a sleepy 
1062smoke. Deep into distant woodlands winds a mazy way, 
1063reaching to overlapping spurs of mountains bathed in 
1064their hillside blue. But though the picture lies thus 
1065tranced, and though this pine-tree shakes down its sighs 
1066like leaves upon this shepherd's head, yet all were 
1067vain, unless the shepherd's eye were fixed upon the 
1068magic stream before him. Go visit the Prairies in June, 
1069when for scores on scores of miles you wade knee -deep 
1070among tiger-lilies what is the one charm wanting ?- 
1071Water there is not a drop of water there ! Were Niagara 
1072but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand 
1073miles to see it ? Why did the poor poet of Tennessee, 
1074upon suddenly receiving two handfuls of silver, deliberate 
1075whether to buy him a coat, which he sadly needed, or 
1076invest his money in a pedestrian trip to Rockaway Beach ? 
1077Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust 
1078healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to 
1079sea ? Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did 
1080you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first ; 
1081told that you and your ship were now out of sight of ' 
1082land ? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy ? 
1083Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own 
1084brother of Jove ? Surely all this is not without meaning. 
1085And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, 
1086who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild 
1087
1088
1089
10904 MOBY-DICK 
1091
1092image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was 
1093drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all 
1094rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable 
1095phantom of life ; and this is the key to it all. 
1096
1097Now, when I say that I am in the habit of going to sea 
1098whenever I begin to grow hazy about the eyes, and begin 
1099to be over conscious of my lungs, I do not mean to have 
1100it inferred that I ever go to sea as a passenger. For to 
1101go as a passenger you must needs have a purse, and a 
1102purse is but a rag unless you have something in it. Be- 
1103sides, passengers get sea-sick grow quarrelsome don't 
1104sleep of nights do not enjoy themselves much, as a 
1105general thing ; no, I never go as a passenger ; nor, 
1106though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a 
1107Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook. I abandon the 
1108glory and distinction of such offices to those who like 
1109them. For my part, I abominate all honourable respect- 
1110able toils, trials, and tribulations of every kind what- 
1111soever. It is quite as much as I can do to take care 
1112of myself, without taking care of ships, barques, brigs, 
1113schooners, and what not. And as for going as cook, 
1114though I confess there is considerable glory in that, a 
1115cook being a sort of officer on shipboard yet, somehow, 
1116I never fancied broiling fowls ; though once broiled, 
1117judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and 
1118peppered, there is no one who will speak more respect- 
1119fully, not to say reverentially, of a broiled fowl than I 
1120will. It is out of the idolatrous do tings of the old 
1121Egyptians upon broiled ibis and roasted river horse, that 
1122you see the mummies of those creatures in their huge 
1123bake-houses the pyramids. 
1124
1125No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right 
1126before the mast, plumb down into the forecastle, aloft 
1127there to the royal mast-head. True, they rather order 
1128me about some, and make me jump from spar to spar, 
1129
1130
1131
1132LOOMINGS 5 
1133
1134like a grasshopper in a May meadow. And at first, this 
1135sort of thing is unpleasant enough. It touches one's 
1136sense of honour, particularly if you come of an old estab- 
1137lished family in the land, the Van Rensselaers, or Ran- 
1138dolphs, or Hardicanutes. And more than all, if just 
1139previous to putting your hand into the tar-pot, you have 
1140been lording it as a country schoolmaster, making the 
1141tallest boys stand in awe of you. The transition is a 
1142keen one, I assure you, from a schoolmaster to a sailor, 
1143and requires a strong decoction of Seneca and the Stoics 
1144to enable you to grin and bear it. But even this wears 
1145off hi time. 
1146
1147What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders 
1148me to get a broom and sweep down the decks ? What 
1149does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the 
1150scales of the New Testament ? Do you think the arch- 
1151angel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I 
1152promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that 
1153particular instance ? Who ain/t a slave ? Tell me that. 
1154Well, then, however the~old^sea -captains may order me 
1155about however they may thump and punch me about, 
1156I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right ; 
1157that everybody else is one way or other served in much the 
1158same way either in a physical or metaphysical point of 
1159view, that is ; and so the universal thump is passed 
1160round, and all hands should rub each other's shoulder- 
1161blades, and be content. 
1162
1163Again, I always go to sea as a sailor, because they make 
1164a point of paying me for my trouble, whereas they never 
1165pay passengers a single penny that I ever heard of. On 
1166the contrary, passengers themselves must pay. And 
1167there is all the difference in the world between paying 
1168and being paid. The act of paying is perhaps the most 
1169uncomfortable infliction that the two orchard thieves 
1170entailed upon us. But being paid, what will compare 
1171
1172
1173
11746 MOBY-DICK 
1175
1176with it ? The urbane activity with which a man receives 
1177money is really marvellous, considering that we so 
1178earnestly believe money to be the root of all earthly ills, 
1179and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven. 
1180Ah ! how cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition ! 
1181
1182Finally, I always go to sea as a sailor, because of the 
1183wholesome exercise and pure air of the forecastle deck. 
1184For as in this world, head-winds are far more prevalent 
1185than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate 
1186the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the com- 
1187modore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at 
1188second hand from the sailors on the forecastle. He thinks 
1189he breathes it first ; but not so. In much the same 
1190way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many other 
1191things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it. 
1192But wherefore it was that after having repeatedly smelt 
1193the sea as a merchant sailor, I should now take it into 
1194my head to go on a whaling voyage ; this the invisible 
1195police-officer of the Fates, who has the constant surveil- 
1196lance of me, and secretly dogs me, and influences me in 
1197some unaccountable way he can better answer than any 
1198one else. And, doubtless, my going on this whaling 
1199voyage formed part of the grand programme of Provi- 
1200dence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in 
1201as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more exten- 
1202sive performances. I take it that this part of the bill 
1203must have run something like this : 
1204
1205' Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the 
1206United States. 
1207
1208' WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL. 
1209
12101 BLOODY BATTLE IN AFGHANISTAN.' 
1211
1212Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those 
1213stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby 
1214
1215
1216
1217LOOMINGS 7 
1218
1219part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down 
1220for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy 
1221parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces 
1222though I cannot tell why this was exactly ; yet, now that 
1223I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little 
1224into the springs and motives which, being cunningly 
1225presented to me under various disguises, induced me to 
1226set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me 
1227into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my 
1228own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment. 
1229
1230Chief among these motives was the overwhelming idea 
1231of the great whale himself. Such a gortentous and 
1232mysterious monster roused all my curiosity. Then the 
1233wild and distant seas where he rolled his island bulk ; 
1234the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale ; these, 
1235with all the attending marvels of a thousand Patagonian 
1236sights and sounds, helped to sway me to my wish. With 
1237other men, perhaps, such things would not have been 
1238inducements ; but as for me, I am tormented with an 
1239everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail for- 
1240bidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring 
1241what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could 
1242still be social with it would they let me since it is 
1243but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of 
1244the place one lodges in. 
1245
1246By reason of these things, then, the whaling voyage 
1247was welcome ; the great flood-gates of the wonder-world 
1248swung open, and in the wild conceits that swayed me to 
1249my purpose, two and two there floated into my inmost 
1250soul, endless processions of the whale, and, midmost of 
1251them all, one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in 
1252the air. 
1253
1254
1255
1256CHAPTER II 
1257
1258THE CARPET-BAG 
1259
1260I stuffed a shirt or two into my old carpet-bag, tucked 
1261it under my arm, and started for Cape Horn and the 
1262Pacific. Quitting the good city of old Manhatto, I duly 
1263arrived in New Bedford. It was on a Saturday night in 
1264December. Much was I disappointed upon learning 
1265that the little packet for Nantucket had already sailed, 
1266and that no way of reaching that place would offer, till 
1267the following Monday. 
1268
1269As most young candidates for the pains and penalties 
1270of whaling stop at this same New Bedford, thence to 
1271embark on their voyage, it may as well be related that I 5 
1272for one, had no idea of so doing. For my mind was made 
1273up to sail in no other than a Nantucket craft, because 
1274there was a fine, boisterous something about everything 
1275connected with that famous old island, which amazingly 
1276pleased me. Besides, though New Bedford has of late 
1277been gradually monopolising the business of whaling, and 
1278though in this matter poor old Nantucket is now much 
1279behind her, yet Nantucket was her great original the 
1280Tyre of this Carthage ; the place where the first dead 
1281American whale was stranded. Where else but from 
1282Nantucket did those aboriginal whalemen, the Red Men, 
1283first sally out in canoes to give chase to the leviathan ? 
1284And where but from Nantucket, too, did that first adven- 
1285turous little sloop put forth, partly laden with imported 
1286cobble-stones so goes the story to throw at the whales, 
1287
1288
1289
1290THE CARPET-BAG 9 
1291
1292in order to discover when they were nigh enough to risk 
1293a harpoon from the bowsprit ? 
1294
1295Now having a night, a day, and still another night 
1296following before me in New Bedford, ere I could embark 
1297for my destined port, it became a matter of concernment 
1298where I was to eat and sleep meanwhile. It was a very 
1299dubious-looking, nay, a very dark and dismal night, 
1300bitingly cold and cheerless. I knew no one in the place. 
1301With anxious grapnelsJE had sounded my pocket, and only 
1302brought up a few pieces of silver. So, wherever you go, 
1303Ishmael, said I to myself, as I stood in the middle of a 
1304dreary street shouldering my bag, and comparing the 
1305gloom toward the north with the darkness toward the 
1306south wherever in your wisdom you may conclude to 
1307lodge for the night, my dear Ishmael, be sure to inquire 
1308the price, and don't be too particular. 
1309
1310With halting steps I paced the streets, and passed the 
1311sign of 'The Crossed Harpoons ' but it looked too expen- 
1312sive and jolly there. Further on, from the bright red 
1313windows of the ' Sword-Fish Inn,' there came such fer- 
1314vent rays, that it seemed to have melted the packed snow 
1315and ice from before the house, for everywhere else the 
1316congealed frost lay ten inches thick in a hard, asphaltic 
1317pavement, rather weary for me, when I struck my foot 
1318against the flinty projections, because from hard, remorse- 
1319less service the soles of mv boots were in a most miserable 
1320
1321V 
1322
1323plight. Too expensive and jolly, again thought I, pausing 
1324one moment to watch the broad glare in the street, and 
1325hear the sounds of the tinkling glasses within. But go i 
1326on, Ishmael, said I at last ; don't you hear ? get away l 
1327from before the door ; your patched boots are stopping 
1328the way. So on I went. I now by instinct followed the 
1329streets that took me waterward, for there, doubtless, 
1330were the cheapest, if not the cheeriest inns. 
1331
1332Such dreary streets ! blocks of blackness, not houses, 
1333
1334
1335
133610 MOBY-DICK 
1337
1338on either hand, and here and there a candle, like a candle 
1339moving about in a tomb. At this hour of the night, of 
1340the last day of the week, that quarter of the town proved 
1341all but deserted. But presently I carne to a smoky 
1342light proceeding from a low, wide building, the door of 
1343which stood invitingly open. It had a careless look, as 
1344if it were meant for the uses of the public ; so, entering, 
1345the first thing I did was to stumble over an ash-box in 
1346the porch. Ha ! thought I, ha, as the flying particles 
1347almost choked me, are these ashes from that destroyed 
1348city, Gomorrah ? But ' The Cfossed Harpoons ' and 
13494 The Sword-Fish ' ? this, then, must needs be the sign 
1350of ' The Trap. ' However, I picked myself up , and hearing 
1351a loud voice within, pushed on and opened a second, 
1352interior door. 
1353
1354It seemed the great Black Parliament sitting in Tophet. 
1355A hundred black faces turned round in their rows to peer ; 
1356and beyond, a black Angel of Doom was beating a book 
1357in a pulpit. It was a negro church ; and the preacher's 
1358text was about the blackness of darkness, and the weep- 
1359ing and wailing and teeth -gnashing there. Ha, Ishmael, 
1360muttered I, backing out, Wretched entertainment at the 
1361sign of ' The Trap ' ! 
1362
1363Moving on, I at last came to a dim sort of light not far 
1364from the docks, and heard a forlorn creaking in the air ; 
1365and looking up, saw a swinging sign over the door with 
1366a white painting upon it, faintly representing a tall straight 
1367jet of misty spray, and these words underneath ' The 
1368Spouter-Inn : Peter Coffin.' 
1369
1370Coffin ? Spouter ? Rather ominous in that particu- 
1371lar connection, thought I. But it is a common name in 
1372Nantucket, they say, and I suppose this Peter here is an 
1373emigrant from there. As the light looked so dim, and 
1374the place, for the time, looked quiet enough, and the 
1375dilapidated little wooden house itself looked as if it might 
1376
1377
1378
1379THE CARPET-BAG 11 
1380
1381have been carted here from the ruins of some burnt dis- 
1382trict, and as the swinging sign had a poverty-stricken sort 
1383of creak to it, I thought that here was the very spot for 
1384cheap lodgings, and the best of pea-coffee. 
1385
1386It was a queer sort of place a gable-ended old house, 
1387one side palsied as it were, and leaning over sadly. It 
1388stood on a sharp bleak corner, where that tempestuous 
1389wind Euroclydon kept up a worse howling than ever it 
1390did about poor Paul's tossed craft. Euroclydon, never- 
1391theless, is a mighty pleasant zephyr to anyone indoors, 
1392with his feet on the hob quietly toasting for bed. 4 In 
1393judging of that tempestuous wind called Euroclydon,' 
1394says an old writer of whose works I possess the only 
1395copy extant ' it maketh a marvellous difference, 
1396whether thou lookest out at it from a glass window where 
1397the frost is all on the outside, or whether thou observest 
1398it from that Cashless window, where the frost is on both 
1399sides, and of which the wight Death is the only glazier.' 
1400True enough, thought I, as this passage occurred to my 
1401mind old black-letter, thou reasonest well. Yes, these 
1402eyes are windows, and this body of mine is the house. 
1403What a pity they didn't stop up the chinks and the 
1404crannies though, and thrust in a little lint here and there. 
1405But it 's too late to make any improvements now. The 
1406universe is finished ; the cope-stone is on, and the chips 
1407were carted off a million years ago. Poor Lazarus there, 
1408chattering his teeth against the curbstone for his pillow, 
1409and shaking off his tatters with his shiverings, he might 
1410plug up both ears with rags, and put a corn-cob into his 
1411mouth, and yet that would not keep out the tempestuous 
1412Euroclydon. Euroclydon ! says old Dives, in his red 
1413silken wrapper (he had a redder one afterward) pooh, 
1414pooh ! What a fine frosty night ; how Orion glitters ; 
1415what northern lights ! Let them talk of their oriental 
1416summer climes of everlasting conservatories ; give me 
1417
1418
1419
142012 MOBY-DICK 
1421
1422the privilege of making my own summer with my own 
1423coals. 
1424
1425But what thinks Lazarus ? Can he warm his blue 
1426hands by holding them up to the grand northern lights ? 
1427Would not Lazarus rather be in Sumatra than here ? 
1428Would he not far rather lay him down lengthwise along 
1429the line of the equator ; yea, ye gods ! go down to the 
1430fiery pit itself, in order to keep out this frost ? 
1431
1432Now, that Lazarus should lie stranded there on the 
1433curbstone before the door of Dives, this is more wonderful 
1434than that an iceberg should be moored to one of the 
1435Moluccas. Yet Dives himself, he too lives like a Czar 
1436in an ice-palace made of frozen sighs, and being a president 
1437of a temperance society, he only drinks the tepid tears of 
1438orphans. 
1439
1440But no more of this blubbering now, we are going a- 
1441whaling, and there is plenty of that yet to come. Let 
1442us scrape the ice from our frosted feet, and see what sort 
1443of a place this ' Spouter ' may be. 
1444
1445
1446
1447CHAPTER III 
1448
1449THE SPOTTTER-INN 
1450
1451ENTERING that gable -ended Spouter-Inn, you found 
1452yourself in a wide, low, straggling entry with old-fashioned 
1453wainscots, reminding one of the bulwarks of some con- 
1454demned old craft. On one side hung a very large oil- 
1455painting so thoroughly besmoked, and every way defaced, 
1456that in the unequal cross-lights by which you viewed it, 
1457it was only by diligent study and a series of systematic 
1458visits to it, and careful inquiry of the neighbours, that 
1459you could any way arrive at an understanding of its 
1460purpose. Such unaccountable masses of shades and 
1461shadows, that at first you almost thought some ambitious 
1462young artist, in the time of the New England hags, had 
1463endeavoured to delineate chaos bewitched. But by dint 
1464of much and earnest contemplation, and oft-repeated 
1465ponderings, and especially by throwing open the little 
1466window toward the back of the entry, you at last come 
1467to the conclusion that such an idea, however wild, might 
1468not be altogether unwarranted. 
1469
1470But what most puzzled and confounded you was a 
1471long, limber, portentous, black mass of something hover- 
1472ing in the centre of the picture over three blue, dim, 
1473perpendicular lines floating in a nameless yeast. A boggy, 
1474soggy, squitchy picture truly, enough to drive a nervous 
1475man distracted. Yet there was a sort of indefinite, half- 
1476attained, unimaginable sublimity about it that fairly 
1477froze you to it, till you in voluntarily, took an oath with 
1478yourself to find out what that marvellous painting meant. 
1479
1480is 
1481
1482
1483
148414 MOBY-DICK 
1485
1486Ever and anon a bright, but, alas, deceptive idea would 
1487dart you through. It 's the Black Sea in a midnight gale. 
1488It 's the unnatural combat of the four primal elements. 
1489It 's a blasted heath. It 's a Hyperborean winter scene. 
1490It 's the breaking-up of the ice-bound stream of Time. 
1491But at last all these fancies yielded to that one portentous 
1492something in the picture's midst. That once found out, 
1493and all the rest were plain. But stop ; does it not bear 
1494a faint resemblance to a gigantic fish ? even the great 
1495leviathan himself ? 
1496
1497In fact, the artist's design seemed this : a final theory 
1498of my own, partly based upon the aggregated opinions 
1499of many aged persons with whom I conversed upon the 
1500subject. The picture represents a Cape-Horner in a great 
1501hurricane ; the half-foundered ship weltering there with 
1502its three dismantled masts alone visible ; and an exasper- 
1503ated whale, purposing to spring clean over the craft, is 
1504in the enormous act of impaling himself upon the three 
1505mast-heads. 
1506
1507The opposite wall of this entry was hung all over with 
1508a heathenish array of monstrous clubs and spears. Some 
1509were thickly set with glittering teeth resembling ivory 
1510saws ; others were tufted with knots of human hair ; and 
1511one was sickle-shaped, with a vast handle sweeping round 
1512like the segment made in the new-mown grass by a long- 
1513armed mower. You shuddered as you gazed, and 
1514wondered what monstrous cannibal and savage could 
1515ever have gone a death-harvesting with such a hacking, 
1516horrifying implement. Mixed with these were rusty 
1517old whaling-lances and harpoons all broken and deformed. 
1518Some were storied weapons. With this once long lance, 
1519now wildly elbowed, fifty years ago did Nathan Swain 
1520kill fifteen whales between a sunrise and a sunset. And 
1521that harpoon so like a corkscrew now was flung in 
1522Javan seas, and run away with by a whale, years after- 
1523
1524
1525
1526THE SPOUTER-INN 15 
1527
1528ward slain off the Cape of Blanco. The original iron 
1529entered nigh the tail, and, like a restless needle sojourning 
1530in the body of a man, travelled full forty feet, and at last 
1531was found imbedded in the hump. 
1532
1533Crossing this dusky entry, and on through yon low- 
1534arched way cut through what in old times must have 
1535been a great central chimney with fire-places all round 
1536you enter the public room. A still duskier place is this, 
1537with such low ponderous beams above, and such old 
1538wrinkled planks beneath, that you would almost fancy 
1539you trod some old craft's cockpits, especially of such a 
1540howling night, when this corner-anchored old ark rocked 
1541so furiously. On one side stood a long, low, shelf-like 
1542table covered with cracked glass cases, filled with dusty 
1543rarities gathered from this wide world's remotest nooks. 
1544Projecting from the further angle of the room stands a 
1545dark-looking den the bar a rude attempt at a right 
1546whale's head. Be that how it may, there stands the vast 
1547arched bone of the whale's jaw, so wide, a coach might 
1548almost drive beneath it. Within are shabby shelves, 
1549ranged round with old decanters, bottles, flasks ; and in 
1550those jaws of swift destruction, like another cursed Jonah 
1551(by which name indeed they called him), bustles a little 
1552withered old man, who, for their money, dearly sells the 
1553sailors deliriums and death. 
1554
1555Abominable are the tumblers into which he pours his 
1556poison. Though true cylinders without within, the 
1557villainous green goggling glasses deceitfully tapered down- 
1558ward to a cheating bottom. Parallel meridians rudely 
1559pecked into the glass, surround these footpads' goblets. 
1560Fill to this mark, and your charge is but a penny ; to this 
1561a penny more ; and so on to the full glass the Cape 
1562Horn measure, which you may gulp down for a shilling. 
1563Upon entering the place I found a number of young 
1564seamen gathered about a table, examining by a dim light 
1565
1566
1567
156816 MOBY-DICK 
1569
1570divers speiimens of skrimshander. I sought the land- 
1571lord, and telling him I desired to be accommodated with 
1572a room, received for answer that his house was full not 
1573a bed unoccupied. ' But avast, 5 he added, tapping his 
1574forehead, ' you hain't no objections to sharin* a har- 
1575pooneer 's blanket, have ye ? I s'pose you are goin' a- 
1576whalin 5 , so you 'd better get used to that sort of thing. 5 
1577
1578I told him that I never liked to sleep two in a bed ; that 
1579if I should ever do so, it would depend upon who the 
1580harpooneer might be, and that if he (the landlord) really 
1581had no other place for me, and the harpooneer was not 
1582decidedly objectionable, why, rather than wander further 
1583about a strange town on so bitter a night, I would put 
1584up with the half of any decent man 5 s blanket. 
1585
1586' I thought so. All right ; take a seat. Supper ? 
1587you want supper ? Supper 5 11 be ready directly. 5 
1588
1589I sat down on an old wooden settle, carved all over like 
1590a bench on the Battery. At one end a ruminating tar 
1591was still further adorning it with his jack-knife, stooping 
1592over and diligently working away at the space between 
1593his legs. He was trying his hand at a ship under full sail, 
1594but he didn't make much headway, I thought. 
1595
1596At last some four or five of us were summoned to our 
1597meal in an adjoining room. It was cold as Iceland 
1598no fire at all the landlord said he couldn't afford it. 
1599Nothing but two dismal tallow candles, each in a winding 
1600sheet. We were fain to button up our monkey-jackets, 
1601and hold to our lips cups of scalding tea with our half- 
1602frozen fingers. But the fare was of the most substantial 
1603kind not only meat and potatoes, but dumplings ; good 
1604heavens ! dumplings for supper ! One young fellow in 
1605a green box-coat addressed himself to these dumplings 
1606hi a most direful manner. 
1607
1608' My boy,' said the landlord, ' you '11 have the night- 
1609mare to a dead sartainty.' 
1610
1611
1612
1613THE SPOUTER-INN 17 
1614
1615'Landlord,' I whispered, w that ain't the harpooneer, 
1616is it ? ' 
1617
16181 Oh, no/ said he, looking a sort of diabolically funny, 
16194 the harpooneer is a dark - complexioned chap. He 
1620never eats dumplings, he don't he eats nothing but 
1621steaks, and likes 'em rare.' 
1622
1623' The devil he does, ' says I. ' Where is that harpooneer ? 
1624Is he here ? ' 
1625
1626' He '11 be here afore long,' was the answer. 
1627
1628I could not help it, but I began to feel suspicious of 
1629this ' dark-complexioned ' harpooneer. At any rate, I 
1630made up my mind that if it so turned out that we should 
1631sleep together, he must undress and get into bed before 
1632I did. 
1633
1634Supper over, the company went back to the bar-room, 
1635when, knowing not what else to do with myself, I resolved 
1636to spend the rest of the evening as a looker-on. 
1637
1638Presently a rioting noise was heard without. Starting 
1639up, the landlord cried, ' That 's the Grampus's crew. I 
1640seed her reported in the offing this morning ; a three 
1641years' voyage, and a full ship. Hurrah, boys ; now we '11 
1642have the latest news from the Feegees.' 
1643
1644A tramping of sea-boots was heard in the entry ; the 
1645door was flung open, and in rolled a wild set of mariners 
1646enough. Enveloped in their shaggy watch-coats, and 
1647with their heads muffled in woollen comforters, all be- 
1648darned and ragged, and their beards stiff with icicles, 
1649they seemed an eruption of bears from Labrador. They 
1650had just landed from their boat, and this was the first 
1651house they entered. No wonder, then, that they made 
1652a straight wake for the whale's mouth the bar when 
1653the wrinkled little old Jonah, there officiating, soon 
1654poured them out brimmers all round. One complained 
1655of a bad cold in his head, upon which Jonah mixed 
1656him a pitch-like potion of gin and molasses, which he 
1657
1658VOL. I. B 
1659
1660
1661
166218 MOBY-DICK 
1663
1664swore was a sovereign cure for all colds and catarrhs 
1665whatsoever, never mind of how long standing, or whether 
1666caught off the coast of Labrador, or on the weather-side 
1667of an ice -island. 
1668
1669The liquor soon mounted into their heads, as it 
1670generally does even with the arrantest topers newly 
1671landed from sea, and they began capering about most 
1672obstreperously. 
1673
1674I observed, however, that one of them held somewhat 
1675aloof, and though he seemed desirous not to spoil the 
1676hilarity of his shipmates by his own sober face, yet upon 
1677the whole he refrained from making as much noise as the 
1678rest. This man interested me at once ; and since the sea- 
1679gods had ordained that he should soon become my ship- 
1680mate (though but a sleeping-partner one, so far as this 
1681narrative is concerned), I will here venture upon a little 
1682description of him. He stood full six feet in height, with 
1683noble shoulders, and a chest like a coffer-dam. I have 
1684seldom seen such brawn in a man. His face was deeply 
1685brown and burnt, making his white teeth dazzling by the 
1686contrast ; while in the deep shadows of his eyes floated 
1687some reminiscences that did not seem to give him much 
1688joy. His voice at once announced that he was a 
1689Southerner, and from his fine stature, I thought he must 
1690be one of those tall mountaineers from the Alleghanian 
1691Ridge in Virginia. When the revelry of his companions 
1692had mounted to its height, this man slipped away unob- 
1693served, and I saw no more of him till he became my 
1694comrade on the sea. In a few minutes, however, he was 
1695missed by his shipmates, and being, it seems, for some 
1696reason a huge favourite with them, they raised a cry of 
1697' Bulkington ! Bulkington ! where 5 s Bulkington ? ' and 
1698darted out of the house in pursuit of him. 
1699
1700It was now about nine o'clock, and the room seeming 
1701almost supernaturally quiet after these orgies, I began 
1702
1703
1704
1705THE SPOUTER-INN 19 
1706
1707to congratulate myself upon a little plan that had occurred 
1708to me just previous to the entrance of the seamen. 
1709
1710No man prefers to sleep two in a bed. In fact, you 
1711would a good deal rather not sleep with your own brother. 
1712I don't know how it is, but people like to be private when 
1713they are sleeping. And when it comes to sleeping with 
1714an unknown stranger, in a strange inn, in a strange town, 
1715and that stranger a harpooneer, then your objections 
1716indefinitely multiply. Nor was there any earthly reason 
1717why I as a sailor should sleep two in a bed, more than 
1718anybody else ; for sailors no more sleep two in a bed at 
1719sea, than bachelor kings do ashore. To be sure, they 
1720all sleep together in one apartment, but you have your 
1721own hammock, and cover yourself with your own blanket, 
1722and sleep in your own skin. 
1723
1724The more I pondered over this harpooneer, the more I 
1725abominated the thought of sleeping with him. It was 
1726fair to presume that being a harpooneer, his linen or 
1727woollen, as the case might be, would not be of the tidiest, 
1728certainly none of the finest. I began to twitch all over. 
1729Besides, it was getting late, and my decent harpooneer 
1730ought to be home and going bedward. Suppose now, 
1731he should tumble in upon me at midnight how could I 
1732tell from what vile hole he had been coming ? 
1733
1734' Landlord ! I Ve changed my mind about that 
1735harpooneer. I shan't sleep with him. I '11 try the bench 
1736here.' 
1737
1738' Just as you please ; I 'm sorry I can't spare ye a 
1739tablecloth for a mattress, and it 's a plaguy rough board 
1740here ' feeling of the knots and notches. ' But wait 
1741a bit, Skrimshander ; I Ve got a carpenter's plane there 
1742in the bar wait, I say, and I '11 make ye snug enough.' 
1743So saying he procured the plane ; and with his old silk 
1744handkerchief first dusting the bench, vigorously set to 
1745planing away at my bed, the while grinning like an ape. 
1746
1747
1748
174920 MOBY-DICK 
1750
1751The shavings flew right and left ; till at last the plane- 
1752iron came bump against an indestructible knot. The 
1753landlord was near spraining his wrist, and I told him for 
1754heaven's sake to quit the bed was soft enough to suit 
1755me, and I did not know how all the planing in the world 
1756could make eider down of a pine plank. So gathering 
1757up the shavings with another grin, and throwing them 
1758into the great stove in the middle of the room, he went 
1759about his business, and left me in a brown study. 
1760
1761I now took the measure of the bench, and found that 
1762it was a foot too short ; but that could be mended with 
1763a chair. But it was a foot too narrow, and the other 
1764bench in the room was about four inches higher than the 
1765planed one so there was no yoking them. I then placed 
1766the first bench lengthwise along the only clear space 
1767against the wall, leaving a little interval between, for my 
1768back to settle down in. But I soon found that there 
1769came such a draught of cold air over me from under the 
1770sill of the window, that this plan would never do at all, 
1771especially as another current from the rickety door met 
1772the one from the window, and both together formed a 
1773series of small whirlwinds in the immediate vicinity of the 
1774spot where I had thought to spend the night. 
1775
1776The devil fetch that harpooneer, thought I, but stop, 
1777couldn't I steal a march on him bolt his door inside, and 
1778jump into his bed, not to be wakened by the most violent 
1779knockings ? It seemed no bad idea ; but upon second 
1780thoughts I dismissed it. For who could tell but what 
1781the next morning, so soon as I popped out of the room, 
1782the harpooneer might be standing in the entry, all ready 
1783to knock me down ! 
1784
1785Still, looking round me again, and seeing no possible 
1786chance of spending a sufferable night unless in some other 
1787person's bed, I began to think that after all I might be 
1788cherishing unwarrantable prejudices against this unknown 
1789
1790
1791
1792THE SPOQTER-INN 21 
1793
1794harpooneer. Thinks I, I '11 wait awhile ; he must be 
1795dropping in before long. 1 11 have a good look at him 
1796then, and perhaps we may become jolly good bedfellows 
1797after all there 's no telling. 
1798
1799But though the other boarders kept coming in by 
1800ones, twos, and threes, and going to bed, yet no sign of 
1801my harpooneer. 
1802
18034 Landlord ! ' said I, ' what sort of a chap is he does 
1804he always keep such late hours ? ' It was now hard 
1805upon twelve o'clock. 
1806
1807The landlord chuckled again with his lean chuckle, 
1808and seemed to be mightily tickled at something beyond 
1809my comprehension. ' No,' he answered, ' generally he 5 s 
1810an early bird airley to bed and airley to rise yes, he 's 
1811the bird what catches the worm. But to-night he 
1812went out a-peddling, you see, and I don't see what 
1813on airth keeps him so late, unless, maybe, he can't sell 
1814his head.' 
1815
1816' Can't sell his head ? What sort of a bamboozingly 
1817story is this you are telling me ? ' getting into a tower- 
1818ing rage. ' Do you pretend to say, landlord, that this 
1819harpooneer is actually engaged this blessed Saturday 
1820night, or rather Sunday morning, in peddling his head 
1821around this town ? ' 
1822
1823' That 's precisely it,' said the landlord, ' and I told 
1824him he couldn't sell it here, the market 's overstocked.' 
1825
1826' With what ? ' shouted I. 
1827
1828' With heads, to be sure ; ain't there too many heads 
1829in the world ? ' 
1830
1831' I tell you what it is, landlord,' said I, quite calmly, 
1832' you 'd better stop spinning that yarn to me I 'm not 
1833green.' 
1834
18356 Maybe not, ' taking out a stick and whittling a tooth- 
1836pick, ' but I rayther guess you '11 be done brown if that 
1837'ere harpooneer hears you a-slanderin' his head.' 
1838
1839
1840
184122 MOBY-DICK 
1842
1843' I '11 break it for him/ said I, now flying into a passion 
1844again at this unaccountable farrago of the landlord's. 
1845
1846' It 's broke a 'ready,' said he. 
1847
1848' Broke/ said I ' broke, do you mean ? ' 
1849
1850' Sartain, and that 's the very reason he can't sell it, 
1851I guess.' 
1852
1853' Landlord/ said I, going up to him as cool as Mt. 
1854Hecla in a snow-storm, 'landlord, stop whittling. You 
1855and I must understand one another, and that too without 
1856delay. I come to your house and want a bed ; you tell 
1857me you can only give me half a one ; that the other half 
1858belongs to a certain harpooneer. And about this har- 
1859pooneer, whom I have not yet seen, you persist in telling 
1860me the most mystifying and exasperating stories, tending 
1861to beget in me an uncomfortable feeling toward the man 
1862whom you design for my bedfellow* a sort of connection, 
1863landlord, which is an intimate and confidential one in the 
1864highest degree. I now demand of you to speak out and 
1865tell me who and what this harpooneer is, and whether I 
1866shall be in all respects safe to spend the night with him. 
1867And in the first place, you will be so good as to unsay that 
1868story about selling his head, which if true I take to be 
1869good evidence that this harpooneer is stark mad, and I 've 
1870no idea of sleeping with a madman ; and you, sir, you 
1871I mean, landlord, you, sir, by trying to induce me to do 
1872so knowingly, would thereby render yourself liable to a 
1873criminal prosecution.' 
1874
1875' Wall/ said the landlord, fetching a long breath, 'that 's 
1876a purty long sarmon for a chap that rips a little now and 
1877then. But be easy, be easy, this here harpooneer I have 
1878been tellin' you of has just arrived from the South Seas, 
1879where he bought up a lot of 'balmed New Zealand heads 
1880(great curios, you know), and he 's sold all on 'em but 
1881one, and that one he 's tryin' to sell to-night, cause to- 
1882morrow 's Sunday, and it would not do to be sellin' 
1883
1884
1885
1886THE SPOUTER-INN 23 
1887
1888human heads about the streets when folks is goin' to 
1889churches. He wanted to, last Sunday, but I stopped him 
1890just as he was goin' out of the door with four heads strung 
1891on a string, for all the airth like a string of inions.' 
1892
1893This account cleared up the otherwise unaccountable 
1894mystery, and showed that the landlord, after all, had had 
1895no idea of fooling me but at the same time what could 
1896I think of a harpooneer who stayed out of a Saturday 
1897night clean into the holy Sabbath, engaged in such a 
1898cannibal business as selling the heads of dead idolaters ? 
1899
1900' Depend upon it, landlord, that harpooneer is a danger- 
1901ous man.' 
1902
1903' He pays reg'lar, 5 was the rejoinder. ' But come, 
1904it 's getting dreadful late, you had better be turning 
1905flukes it 's a nice bed : Sail and me slept in that 'ere 
1906bed the night we were spliced. There 's plenty room for 
1907two to kick about in that bed ; it 's an almighty big bed 
1908that. Why, afore we give it up, Sal used to put our Sam 
1909and little Johnny in the foot of it. But I got a-dreaming 
1910and sprawling about one night, and somehow, Sam got 
1911pitched on the floor, and came near breaking his arm. 
1912Arter that, Sal said it wouldn't do. Come along here, 
1913I '11 give ye a glim in a jiffy ' ; and so saying he lighted a 
1914candle and held it toward me, offering to lead the way. 
1915But I stood irresolute ; when looking at a clock in the 
1916corner, he exclaimed, ' I vum it 's Sunday you won't 
1917see that harpooneer to-night ; he 's come to anchor some- 
1918where come along then ; do come ; won't ye come ? ' 
1919
1920I considered the matter a moment, and then upstairs 
1921we went, and I was ushered into a small room, cold as a 
1922clam, and furnished, sure enough, with a prodigious bed, 
1923almost big enough indeed for any four harpooneers to 
1924sleep abreast. 
1925
1926' There,' said the landlord, placing the candle on a 
1927crazy old sea-chest that did double duty as a wash-stand 
1928
1929
1930
193124 MOBY-DICK 
1932
1933and centre table ; ' there, make yourself comfortable 
1934now, and good night to ye.' I turned round from eyeing 
1935the bed, but he had disappeared. 
1936
1937Folding back the counterpane, I stooped over the bed. 
1938Though none of the most elegant, it yet stood the scrutiny 
1939tolerably well. I then glanced round the room ; and 
1940besides the bedstead and centre table, could see no other 
1941furniture belonging to the place, but a rude shelf, the four 
1942walls, and a papered fire-board representing a man striking 
1943a whale. Of things not properly belonging to the room, 
1944there was a hammock lashed up, and thrown upon the 
1945floor in one corner ; also a large seaman's bag, containing 
1946the harpooneer's wardrobe, no doubt in lieu of a land trunk. 
1947Likewise, there was a parcel of outlandish bone fish-hooks 
1948on the shelf over the fire-place, and a tall harpoon stand- 
1949ing at the head of the bed. 
1950
1951But what is this on the chest ? I took it up, and held 
1952it close to the light, and felt it, and smelt it, and tried 
1953every way possible to arrive at some satisfactory con- 
1954clusion concerning it. I can compare it to nothing but 
1955a large door-mat, ornamented at the edges with little 
1956tinkling tags something like the stained porcupine quills 
1957round an Indian moccasin. There was a hole or slit in 
1958the middle of this mat, as you see the same in South 
1959American ponchos. But could it be possible that any 
1960sober harpooneer would get into a door-mat, and parade 
1961the streets of any Christian town in that sort of guise ? 
1962I put it on, to try it, and it weighed me down like a hamper, 
1963being uncommonly shaggy and thick, and I thought a 
1964little damp, as though this mysterious harpooneer had 
1965been wearing it of a rainy day. I went up in it to a bit 
1966of glass stuck against the wall, and I never saw such a 
1967sight in my life. I tore myself out of it in such a hurry 
1968that I gave myself a kink in the neck. 
1969
1970I sat down on the side of the bed, and commenced 
1971
1972
1973
1974THE SPOUTER-INN 25 
1975
1976thinking about this head-peddling harpooneer, and his 
1977door-mat. After thinking some time on the bedside, I 
1978got up and took off my monkey-jacket, and then stood 
1979in the middle of the room thinking. I then took off my 
1980coat, and thought a little more in my shirt -sleeves. But 
1981beginning to feel very cold now, half undressed as I was, 
1982and remembering what the landlord said about the har- 
1983pooneer 's not coming home at all that night, it being so 
1984very late, I made no more ado, but jumped out of my 
1985pantaloons and boots, and then blowing out the light 
1986tumbled into bed, and commended myself to the care of 
1987heaven. 
1988
1989Whether that mattress was stuffed with corn-cobs or 
1990broken crockery, there is no telling, but I rolled about a 
1991good deal, and could not sleep for a long time. At last 
1992I slid off into a light doze, and had pretty nearly made a 
1993good offing toward the land of Nod, when I heard a 
1994heavy footfall in the passage, and saw a glimmer of light 
1995come into the room from under the door. 
1996
1997Lord save me, thinks I, that must be the harpooneer, 
1998the infemal head-peddler. But I lay perfectly still, and 
1999resolved not to say a word till spoken to. Holding a 
2000light in one hand, and that identical New Zealand head 
2001in the other, the stranger entered the room, and without 
2002looking toward the bed, placed his candle a good way 
2003off from me on the floor in one corner, and then began 
2004working away at the knotted cords of the large bag I 
2005before spoke of as being in the room. I was all eagerness 
2006to see his face, but he kept it averted for some time while 
2007employed in unlacing the bag 's mouth . This accomplished, 
2008however, he turned round when, good heavens ! what a 
2009sight ! Such a face ! It was of a dark, purplish, yellow 
2010colour, here and there stuck over with large, blackish- 
2011looking squares. Yes, it 's just as I thought, he 's a 
2012terrible bedfellow ; he 's been in a fight, got dreadfully 
2013
2014
2015
201626 MOBY-DICK 
2017
2018cut, and here he is, just from the surgeon. But at that 
2019moment he chanced to turn his face so toward the light, 
2020that I plainly saw they could not be sticking-plasters at 
2021all, those black squares on his cheeks. They were stains 
2022of some sort or other. At first I knew not what to make 
2023of this ; but soon an inkling of the truth occurred to me. 
2024I remembered a story of a white man a whaleman too 
2025who, falling among the cannibals, had been tattooed by 
2026them. I concluded that this harpooneer, in the course of 
2027his distant voyages, must have met with a similar adven- 
2028ture. And what is it, thought I, after all ! It 's only 
2029his outside ; a man can be honest in any sort of skin. 
2030But then, what to make of his unearthly complexion, 
2031that part of it, I mean, lying round about, and completely 
2032independent of the squares of tattooing. To be sure, it 
2033might be nothing but a good coat of tropical tanning ; 
2034but I never heard of a hot sun's tanning a white man into 
2035a purplish-yellow one. However, I had never been in 
2036the South Seas ; and perhaps the sun there produced 
2037these extraordinary effects upon the skin. Now, while 
2038all these ideas were passing through me like lightning, 
2039this harpooneer never noticed me at all. But, after some 
2040difficulty having opened his bag, he commenced fumbling 
2041in it, and presently pulled out a sort of tomahawk, and 
2042a sealskin wallet with the hair on. Placing these on the 
2043old chest in the middle of the room, he then took the New 
2044Zealand head a ghastly thing enough and crammed it 
2045down into the bag. He now took off his hat a new 
2046beaver hat when I came nigh singing out with fresh 
2047surprise. There was no hair on his head none to speak 
2048of, at least nothing but a small scalp -knot twisted up on 
2049his forehead. His bald purplish head now looked for 
2050all the world like a mildewed skull. Had not the^stranger 
2051stood between me and the door, I would have bolted out 
2052of it quicker than ever I bolted a dinner. 
2053
2054
2055
2056THE SPOUTER-INN 27 
2057
2058Even as it was, I thought something of slipping out 
2059of the window, but it was the second floor back. I am 
2060no coward, but what to make of this head-peddling purple 
2061rascal altogether passed my comprehension. Ignorance, 
2062js^the parent^QJJear, and being completely nonplussed 
2063and confounded about the stranger, I confess I was now 
2064as much afraid of him as if it was the devil himself who 
2065had thus broken into my room at the dead of night. In 
2066fact, I was so afraid of him that I was not game enough 
2067just then to address him, and demand a satisfactory 
2068answer concerning what seemed inexplicable in him. 
2069
2070Meanwhile, he continued the business of undressing, 
2071and at last showed his chest and arms. As I live, these 
2072covered parts of him were checkered with the same 
2073squares as his face ; his back, too, was all over the same 
2074dark squares ; he seemed to have been in a Thirty Years' 
2075War, and just escaped from it with a sticking-plaster shirt. 
2076Still more, his very legs were marked, as if a parcel of 
2077dark green frogs were running up the trunks of young 
2078palms. It was now quite plain that he must be some 
2079abominable savage or other shipped aboard of a whale- 
2080man in the South Seas, and so landed in this Christian 
2081country. I quaked to think of it. A peddler of heads too 
2082perhaps the heads of his own brothers. He might take 
2083a fancy to mine heavens ! look at that tomahawk ! 
2084
2085But there was no time for shuddering, for now the 
2086savage went about something that completely fascinated 
2087my attention, and convinced me that he must indeed be 
2088a heathen. Going to his heavy grego, or wrapall, or 
2089dreadnaught, which he had previously hung on a chair, 
2090he fumbled in the pockets, and produced at length a 
2091curious little deformed image with a hunch on its back, 
2092and exactly the colour of a three-days-old Congo baby. 
2093Remembering the embalmed head, at first I almost 
2094thought that this black manikin was a real baby pre- 
2095
2096
2097
209828 MOBY-DICK 
2099
2100served in some similar manner. But seeing that it was 
2101not at all limber, and that it glistened a good deal like 
2102polished ebony, I concluded that it must be nothing but 
2103a wooden idol, which indeed it proved to be. For now 
2104the savage goes up to the empty fire-place, and removing 
2105the papered fire -board, sets up this little hunchbacked 
2106image, like a ten-pin, between the andirons. The chimney 
2107jambs and all the bricks inside were very sooty, so that 
2108I thought this fire-place made a very appropriate little 
2109shrine or chapel for his Congo idol. 
2110
2111I now screwed my eyes hard toward the half-hidden 
2112image, feeling but ill at ease meantime to see what was 
2113next to follow. First he takes about a double handful 
2114of shavings out of his grego pocket, and places them 
2115carefully before the idol ; then laying a bit of ship -biscuit 
2116on top and applying the flame from the lamp, he kindled 
2117<the shavings into a sacrificial blaze. Presently, after 
2118many hasty snatches into the fire, and still hastier with- 
2119drawals of his fingers (whereby he seemed to be scorching 
2120them badly), he at last succeeded in drawing out the 
2121biscuit ; then blowing off the heat and ashes a little, 
2122he made a polite offer of it to the little negro. But the 
2123little devil did not seem to fancy such dry sort of fare at 
2124all ; he never moved his lips. All these strange antics 
2125were accompanied by still stranger guttural noises from 
2126the devotee, who seemed to be praying in a sing-song 
2127or else singing some pagan psalmody or other, during 
2128which his face twitched about in the most unnatural 
2129manner. At last, extinguishing the fire, he took the idol 
2130up very unceremoniously, and bagged it again in his 
2131grego pocket as carelessly as if he were a sportsman 
2132bagging a dead woodcock. 
2133
2134All these queer proceedings increased my uncomf ortable- 
2135ness, and seeing him now exhibiting strong symptoms of 
2136concluding his business operations, and jumping into bed 
2137
2138
2139
2140THE SPOUTER-INN 29 
2141
2142with me, I thought it was high time, now or never, before 
2143the light was put out, to break the spell in which I had 
2144so long been bound. 
2145
2146But the interval I spent in deliberating what to say 
2147was a fatal one. Taking up his tomahawk from the table, 
2148he examined the head of it for an instant, and then hold- 
2149ing it to the light, with his mouth at the handle, he puffed 
2150out great clouds of tobacco smoke. The next moment 
2151the light was extinguished, and this wild cannibal, toma- 
2152hawk between his teeth, sprang into bed with me. I 
2153sang out, I could not help it now ; and giving a sudden 
2154grunt of astonishment he began feeling me. 
2155
2156Stammering out something, I knew not what, I rolled 
2157away from him against the wall, and then conjured him, 
2158whoever or whatever he might be, to keep quiet, and let 
2159me get up and light the lamp again. But his guttural 
2160responses satisfied me at once that he but ill compre- 
2161hended my meaning. 
2162
2163' Who-e debel you ? ' he at last said ' you no speak-e, 
2164dam-me, I kill-e.' And so saying the lighted tomahawk 
2165began flourishing about me in the dark. 
2166
21674 Landlord, for God's sake, Peter Coffin ! ' shouted I. 
2168' Landlord ! Watch ! Coffin ! Angels ! save me ! ' 
2169
21701 Speak-e ! tell-ee me who-ee be, or dam-me, I kill-e ! ' 
2171again growled the cannibal, while his horrid flourishings 
2172of the tomahawk scattered the hot tobacco ashes about 
2173me till I thought my linen would get on fire. But thank 
2174heaven, at that moment the landlord came into the room 
2175light in hand, and leaping from the bed I ran up to him. 
2176
21774 Don't be afraid now,' said he, grinning again. ' Quee- 
2178queg here wouldn't harm a hair of your head.' 
2179
2180' Stop your grinning,' shouted I, ' and why didn't you 
2181tell me that that infernal harpooneer was a cannibal ? ' 
2182
2183' I thought ye know'd it ; didn't I tell ye, he was 
2184a-peddlin' heads around town ? but turn flukes again 
2185
2186
2187
218830 MOBY-DICK 
2189
2190and go to sleep. Queequeg, look here you sabbee me, 
2191I sabbee you this man sleepe you you sabbee ? ' 
2192
2193' Me sabbee plenty,' grunted Queequeg, puffing away 
2194at his pipe and sitting up in bed. 
2195
2196' You gettee in/ he added, motioning to me with his 
2197tomahawk, and throwing the clothes to one side. He 
2198really did this in not only a civil but a really kind and 
2199charitable way. I stood looking at him a moment. For 
2200all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely- 
2201looking cannibal. What 's all this fuss I have been 
2202making about, thought I to myself the man ? s a human 
2203being just as I am : he has just as much reason to fear 
2204me, as I have to be afraid of him. Better sleep with a 
2205sober cannibal than a drunken Christian. 
2206
2207'Landlord,' said I, 'tell him to stash his tomahawk 
2208there, or pipe, or whatever you call it ; tell him to stop 
2209smoking, in short, and I will turn in with him. But I 
2210don't fancy having a man smoking in bed with me. It 's 
2211dangerous. Besides, I ain't insured.' 
2212
2213This being told to Queequeg, he at once complied, and 
2214again politely motioned me to get into bed rolling over 
2215to one side as much as to say, I won't touch a leg of ye. 
2216
2217' Good night, landlord,' said I, ' you may go.' 
2218
2219I turned in, and never slept better in my life. 
2220
2221
2222
2223
2224
2225
2226CHAPTER IV 
2227
2228THE COUNTERPANE 
2229
2230UPON waking next morning about daylight, I found 
2231Queequeg's arm thrown over me in the most loving and 
2232affectionate manner. You had almost thought I had 
2233been his wife. The counterpane was of patchwork, full 
2234of odd little parti-coloured squares and triangles ; and 
2235this arm of his tattooed all over with an interminable 
2236Cretan labyrinth of a figure, no two parts of which were 
2237of one precise shade owing, I suppose, to his keeping 
2238his arm at sea unmethodically in sun and shade, his 
2239shirt-sleeves irregularly rolled up at various times 
2240this same arm of his, I say, looked for all the world like 
2241a strip of that same patchwork quilt. Indeed, partly 
2242lying on it as the arm did when I first awoke, I could 
2243hardly tell it from the quilt, they so blended their hues 
2244together ; and it was only by the sense of weight and 
2245pressure that I could tell that Queequeg was hugging me. 
2246My sensations were strange. Let me try to explain 
2247them. When I was a child, I well remember a somewhat 
2248similar circumstance that befell me ; whether it was a 
2249reality or a dream, I never could entirely settle. The 
2250circumstance was this. I had been cutting up some 
2251caper or other I think it was trying to crawl up the 
2252chimney, as I had seen a little sweep do a few days 
2253previous ; and my stepmother, who, somehow or other, 
2254was all the time whipping me, or sending me to bed 
2255supperless, my mother dragged me by the legs out 
2256of the chimney and packed me off to bed, though it was 
2257only two o'clock in the afternoon of the 21st June, the 
2258
225931 
2260
2261
2262
226332 MOBY-DICK 
2264
2265longest day in the year in our hemisphere. 1 felt dread- 
2266fully. But there was no help for it, so upstairs I went 
2267to my little room in the third floor, undressed myself as 
2268slowly as possible so as to kill time, and with a bitter 
2269sigh got between the sheets. 
2270
2271I lay there dismally calculating that sixteen entire 
2272hours must elapse before I could hope for a resurrection. 
2273Sixteen hours in bed ! the small of my back ached to 
2274think of it. And it was so light too ; the sun shining 
2275in at the window, and a great rattling of coaches in the 
2276streets, and the sound of gay voices all over the house. 
2277I felt worse and worse at last I got up, dressed, and 
2278softly going down in my stockinged feet, sought out my 
2279stepmother, and suddenly threw myself at her feet, be- 
2280seeching her as a particular favour to give me a good 
2281slippering for my misbehaviour ; anything indeed but con- 
2282demning me to lie abed such an unendurable length of 
2283time. But she was the best and most conscientious of 
2284stepmothers, and back I had to go to my room. For 
2285several hours I lay there broad awake, feeling a great 
2286deal worse than I have ever done since, even from the 
2287greatest subsequent misfortunes. At last I must have 
2288fallen into a troubled nightmare of a doze ; and slowly 
2289waking from it half steeped in dreams I opened my 
2290eyes, and the before sunlit room was now wrapped in 
2291outer darkness. Instantly I felt a shock running through 
2292all my frame ; nothing was to be seen, and nothing was 
2293to be heard ; but a supernatural hand seemed placed 
2294in mine. My arm hung over the counterpane, and the 
2295nameless, unimaginable, silent form or phantom, to which 
2296the hand belonged, seemed closely seated by my bedside. 
2297For what seemed ages piled on ages, I lay there, frozen 
2298with the most awful fears, not daring to drag away my 
2299hand ; yet ever thinking that if I could but stir it one 
2300single inch, the horrid spell would be broken. I knew 
2301
2302
2303
2304THE COUNTERPANE 33 
2305
2306not how this consciousness at last glided away from me ; 
2307but waking in the morning, I shudderingly remembered 
2308it all, and for days and weeks and months afterward I 
2309lost myself in confounding attempts to explain the mystery. 
2310Nay, to this very hour, I often puzzle myself with it. 
2311
2312Now, take away the awful fear, and my sensations at 
2313feeling the supernatural hand in mine were very similar, 
2314in their strangeness, to those which I experienced on 
2315waking up and seeing Queequeg 's pagan arm thrown 
2316round me. But at length all the past night's events 
2317soberly recurred, one by one, in fixed reality, and then I 
2318lay only alive to the comical predicament. For though 
2319I tried to move his arm unlock his bridegroom clasp 
2320yet, sleeping as he was, he still hugged me tightly, as 
2321though naught but death should part us twain. I now 
2322strove to rouse him * Queequeg ! ' but his only answer 
2323was a snore. I then rolled over, my neck feeling as if 
2324it were in a horse-collar ; and suddenly felt a slight 
2325scratch. Throwing aside the counterpane, there lay the 
2326tomahawk sleeping by the savage's side, as if it were a 
2327hatchet -faced baby. A pretty pickle, truly, thought I ; 
2328abed here in a strange house in the broad day, with a 
2329cannibal and a tomahawk ! ' Queequeg ! in the name 
2330of goodness, Queequeg, wake ! ' At length, by dint of 
2331much wriggling, and loud and incessant expostulations 
2332upon the unbecomingness of his hugging a fellow-male in 
2333that matrimonial sort of style, I succeeded in extracting 
2334a grunt ; and presently, he drew back his arm, shook 
2335himself all over like a Newfoundland dog just from the 
2336water, and sat up in bed, stiff as a pikestaff, looking at 
2337me, and rubbing his eyes as if he did not altogether re- 
2338member how I came to be there, though a dim conscious- 
2339ness of knowing something about me seemed slowly 
2340dawning over him. Meanwhile, I lay quietly eyeing him, 
2341having no serious misgivings now, and bent upon narrowly 
2342
2343VOL. i. c 
2344
2345
2346
234734 MOBY-DICK 
2348
2349observing so curious a creature. When, at last, his mind 
2350seemed made up touching the character of his bed- 
2351fellow, and he became, as it were, reconciled to the fact, 
2352he jumped out upon the floor, and by certain signs and 
2353sounds gave me to understand that, if it pleased me, he 
2354would dress first and then leave me to dress afterward, 
2355leaving the whole apartment to myself. Thinks I, 
2356Queequeg, under the circumstances, this is a very civilised 
2357overture ; but, the truth is, these savages have an innate 
2358sense of delicacy, say what you will ; it is marvellous how 
2359essentially polite they are. I pay this particular compli- 
2360ment to Queequeg, because he treated me with so much 
2361civility and consideration, while I was guilty of great 
2362rudeness ; staring at him from the bed, and watching all 
2363his toilet motions ; for the time my curiosity getting the 
2364better of my breeding. Nevertheless, a man like Quee- 
2365queg you don't see every day, he and his ways were well 
2366worth unusual regarding. 
2367
2368He commenced dressing at top by donning his beaver 
2369hat, a very tall one, by the by, and then still minus his 
2370trowsers he hunted up his boots. What under the 
2371heavens he did it for, I cannot tell, but his next movement 
2372was to crush himself boots in hand, and hat on under 
2373the bed ; when, from sundry violent gaspings and strain- 
2374ings, I inferred he was hard at work booting himself ; 
2375though by no law of propriety that I ever heard of is 
2376any man required to be private when putting on his boots. 
2377But Queequeg, do you see, was a creature in the transi- 
2378tion state neither caterpillar nor butterfly. He was 
2379just enough civilised to show off his outlandishness in the 
2380strangest possible manner. His education was not yet 
2381completed. He was an undergraduate. If he had not 
2382been a small degree civilised, he very probably would 
2383not have troubled himself with boots at all ; but then, 
2384if he had not been still a savage, he never would have 
2385
2386
2387
2388THE COUNTERPANE 35 
2389
2390dreamt of getting under the bed to put them on. At 
2391last, he emerged with his hat very much dented and 
2392crushed down over his eyes, and began creaking and 
2393limping about the room, as if, not being much accustomed 
2394to boots, his pair of damp, wrinkled cowhide ones pro- 
2395bably not made to order either rather pinched and 
2396tormented him at the first go off of a bitter cold morning. 
2397
2398Seeing, now, that there were no curtains to the window, 
2399and that the street being very narrow, the house opposite 
2400commanded a plain view into the room, and observing 
2401more and more the indecorous figure that Queequeg 
2402made, staving about with little else but his hat and boots 
2403on, I begged him as well as I could, to accelerate his 
2404toilet somewhat, and particularly to get into his panta- 
2405loons as soon as possible. He complied, and then pro- 
2406ceeded to wash himself. At that time in the morning 
2407any Christian would have washed his face ; but Queequeg, 
2408to my amazement, contented himself with restricting 
2409his ablutions to his chest, arms, and hands. He then 
2410donned his waistcoat, and taking up a piece of hard soap 
2411on the wash-stand centre table, dipped it into water and 
2412commenced lathering his face. I was watching to see 
2413where he kept his razor, when lo and behold, he takes the 
2414harpoon from the bed corner, slips out the long wooden 
2415stock, unsheathes the head, whets it a little on his boot, 
2416and striding up to the bit of mirror against the wall, 
2417begins a vigorous scraping, or rather harpooning of his 
2418cheeks. Thinks I, Queequeg, this is using Rogers's best 
2419cutlery with a vengeance. Afterward I wondered the 
2420less at this operation when I came to know of what 
2421fine steel the head of a harpoon is made, and how 
2422exceedingly sharp the long straight edges are always kept. 
2423
2424The rest of his toilet was soon achieved, and he proudly 
2425marched out of the room, wrapped up in his great pilot 
2426monkey-jacket, and sporting his harpoon like a marshal's 
2427baton. 
2428
2429
2430
2431CHAPTER V 
2432
2433BREAKFAST 
2434
2435I QUICKLY followed suit, and descending into the bar-room 
2436accosted the grinning landlord very pleasantly. I 
2437cherished no malice toward him, though he had been 
2438skylarking with me not a little in the matter of my 
2439bedfellow. 
2440
2441However, a good laugh is a mighty good thing, and 
2442rather too scarce a good thing ; the more 's the pity. So, 
2443if any one man, in his own proper person, afford stuff for 
2444a good joke to anybody, let him not be backward, but let 
2445him cheerfully allow himself to spend and be spent in 
2446that way. And the man that has anything bountifully 
2447laughable about him, be sure there is more in that man 
2448than you perhaps think for. 
2449
2450The bar-room was now full of the boarders who had been 
2451dropping in the night previous, and whom I had not as 
2452yet had a good look at. They were nearly all whalemen ; 
2453chief mates, and second mates, and third mates, and sea- 
2454carpenters, and sea-coopers, and sea-blacksmiths, and 
2455harpooneers, and ship-keepers ; a brown and brawny 
2456company, with bosky beards ; an unshorn, shaggy set, 
2457all wearing monkey-jackets for morning gowns. 
2458
2459You could pretty plainly tell how long each one had 
2460been ashore. This young fellow's healthy cheek is like 
2461a sun-toasted pear in hue, and would seem to smell 
2462almost as musky ; he cannot have been three days landed 
2463from his Indian voyage. That man next him looks a 
2464few shades lighter ; you might say a touch of satinwood 
2465
246636 
2467
2468
2469
2470BREAKFAST 37 
2471
2472is in him. In the complexion of a third still lingers a 
2473tropic tawn, but slightly bleached withal ; lie doubtless 
2474has tarried whole weeks ashore. But who could show a 
2475cheek like Queequeg ? which, barred with various tints, 
2476seemed like the Andes' western slope, to show forth in 
2477one array, contrasting climates, zone by zone. 
2478
2479' Grub, ho ! ' now cried the landlord, flinging open a 
2480door, and in we went to breakfast. 
2481
2482They say that men who have seen the world, thereby 
2483become quite at ease in manner, quite self-possessed in 
2484company. Not always, though : Ledyard, the great New 
2485England traveller, and Mungo Park, the Scotch one ; of 
2486all men, they possessed the least assurance in the parlour. 
2487But perhaps the mere crossing of Siberia in a sledge 
2488drawn by dogs as Ledyard did, or the taking a long solitary 
2489walk on an empty stomach, in the negro heart of Africa, 
2490which was the sum of poor Mungo 's performances this 
2491kind of travel, I say, may not be the very best mode of 
2492attaining a high social polish. Still, for the most part, 
2493that sort of thing is to be had anywhere. 
2494
2495These reflections just here are occasioned by the cir- 
2496cumstance that after we were all seated at the table, and 
2497I was preparing to hear some good stories about whaling ; 
2498to my no small surprise nearly every man maintained a 
2499profound silence. And not only that, but they looked 
2500embarrassed. Yes, here were a set of sea-dogs, many of 
2501whom without the slightest bashfulness had boarded 
2502great whales on the high seas entire strangers to them 
2503and duelled them dead without winking ; and yet, here 
2504they sat at a social breakfast table all of the same calling, 
2505all of kindred tastes looking round as sheepishly at 
2506each other as though they had never been out of sight 
2507of some sheepfold among the Green Mountains. A 
2508curious sight ; these bashful bears, these timid warrior 
2509whalemen ! 
2510
2511
2512
251338 MOBY-DICK 
2514
2515But as for Queequeg why, Queequeg sat there among 
2516them at the head of the table, too, it so chanced as 
2517cool as an icicle. To be sure, I cannot say much for his 
2518breeding. His greatest admirer could not have cordially 
2519justified his bringing his harpoon in to breakfast with him, 
2520and using it there without ceremony ; reaching over the 
2521table with it, to the imminent jeopardy of many heads, 
2522and grappling the beefsteaks toward him. But that 
2523was certainly very coolly done by him, and everyone 
2524knows that in most people's estimation, to do anything 
2525coolly is to do it genteelly. 
2526
2527We will not speak of all Queequeg's peculiarities here ; 
2528how he eschewed coffee and hot rolls, and applied his 
2529undivided attention to beefsteaks, done rare. Enough, 
2530that when breakfast was over he withdrew like the rest 
2531into the public room, lighted his tomahawk-pipe, and was 
2532sitting there quietly digesting and smoking with his 
2533inseparable hat on, when I sallied out for a stroll. 
2534
2535
2536
2537CHAPTER VI 
2538
2539THE STREET 
2540
2541IF I had been astonished at first catching a glimpse of so 
2542outlandish an individual as Queequeg circulating among 
2543the polite society of a civilised town, that astonishment 
2544soon departed upon taking my first daylight stroll through 
2545the streets of New Bedford. 
2546
2547In thoroughfares nigh the docks, any considerable sea- 
2548port will frequently offer to view the queerest -looking 
2549nondescripts from foreign parts. Even in Broadway 
2550and Chestnut Streets, Mediterranean mariners will some- 
2551times jostle the affrighted ladies. Regent Street is not 
2552unknown to Lascars and Malays ; and at Bombay, in the 
2553Apollo Green, live Yankees have often scared the natives. 
2554But New Bedford beats all Water Street and Wapping. 
2555In these last -mentioned haunts you see only sailors ; but 
2556in New Bedford actual cannibals stand chatting at street 
2557corners ; savages outright ; many of whom yet carry on 
2558their bones unholy flesh. It makes a stranger stare. 
2559
2560But, besides the Feegeeans, Tongatabooarrs, Erro- 
2561manggoans, Pannangians, and Brighggians, and besides 
2562the wild specimens of the whaling -craft which unheeded 
2563reel about the streets, you will see other sights still more 
2564curious, certainly more comical. There weekly arrive 
2565in this town scores of green Vermonters and New Hamp- 
2566shire men, all athirst for gain and glory in the fishery. 
2567They are mostly young, of stalwart frames ; fellows who 
2568have felled forests, and now seek to drop the axe and 
2569snatch the whale-lance. Many are as green as the Green 
2570
2571
2572
257340 MOBY-DICK 
2574
2575Mountains whence they came. In some things you would 
2576think them but a few hours old. Look there ! that chap 
2577strutting round the corner. He wears a beaver hat and 
2578swallow-tailed coat, girdled with a sailor -belt and a sheath- 
2579knife. Here comes another with a sou '-wester and a 
2580bombazine cloak. 
2581
2582No town-bred dandy will compare with a country-bred 
2583one I mean a downright bumpkin dandy a fellow that, 
2584in the dog-days, will mow his two acres in buckskin 
2585gloves for fear of tanning his hands. Now when a country 
2586dandy like this takes it into his head to make a distin- 
2587guished reputation, and joins the great whale-fishery, you 
2588should see the comical things he does upon reaching the 
2589seaport. In bespeaking his sea -out fit, he orders bell- 
2590buttons to his waistcoats ; straps to his canvas trowsers. 
2591Ah, poor Hay-Seed ! how bitterly will burst those straps 
2592in the first howling gale, when thou art driven, straps/ 
2593buttons, and all, down the throat of the tempest. 
2594
2595But think not that this famous town has only har- 
2596pooneers, cannibals, and bumpkins to show her visitors. 
2597Not at all. Still New Bedford is a queer place. Had it 
2598not been for us whalemen, that tract of land would this 
2599day perhaps have been in as howling condition as the 
2600coast of Labrador. As it is, parts of her back country 
2601are enough to frighten one, they look so bony. The town 
2602itself is perhaps the dearest place to live in, hi all New 
2603England. It is a land of oil, true enough : but not like 
2604Caanan ; a land, also, of corn and wine. The streets do 
2605not run with milk ; nor in the spring-time do they pave 
2606them with fresh eggs. Yet, in spite of this, nowhere in 
2607all America will you find more patrician-like houses ; 
2608parks and gardens more opulent, than hi New Bedford. 
2609Whence came they ? how planted upon this once scraggy 
2610scoria of a country ? 
2611
2612Go and gaze upon the iron emblematical harpoons 
2613
2614
2615
2616
2617
2618
2619THE STREET 41 
2620
2621round yonder lofty mansion, and your question will be 
2622answered. Yes ; all these brave houses and flowery 
2623gardens came from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. 
2624One and all, they were harpooned and dragged up hither 
2625from the bottom of the sea. Can Herr Alexander per- 
2626form a feat like that ? 
2627
2628In New Bedford, fathers, they say, give whales for 
2629dowers to their daughters, and portion off their nieces 
2630with a few porpoises apiece. You must go to New Bed- 
2631ford to see a brilliant wedding ; for, they say, they have 
2632reservoirs of oil in every house, and every night recklessly 
2633burn their lengths in spermaceti candles. 
2634
2635In summer time, the town is sweet to see ; full of fine 
2636maples long avenues of green and gold. And in August, 
2637high in air, the beautiful and bountiful horse-chestnuts, 
2638candelabra-wise, proffer the passer-by their tapering 
2639upright cones of congregated blossoms. So omnipotent \ 
2640is art ; which in many a district of New Bedford has 
2641superinduced bright terraces of flowers upon the barren 
2642refuse rocks thrown aside at Creation's final day. 
2643
2644And the women of New Bedford, they bloom like their 
2645own red roses. But roses only bloom in summer ; whereas 
2646the fine carnation of their cheeks is perennial as sunlight 
2647in the seventh heavens. Elsewhere match that bloom 
2648of theirs, ye cannot, save in Salem, where they tell me 
2649the young girls breathe such musk, their sailor sweet- 
2650hearts smell them miles off shore, as though they were 
2651drawing nigh the odorous Moluccas instead of the Puritanic 
2652sands. 
2653
2654
2655
2656CHAPTER VII 
2657
2658THE CHAPEL 
2659
2660IN this same New Bedford there stands a Whaleman's 
2661Chapel, and few are the moody fishermen, shortly bound 
2662for the Indian Ocean or Pacific, who fail to make a Sunday 
2663visit to the spot. I am sure that I did not. 
2664
2665Returning from my first morning stroll, I again sallied 
2666out upon this special errand. The sky had changed from 
2667clear, sunny cold, to driving sleet and mist. Wrapping 
2668myself in my shaggy jacket of the cloth called bearskin, 
2669I fought my way against the stubborn storm. Entering, 
2670I found a small scattered congregation of sailors, and 
2671sailors' wives and widows. A muffled silence reigned, 
2672only broken at times by the shrieks of the storm. Each 
2673silent worshipper seemed purposely sitting apart from 
2674the other, as if each silent grief were insular and incom- 
2675municable. The chaplain had not yet arrived ; and there 
2676these silent islands of men and women sat steadfastly 
2677eyeing several marble tablets, with black borders, masoned 
2678into the wall on either side the pulpit. Three of them 
2679ran something like the following, but I do not pretend to 
2680quote : 
2681
2682SACRED 
2683
2684
2685
2686OF 
2687
2688JOHN TALBOT, 
2689
2690Who, at the age of eighteen, was lost overboard, 
2691
2692Near the Isle of Desolation, off Patagonia, 
2693
2694November 1st, 1836. 
2695
2696THIS TABLET 
2697
2698Is erected to his Memory 
2699
2700BY HIS SISTER. 
2701
2702
2703
270442 
2705
2706
2707
2708THE CHAPEL 43 
2709
2710SACRED 
2711
2712^o tlje em orp 
2713
2714OF 
2715
2716ROBERT LONG, WILLIS ELLERY, 
2717
2718NATHAN COLEMAN, WALTER CANNY, SETH MACY, 
2719
2720AND SAMUEL GLEIG, 
2721
2722Forming one of the boats' crews 
2723OF 
2724
2725THE SHIP ELIZA, 
2726
2727Who were towed out of sight by a Whale, 
2728On the Ofi-shore Ground in the 
2729
2730PACIFIC, 
2731December 3lst, 1839. 
2732
2733THIS MABBLB 
2734
2735Is here placed by their surviving 
2736Shipmates 
2737
2738
2739
2740SACKED 
2741
2742Eo tfje 
2743
2744OF 
2745
2746The late 
2747
2748CAPTAIN EZEKIEL HARDY, 
2749
2750Who in the bows of his boat was killed by a 
2751
2752Sperm Whale on the coast of Japan, 
2753
2754August 3d, 1833. 
2755
2756THIS TABLET 
2757
2758Is erected to his Memory 
2759BY 
2760
2761HIS WIDOW. 
2762
2763Shaking off the sleet from my ice-glazed hat and jacket, 
2764I seated myself near the door, and turning sideways was 
2765surprised to see Queequeg near me. Affected by the 
2766solemnity of the scene, there was a wondering gaze of 
2767incredulous curiosity in his countenance. This savage 
2768was the only person present who seemed to notice my 
2769entrance ; because he was the only one who could not 
2770read, and, therefore, was not reading those frigid inscrip- 
2771tions on the wall. Whether any of the relatives of the 
2772
2773
2774
277544 MOBY-DICK 
2776
2777seamen whose names appeared there were now among 
2778the congregation, I knew not ; but so many are the unre- 
2779corded accidents in the fishery, and so plainly did several 
2780women present wear the countenance if not the trappings 
2781of some unceasing grief, that I feel sure that here before 
2782me were assembled those, in whose unhealing hearts the 
2783sight of those bleak tablets sympathetically caused the 
2784old wounds to bleed afresh. 
2785
2786Oh ! ye whose dead lie buried beneath the green grass ; 
2787who standing among flowers can say here, here lies my 
2788beloved ; ye know not the desolation that broods in 
2789bosoms like these. What bitter blanks in those black- 
2790bordered marbles which cover no ashes ! What despair 
2791in those immovable inscriptions ! What deadly voids 
2792and unbidden infidelities in the lines that seem to gnaw 
2793upon all Faith, and refuse resurrections to the beings who 
2794have placelessly perished without a grave. As well might 
2795those tablets stand in the cave of Elephanta as here. 
2796
2797Li what census of living creatures, the dead of mankind 
2798are included ; why it is that a universal proverb says of 
2799them, that they tell no tales, though containing more 
2800secrets than the Goodwin Sands ; how it is that to his 
2801name who yesterday departed for the other world, we 
2802prefix so significant and infidel a word, and yet do not 
2803thus entitle him, if he but embarks for the remotest Indies 
2804of this living earth ; why the Life Insurance Companies 
2805pay death-forfeitures upon immortals ; in what eternal, 
2806unstirring paralysis, and deadly, hopeless trance, yet lies 
2807antique Adam who died sixty round centuries ago ; how 
2808it is that we still refuse to be comforted for those who we 
2809nevertheless maintain are dwelling in unspeakable bliss ; 
2810why all the living so strive to hush all the dead ; wherefore 
2811but the rumour of a knocking in a tomb will terrify a 
2812whole city. All these things are not without their 
2813meanings. 
2814
2815
2816
2817THE CHAPEL 45 
2818
2819But Faith, like a jackal, feeds among the tombs, and 
2820even from these dead doubts she gathers her most vital 
2821hope. 
2822
2823It needs scarcely to be told, with what feelings, on the 
2824eve of a Nantucket voyage, I regarded those marble 
2825tablets, and by the murky light of that darkened, doleful 
2826day read the fate of the whalemen who had gone before 
2827me. Yes, Ishmael, the same fate may be thine. But 
2828somehow I grew merry again. Delightful inducements to 
2829embark, fine chance for promotion, it seems ay, a 
2830stove boat will make me an immortal by brevet. Yes, 
2831there is death in this business of whaling a speechlessly 
2832quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity. But what 
2833then ? Methinks we have hugely mistaken this matter 
2834of Life and Death. Methinks that what they call my 
2835shadow here on earth is my true substance. Methinks 
2836that in looking at things spiritual, we are too much like 
2837oysters observing the sun through the water, and thinking 
2838that thick water the thinnest of air. Methinks my body 
2839is but the lees of my better being. In fact, take my body 
2840who will, take it I say, it is not me. And therefore three 
2841cheers for Nantucket ; and come a stove boat and stove 
2842body when they will, for stave my soul, Jove himself 
2843cannot. 
2844
2845
2846
2847
2848
2849
2850CHAPTER VIII 
2851
2852THE PULPIT 
2853
2854I HAD not been seated very long ere a man of a certain 
2855venerable robustness entered ; immediately as the storm- 
2856pelted door flew back upon admitting him, a quick regard- 
2857ful eyeing of him by all the congregation sufficiently 
2858attested that this fine old man was the chaplain. Yes, 
2859it was the famous Father Mapple, so called by the whale- 
2860men, among whom he was a very great favourite. He 
2861had been a sailor and a harpooneer in his youth, but for 
2862many years past had dedicated his life to the ministry. 
2863At the time I now write of, Father Mapple was in the 
2864hardy winter of a healthy old age ; that sort of old age 
2865which seems merging into a second flowering youth, for 
2866among all the fissures of his wrinkles, there shone certain 
2867mild gleams of a newly developing bloom the spring 
2868verdure peeping forth even beneath February's snow. 
2869No one having previously heard his history, could for 
2870the first time behold Father Mapple without the utmost 
2871interest, because there were certain engrafted clerical 
2872peculiarities about him, imputable to that adventurous 
2873maritime life he had led. When he entered I observed 
2874that he carried no umbrella, and certainly had not come 
2875in his carriage, for his tarpaulin hat ran down with melting 
2876sleet, and his great pilot-cloth jacket seemed almost to 
2877drag him to the floor with the weight of the water it had 
2878absorbed. However, hat and coat and overshoes were 
2879one by one removed, and hung up in a little space in an 
2880adjacent corner ; when, arrayed in a decent suit, he 
2881quietly approached the pulpit. 
2882
288346 
2884
2885
2886
2887THE PULPIT 47 
2888
2889Like most old-fashioned pulpits, it was a very lofty one, 
2890and since a regular stairs to such a height would, by its 
2891long angle with the floor, seriously contract the already 
2892small area of the chapel, the architect, it seemed, had 
2893acted upon the hint of Father Mapple, and finished the 
2894pulpit without a stairs, substituting a perpendicular side 
2895ladder, like those used in mounting a ship from a boat at 
2896sea. The wife of a whaling-captain had provided the chapel 
2897with a handsome pair of red worsted man-ropes for this 
2898ladder, which, being itself nicely headed, and stained with 
2899a mahogany colour, the whole contrivance, considering 
2900what manner of chapel it was, seemed by no means in bad 
2901taste. Halting for an instant at the foot of the ladder, 
2902and with both hands grasping the ornamental knobs 
2903of the man-ropes, Father Mapple cast a look upward, 
2904and then with a truly sailor-like but still reverential 
2905dexterity, hand over hand, mounted the steps as if 
2906ascending the main -top of his vessel. 
2907
2908The perpendicular parts of this side ladder, as is usually 
2909the case with swinging ones, were of cloth-covered rope, 
2910only the rounds were of wood, so that at every step there 
2911was a joint. At my first glimpse of the pulpit, it had not 
2912escaped me that however convenient for a ship, these 
2913joints in the present instance seemed unnecessary. For 
2914I was not prepared to see Father Mapple after gaining 
2915the height, slowly turn round, and stooping over the 
2916pulpit, deliberately drag up the ladder step by step, till 
2917the whole was deposited within, leaving him impregnable 
2918in his little Quebec. 
2919
2920I pondered some time without fully comprehending 
2921the reason for this. Father Mapple enjoyed such a wide 
2922reputation for sincerity and sanctity, that I could not 
2923suspect him of courting notoriety by any mere tricks of 
2924the stage. No, thought I, there must be some sober 
2925reason for this thing ; furthermore, it must symbolise 
2926
2927
2928
292948 MOBY-DICK 
2930
2931something unseen. Can it be, then, that by that act of 
2932physical isolation, he signifies his spiritual withdrawal for 
2933the time, from all outward worldly ties and connections ? 
2934Yes, for replenished with the meat and wine of the word, 
2935to the faithful man of God, this pulpit, I see, is a self- 
2936containing stronghold a lofty Ehrenbreitstein, with a 
2937perennial well of water within the walls. 
2938
2939But the side ladder was not the only strange feature 
2940of the place, borrowed from the chaplain's former sea- 
2941farings. Between the marble cenotaphs on either hand 
2942of the pulpit, the wall which formed its back was adorned 
2943with a large painting representing a gallant ship beating 
2944against a terrible storm off a lee coast of black rocks and 
2945snowy breakers. But high above the flying scud and 
2946dark-rolling clouds, there floated a little isle of sunlight, 
2947from which beamed forth an angel's face ; and this bright 
2948face shed a distinct spot of radiance upon the ship's tossed 
2949deck, something like that silver plate now inserted into the 
2950Victory's plank where Nelson fell. ' Ah, noble ship/ the 
2951angel seemed to say, 'beat on, beat on, thou noble ship, and 
2952bear a hardy helm ; for lo ! the sun is breaking through ; 
2953the clouds are rolling off serenest azure is at hand.' 
2954
2955Nor was the pulpit itself without a trace of the same 
2956sea -taste that had achieved the ladder and the picture. 
2957Its panelled front was in the likeness of a ship's bluff bows, 
2958and the Holy Bible rested on a projecting piece of scroll 
2959work, fashioned after a ship's fiddle -headed beak. 
2960
2961What could be more full of meaning ? for the pulpit 
2962is ever this earth's foremost part ; all the rest comes in 
2963its rear ; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is 
2964the storm of God's quick wrath is first descried, and the 
2965bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the 
2966God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favourable 
2967winds. Yes, the world 's a ship on its passage out, and 
2968not a voyage complete ; and the pulpit is its prow. 
2969
2970
2971
2972CHAPTER IX 
2973
2974
2975
2976THE SERMON 
2977
2978FATHER MAPPLE rose, and in a mild voice of unassuming 
2979authority ordered the scattered people to condense. 
2980' Starboard gangway, there ! side away to larboard 
2981larboard gangway to starboard ! Midships ! midships ! ' 
2982
2983There was a low rumbling of heavy sea-boots among the 
2984benches, and a still slighter shuffling of women's shoes, 
2985and all was quiet again, and every eye on the preacher. 
2986
2987He paused a little ; then kneeling in the pulpit's bows, 
2988folded his large brown hands across his chest, uplifted 
2989his closed eyes, and offered a prayer so deeply devout 
2990that he seemed kneeling and praying at the bottom of 
2991the sea. 
2992
2993This ended, in prolonged solemn tones, like the continual 
2994tolling of a bell in a ship that is foundering at sea in a fog 
2995in such tones he commenced reading the following hymn ; 
2996but changing his manner toward the concluding stanzas, 
2997burst forth with a pealing exultation and joy : 
2998
2999* The ribs and terrors in the whale 
3000
3001Arched over me a dismal gloom, 
3002While all God's sun-lit waves rolled by, 
3003And lift me deepening down to doom. 
3004
3005' I saw the opening maw of hell, 
3006
3007With endless pains and sorrows there ; 
3008Which none but they that feel can tell 
3009Oh, I was plunging to despair. 
3010
3011VOL. I. D 
3012
3013
3014
301550 MOBY-DICK 
3016
30174 In black distress, I called my God, 
3018
3019When I could scarce believe him mine, 
3020He bowed his ear to my complaints 
3021No more the whale did me confine. 
3022
3023' With speed he flew to my relief, 
3024
3025As on a radiant dolphin borne ; 
3026Awful, yet bright, as lightning shone 
3027The face of my Deliverer God. 
3028
3029' My song for ever shall record 
3030
3031That terrible, that joyful hour ; 
3032I give the glory to my God, 
3033
3034His all the mercy and the power.' 
3035
3036Nearly all joined in singing this hymn, which swelled 
3037high above the howling of the storm. A brief pause 
3038ensued ; the preacher slowly turned over the leaves of 
3039the Bible, and at last, folding his hand down upon the 
3040proper page, said : ' Beloved shipmates, clinch the last 
3041verse of the first chapter of Jonah " And God had pre- 
3042pared a great fish to swallow up Jonah." 
3043
3044' Shipmates, this book, containing only four chapters 
3045four yarns is one of the smallest strands in the mighty 
3046cable of the Scriptures. Yet what depths of the soul does 
3047Jonah's deep sea-line sound ! what a pregnant lesson to 
3048us is this prophet ! What a noble thing is that canticle 
3049in the fish's belly ! How billow-like and boisterously 
3050grand ! We feel the floods surging over us ; we sound with 
3051him to the kelpy bottom of the waters ; sea-weed and all 
3052the slime of the sea is about us ! But what is this lesson 
3053that the book of Jonah teaches ? Shipmates, it is a two- 
3054stranded lesson ; a lesson to us all as sinful men, and a 
3055lesson to me as a pilot of the living God. As sinful men, 
3056it is a lesson to us all, because it is a story of the sin, hard- 
3057heartedness, suddenly awakened fears, the swift punish- ! 
3058
3059
3060
3061THE SERMON 51 
3062
3063ment, repentance, prayers, and finally the deliverance and 
3064joy of Jonah. As with all sinners among men, the sin 
3065of this son of Amittai was in his wilful disobedience of the 
3066command of God never mind now what that command 
3067was, or how conveyed which he found a hard command. 
3068But all the things that God would have us do are hard for 
3069us to do remember that and hence, He oftener com- 
3070mands us than endeavours to persuade. And if we obey 
3071God, we must disobey ourselves ; and it is in this dis- 
3072obeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God 
3073consists. 
3074
3075' With this sin of disobedience in him, Jonah still 
3076further flouts at God, by seeking to flee from Him. He 
3077thinks that a ship made by men will carry him into 
3078countries where God does not reign, but only the captains 
3079of this earth. He skulks about the wharves of Joppa, 
3080and seeks a ship that 's bound for Tarshish. There lurks, 
3081perhaps, a hitherto unheeded meaning here. By all 
3082accounts Tarshish could have been no other city than the 
3083modern Cadiz. That 's the opinion of learned men. And 
3084where is Cadiz, shipmates ? Cadiz is in Spain ; as far by 
3085water, from Joppa, as Jonah could possibly have sailed 
3086in those ancient days, when the Atlantic was an almost 
3087unknown sea. Because Joppa, the modern Jaffa, ship- 
3088mates, is on the most easterly coast of the Mediterranean, 
3089the Syrian ; and Tarshish or Cadiz more than two thousand 
3090miles to the westward from that, just outside the Straits 
3091of Gibraltar. See ye not then, shipmates, that Jonah 
3092sought to flee world- wide from God ? Miserable man ! 
3093Oh ! most contemptible and worthy of all scorn ; with 
3094slouched hat and guilty eye, skulking from his God ; 
3095prowling among the shipping like a vile burglar hastening 
3096to cross the seas. So disordered, self -condemning is his 
3097look, that had there been policemen in those days, Jonah, 
3098on the mere suspicion of something wrong, had been 
3099
3100
3101
310252 MOBY-DICK 
3103
3104arrested ere he touched a deck. How plainly he 's a 
3105fugitive ! no baggage, not a hat-box, valise, or carpet- 
3106bag, no friends accompany him to the wharf with their 
3107adieux. At last, after much dodging search, he finds the 
3108Tarshish ship receiving the last items of her cargo ; and 
3109as he steps on board to see its captain in the cabin, all 
3110the sailors for the moment desist from hoisting in the 
3111goods, to mark the stranger's evil eye. Jonah sees this ; 
3112but in vain he tries to look ah 1 ease and confidence ; in 
3113vain essays his wretched smile. Strong intuitions of the 
3114man assure the mariners he can be no innocent. In their 
3115gamesome but still serious way, one whispers to the other 
3116" Jack, he 's robbed a widow " ; or, " Joe, do you mark 
3117him ; he 's a bigamist " ; or, " Harry, lad, I guess he 's the 
3118adulterer that broke jail in old Gomorrah, or belike, one 
3119of the missing murderers from Sodom." Another runs 
3120to read the bill that 's stuck against the spile upon the 
3121wharf to which the ship is moored, offering five hundred 
3122gold coins for the apprehension of a. parricide, and con- 
3123taining a description of his person. He reads, and looks 
3124from Jonah to the bill ; while all his sympathetic ship- 
3125mates now crowd round Jonah, prepared to lay their 
3126hands upon him. Frighted Jonah trembles, and summon- 
3127ing all his boldness to his face, only looks so much the 
3128more a coward. He will not confess himself suspected ; 
3129but that itself is strong suspicion. So he makes the best 
3130of it ; and when the sailors find him not to be the man that 
3131is advertised, they let him pass, and he descends into the 
3132cabin. 
3133
3134' " Who 's there ? " cries the captain at his busy desk, 
3135hurriedly making out his papers for the Customs "Who 's 
3136there ? " Oh ! how that harmless question mangles 
3137Jonah ! For the instant he almost turns to flee again. 
3138But he rallies. " I seek a passage in this ship to Tarshish ; 
3139how soon sail ye, sir ? " Thus far the busy captain had 
3140
3141
3142
3143THE SERMON 53 
3144
3145not looked up to Jonah, though the man now stands 
3146before him ; but no sooner does he hear that hollow voice, 
3147than he darts a scrutinising glance. " We sail with the 
3148next coming tide," at last he slowly answered, still 
3149intently eyeing him. " No sooner, sir ? " " Soon enough 
3150for any honest man that goes a passenger." Ha ! Jonah, 
3151that 's another stab. But he swiftly calls away the 
3152captain from that scent. " I '11 sail with ye," he says, 
3153" the passage money, how much is that ? I '11 pay 
3154now." For it is particularly written, shipmates, as if it 
3155were a thing not to be overlooked in this history, " that 
3156he paid the fare thereof " ere the craft did sail. And 
3157taken with the context, this is full of meaning. 
3158
3159' Now Jonah's captain, shipmates, was one whose dis- 
3160cernment detects crime in any, but whose cupidity exposes 
3161it only in the penniless. In this world, shipmates, sin 
3162that pays its way can travel freely, and without a pass- 
3163port ; whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all 
3164frontiers. So Jonah's captain prepares to test the length 
3165of Jonah's purse, ere he judge him openly. He charges 
3166him thrice the usual sum ; and it 's assented to. Then 
3167the captain knows that Jonah is a fugitive ; but at the 
3168same time resolves to help a flight that paves its rear with 
3169gold. Yet when Jonah fairly takes out his purse, prudent 
3170suspicions still molest the captain. He rings every coin 
3171to find a counterfeit. Not a forger, anyway, he mutters ; 
3172and Jonah is put down for his passage. " Point out my 
3173state-room, sir," says Jonah now, " I 'm travel- weary ; 
3174I need sleep." "Thou look'st like it," says the captain, 
3175" there 's thy room." Jonah enters, and would lock the 
3176door, but the lock contains no key. Hearing him foolishly 
3177fumbling there, the captain laughs lowly to himself, and 
3178mutters something about the doors of convicts' cells being 
3179never allowed to be locked within. All dressed and dusty 
3180as he is, Jonah throws himself into his berth, and finds 
3181
3182
3183
318454 MOBY-DICK 
3185
3186the little state-room ceiling almost resting on his forehead. 
3187The air is close, and Jonah gasps. Then, in that con- 
3188tracted hole, sunk, too, beneath the ship's water-line, 
3189Jonah feels the heralding presentiment of that stifling 
3190hour, when the whale shall hold him in the smallest of 
3191his bowel's wards. 
3192
3193' Screwed at its axis against the side, a swinging lamp 
3194slightly oscillates in Jonah's room ; and the ship, heeling 
3195over toward the wharf with the weight of the last bales 
3196received, the lamp, flame and all, though in slight motion, 
3197still maintains a permanent obliquity with reference to 
3198the room ; though, in truth, infallibly straight itself, it 
3199but made obvious the false, lying levels among which it 
3200hung. The lamp alarms and frightens Jonah ; as lying 
3201in his berth his tormented eyes roll round the place, and 
3202this thus far successful fugitive finds no refuge for his 
3203restless glance. But that contradiction in the lamp more 
3204and more appals him. The floor, the ceiling, and the 
3205side, are all awry. " Oh ! so my conscience hangs in 
3206me ! " he groans, " straight upward, so it burns ; but the 
3207chambers of my soul are all in crookedness ! " 
3208
3209' Like one who after a night of drunken revelry hies 
3210to his bed, still reeling, but with conscience yet pricking 
3211him, as the plungings of the Roman race -horse but so 
3212much the more strike his steel tags into him ; as one who 
3213in that miserable plight still turns and turns in giddy 
3214anguish, praying God for annihilation until the fit be 
3215passed ; and at last amid the whirl of woe he feels, a deep 
3216stupor steals over him, as over the man who bleeds to 
3217death, for conscience is the wound, and there 's naught 
3218to staunch it ; so, after sore wrestlings in his berth, 
3219Jonah's prodigy of ponderous misery drags him drowning 
3220down to sleep. 
3221
3222c And now the time of tide has come ; the ship casts 
3223off her cables ; and from the deserted wharf the un- 
3224
3225
3226
3227THE SERMON 55 
3228
3229cheered ship for Tarshish, all careening, glides to sea. 
3230That ship, my friends, was the first of recorded smugglers ! 
3231the contraband was Jonah. But the sea rebels ; he will 
3232not bear the wicked burden. A dreadful storm comes on, 
3233the ship is like to break. But now when the boatswain 
3234calls all hands to lighten her ; when boxes, bales, and 
3235jars are clattering overboard ; when the wind is shrieking, 
3236and the men are yelling, and every plank thunders with 
3237trampling feet right over Jonah's head ; in all this raging 
3238tumult, Jonah sleeps his hideous sleep. He sees no black 
3239sky and raging sea, feels not the reeling timbers, and little 
3240hears he or heeds he the far rush of the mighty whale, 
3241which even now with open mouth is cleaving the seas 
3242after him. Ay, shipmates, Jonah was gone down into 
3243the sides of the ship a berth in the cabin as I have taken 
3244it and was fast asleep. But the frightened master comes 
3245to him, and shrieks hi his dead ear, " What meanest thou, 
3246sleeper ! arise ! " Startled from his lethargy by that 
3247direful cry, Jonah staggers to his feet, and stumbling to 
3248the deck, grasps a shroud, to look out upon the sea. But 
3249at that moment he is sprung upon by a panther billow 
3250leaping over the bulwarks. Wave after wave thus leaps 
3251into the ship, and finding no speedy vent runs roaring 
3252fore and aft, till the mariners come nigh to drowning 
3253while yet afloat. And ever, as the white moon shows her 
3254affrighted face from the steep gullies in the blackness 
3255overhead, aghast Jonah sees the rearing bowsprit pointing 
3256high upward, but soon beat downward again toward the 
3257tormented deep. 
3258
3259' Terrors upon terrors run shouting through his soul. 
3260In all his cringing attitudes, the God-fugitive is now too 
3261plainly known. The sailors mark him ; more and more 
3262certain grow their suspicions of him, and at last, fully 
3263to test the truth, by referring the whole matter to high 
3264Heaven, they fall to casting lots, to see for whose cause 
3265
3266
3267
326856 MOBY-DICK 
3269
3270this great tempest was upon them. The lot is Jonah's ; 
3271that discovered, then how furiously they mob him with 
3272their questions. " What is thine occupation ? Whence 
3273comest thou ? Thy country ? What people ? " But 
3274mark now, my shipmates, the behaviour of poor Jonah. 
3275The eager mariners but ask him who he is, and where 
3276from ; whereas, they not only receive an answer to those 
3277questions, but likewise another answer to a question not 
3278put by them, but the unsolicited answer is forced from 
3279Jonah by the hard hand of God that is upon him. 
3280
3281' " I am a Hebrew," he cries and then " I fear the 
3282Lord the God of Heaven who hath made the sea and the 
3283dry land ! " Fear him, O Jonah ? Ay, well mightest 
3284thou fear the Lord God then ! Straightway, he now goes 
3285on to make a full confession ; whereupon the mariners 
3286became more and more appalled, but still are pitiful. 
3287For when Jonah, not yet supplicating God for mercy, 
3288since he but too well knew the darkness of his deserts, 
3289when wretched Jonah cries out to them to take him and 
3290cast him forth into the sea, for he knew that for his sake 
3291this great tempest was upon them ; they mercifully turn 
3292from him, and seek by other means to save the ship. 
3293But all in vain ; the indignant gale howls louder ; then, 
3294with one hand raised invokingly to God, with the other 
3295they not unreluctantly lay hold of Jonah. 
3296
3297' And now behold Jonah taken up as an anchor and 
3298dropped into the sea ; when instantly an oily calmness 
3299floats out from the east, and the sea is still, as Jonah 
3300carries down the gale with him, leaving smooth water 
3301behind. He goes down in the whirling heart of such a 
3302masterless commotion that he scarce heeds the moment 
3303when he drops seething into the yawning jaws awaiting 
3304him ; and the whale shoots-to all his ivory teeth, like so 
3305many white bolts, upon his prison. Then Jonah prayed 
3306unto the Lord out of the fish's belly. But observe his 
3307
3308
3309
3310THE SERMON 57 
3311
3312prayer, and learn a weighty lesson. For sinful as he is, 
3313Jonah does not weep and wail for direct deliverance. 
3314He feels that his dreadful punishment is just. He leaves 
3315all his deliverance to God, contenting himself with this, 
3316that spite of all his pains and pangs, he will still look 
3317toward His holy temple. And here, shipmates, is true 
3318and faithful repentance ; not clamorous for pardon, but 
3319grateful for punishment. And how pleasing to God was 
3320this conduct in Jonah, is shown in the eventual deliver- 
3321ance of him from the sea and the whale. Shipmates, I 
3322do not place Jonah before you to be copied for his sin, 
3323but I do place him before you as a model for repentance. 
3324Sin not ; but if you do, take heed to repent of it like Jonah. ' 
3325
3326While he was speaking these words, the howling of the 
3327shrieking, slanting storm without seemed to add new 
3328power to the preacher, who, when describing Jonah's sea- 
3329storm, seemed tossed by a storm himself. His deep chest 
3330heaved as with a ground-swell ; his tossed arms seemed 
3331the warring elements at work ; and the thunders that 
3332rolled away from off his swarthy brow, and the light 
3333leaping from his eye, made all his simple hearers look on 
3334him with a quick fear that was strange to them. 
3335
3336There now came a lull in his look, as he silently turned 
3337over the leaves of the Book once more ; and, at last, 
3338standing motionless, with closed eyes, for the moment, 
3339seemed communing with God and himself. 
3340
3341But again he leaned over toward the people, and 
3342bowing his head lowly, with an aspect of the deepest 
3343yet manliest humility, he spake these words : 
3344
3345c Shipmates, God has laid but one hand upon you ; 
3346both his hands press upon me. I have read ye by what 
3347murky light may be mine the lesson that Jonah teaches 
3348to all sinners ; and therefore to ye, and still more to me, 
3349for I am a greater sinner than ye. And now how gladly 
3350would I come down from this mast-head and sit on the 
3351
3352
3353
335458 MOBY-DICK 
3355
3356hatches there where you sit, and listen as you listen, 
3357while some one of you reads me that other and more 
3358awful lesson which Jonah teaches to me, as a pilot of the 
3359living God. How being an anointed pilot -prophet, or 
3360speaker of true things, and bidden by the Lord to sound 
3361those unwelcome truths in the ears of a wicked Nineveh, 
3362Jonah, appalled at the hostility he should raise, fled from 
3363his mission, and sought to escape his duty and his God by 
3364taking ship at Joppa. But God is everywhere ; Tarshish 
3365he never reached. As we have seen, God came upon him 
3366in the whale, and swallowed him down to living gulfs 
3367of doom, and with swift slantings tore him along " into 
3368the midst of the seas," where the eddying depths sucked 
3369him ten thousand fathoms down, and " the weeds were 
3370wrapped about his head," and all the watery world of woe 
3371bowled over him. Yet even then beyond the reach of any 
3372plummet " out of the belly of hell " when the whale 
3373grounded upon the ocean's utmost bones, even then, God 
3374heard the engulphed, repenting prophet when he cried. 
3375Then God spake unto the fish ; and from the shuddering 
3376cold and blackness of the sea, the whale came breaching 
3377up toward the warm and pleasant sun, and all the delights 
3378of air and earth ; and " vomited out Jonah upon the dry 
3379land " ; when the word of the Lord came a second time ; 
3380and Jonah, bruised and beaten his ears, like two sea- 
3381shells, still multitudinously murmuring of the ocean 
3382Jonah did the Almighty's bidding. And what was that, 
3383shipmates ? To preach the Truth to the face of False- 
3384hood ! That was it ! 
3385
3386' This, shipmates, this is that other lesson ; and we 
3387to that pilot of the living God who slights it. Woe to 
3388him whom this world charms from Gospel duty ! Woe 
3389to him who seeks to pour oil upon the waters when God 
3390has brewed them into a gale ! Woe to him who seeks 
3391to please rather than to appal ! Woe to him whose good 
3392
3393
3394
3395THE SERMON 59 
3396
3397name is more to him than goodness ! Woe to him who, 
3398in this world, courts not dishonour ! Woe to him who 
3399would not be true, even though to be false were salva- 
3400tion ! Yea, woe to him who, as the great Pilot Paul has 
3401it, while preaching to others is himself a castaway ! ' 
3402
3403He drooped and fell away from himself for a moment ; 
3404then lifting his face to them again, showed a deep joy 
3405in his eyes, as he cried out with a heavenly enthusiasm, 
3406' But oh ! shipmates ! on the starboard hand of every 
3407woe, there is a sure delight ; and higher the top of that 
3408delight, than the bottom of the woe is deep. Is not the 
3409main-truck higher than the kelson is low ? Delight is to 
3410him a far, far upward, and inward delight who against 
3411the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands 
3412forth his own inexorable self. Delight is to him whose 
3413strong arms yet support him, when the ship of this base 
3414treacherous world has gone down beneath him. Delight 
3415is to him, who gives no quarter in the truth, and kills, 
3416burns, and destroys all sin though he pluck it out from 
3417under the robes of Senators and Judges. Delight, top- 
3418gallant delight is to him, who acknowledges no law or 
3419lord, but the Lord his God, and is only a patriot to heaven. 
3420Delight is to him, whom all the waves of the billows of 
3421the seas of the boisterous mob can never shake from this 
3422sure Keel of the Ages. And eternal delight and delicious- 
3423ness will be his, who coming to lay him down, can say with 
3424his final breath Father ! chiefly known to me by 
3425Thy rod mortal or immortal, here I die. I have striven 
3426to be Thine, more than to be this world's, or mine own. 
3427Yet this is nothing ; I leave eternity to Thee ; for what 
3428is man that he should live out the lifetime of his God 1 ' 
3429
3430He said no more, but slowly waving a benediction, 
3431covered his face with his hands, and so remained kneeling, 
3432till all the people had departed, and he was left alone in 
3433the place. 
3434
3435
3436
3437CHAPTER X 
3438
3439A BOSOM FRIEND 
3440
3441RETURNING to the Spouter-Inn from the Chapel, I found 
3442Queequeg there quite alone ; he having left the Chapel 
3443before the benediction some time. He was sitting on a 
3444bench before the fire, with his feet on the stove hearth, 
3445and in one hand was holding close up to his face that 
3446little negro idol of his ; peering hard into its face, and 
3447with a jack-knife gently whittling away at its nose, 
3448meanwhile humming to himself in his heathenish way. 
3449
3450But being now interrupted, he put up the image ; and 
3451pretty soon, going to the table, took up a large book there, 
3452and placing it on his lap began counting the pages with 
3453deliberate regularity ; at every fiftieth page as I fancied 
3454stopping a moment, looking vacantly around him, 
3455and giving utterance to a long-drawn gurgling whistle 
3456of astonishment. He would then begin again at the next 
3457fifty ; seeming to commence at number one each time, 
3458as though he could not count more than fifty, and it 
3459was only by such a large number of fifties being found 
3460together, that his astonishment at the multitude of pages 
3461was excited. 
3462
3463With much interest I sat watching him. Savage 
3464though he was, and hideously marred about the face 
3465at least to my taste his countenance yet had a something 
3466in it which was by no means disagreeable. You cannot 
3467hide the soul. Through all his unearthly tattooings, I 
3468thought I saw the traces of a simple honest heart ; and 
3469in his large, deep eyes, fiery black and bold, there seemed 
3470
347160 
3472
3473
3474
3475A BOSOM FRIEND 61 
3476
3477tokens of a spirit that would dare a thousand devils. 
3478And besides all this, there was a certain lofty bearing 
3479about the pagan, which even his uncouthness could not 
3480altogether maim. He looked like a man who had never 
3481cringed and never had had a creditor. Whether it was, 
3482too, that his head being shaved, his forehead was drawn 
3483out in freer and brighter relief, and looked more expansive 
3484than it otherwise would, this I will not venture to decide ; 
3485but certain it was his head was phrenologically an ex- 
3486cellent one. It may seem ridiculous, but it reminded me 
3487of General Washington's head, as seen in the popular 
3488busts of him. It had the same long regularly graded 
3489retreating slope from above the brows, which were like- 
3490wise very projecting, like two long promontories thickly 
3491wooded on top. Queequeg was George Washington 
3492cannibalistically developed. 
3493
3494Whilst I was thus closely scanning him, half pretending 
3495meanwhile to be looking out at the storm from the case- 
3496ment, he never heeded my presence, never troubled him- 
3497self with so much as a single glance ; but appeared wholly 
3498occupied with counting the pages of the marvellous book. 
3499Considering how sociably we had been sleeping together 
3500the night previous, and especially considering the affection- 
3501ate arm I had found thrown over me upon waking in the 
3502morning, I thought this indifference of his very strange. 
3503But savages are strange beings ; at times you do not 
3504know exactly how to take them. At first they are over- 
3505awing ; their calm self-collectedness of simplicity seems 
3506a Socratic wisdom. I had noticed also that Queequeg 
3507never consorted at all, or but very little, with the other 
3508seamen in the inn. He made no advances whatever ; 
3509appeared to have no desire to enlarge the circle of his 
3510acquaintances. All this struck me as mighty singular ; 
3511yet, upon second thoughts, there was something almost 
3512sublime in it. Here was a man some twenty thousand 
3513
3514
3515
3516I 
3517
3518
3519
352062 MOBY-DICK 
3521
3522miles from home, by the way of Cape Horn, that is 
3523which was the only way he could get there thrown 
3524among people as strange to him as though he were in the 
3525planet Jupiter ; and yet he seemed entirely at his ease ; 
3526preserving the utmost serenity ; content with his own 
3527companionship ; always equal to himself. Surely this 
3528was a touch of fine philosophy ; though no doubt he had 
3529never heard there was such a thing as that. But, per- 
3530haps, to be true philosophers, we mortals should not 
3531be conscious of so living or so striving. So soon as I 
3532hear that such or such a man gives himself out for a 
3533philosopher, I conclude that, like the dyspeptic old woman, 
3534he must have ' broken his digester.' 
3535
3536As I sat there in that now lonely room ; the fire burn- 
3537ing low, in that mild stage when, after its first intensity 
3538has warmed the air, it then only glows to be looked at ; 
3539the evening shades and phantoms gathering round the 
3540casements, and peering in upon us silent, solitary twain ; 
3541the storm booming without in solemn swells ; I began to 
3542be sensible of strange feelings. I felt a melting in me. 
3543No more my splintered heart and maddened hand were 
3544turned against the wolfish world. This soothing savage 
3545had redeemed it. There he sat, his very indifference 
3546speaking a nature in which there lurked no civilised 
3547hypocrisies and bland deceits. Wild he was ; a very 
3548sight of sights to see ; yet I began to feel myself mysteri- 
3549ously drawn toward him. And those same things that 
3550would have repelled most others, they were the very 
3551magnets that thus drew me. 1 11 try a pagan friend, 
3552thought I, since Christian kindness has proved but hollow 
3553courtesy. I drew my bench near him, and made some 
3554friendly signs and hints, doing my best to talk with him 
3555meanwhile. At first he little noticed these advances ; 
3556but presently, upon my referring to his last night's 
3557hospitalities, he made out to ask me whether we were 
3558
3559
3560
3561A BOSOM FRIEND 
3562
3563
3564
356563 
3566
3567
3568
3569again to be bedfellows. I told him yes ; whereat I 
3570thought he looked pleased, perhaps a little complimented. 
3571
3572We then turned over the book together, and I en- 
3573deavoured to explain to him the purpose of the printing, 
3574and the meaning of the few pictures that were in it. Thus 
3575I soon engaged his interest ; and from that we went to 
3576jabbering the best we could about the various outer sights 
3577to be seen in this famous town. Soon I proposed a social 
3578smoke ; and, producing his pouch and tomahawk, he 
3579quietly offered me a puff. And then we sat exchanging 
3580puffs from that wild pipe of his, and keeping it regularly 
3581passing between us. 
3582
3583If there yet lurked any ice of indifference toward me 
3584in the pagan's breast, this pleasant, genial smoke we had 
3585soon thawed it out, and left us cronies. He seemed to 
3586take to me quite as naturally and unbiddenly as I to him ; 
3587and when our smoke was over, he pressed his forehead 
3588against mine, clasped me round the waist, and said that 
3589henceforth we were married ; meaning, in his country's 
3590phrase, that we were bosom friends ; he would gladly 
3591die for me, if need should be. In a countryman this 
3592sudden flame of friendship would have seemed far too 
3593premature, a thing to be much distrusted ; but in this 
3594simple savage those old rules would not apply. 
3595
3596After supper, and another social chat and smoke, we 
3597went to our room together. He made me a present of 
3598his embalmed head ; took out his enormous tobacco 
3599wallet, and groping under the tobacco, drew out some 
3600thirty dollars in silver ; then spreading them on the 
3601table, and mechanically dividing them into two equal 
3602portions, pushed one of them toward me, and said it was 
3603mine. I was going to remonstrate ; but he silenced me 
3604by pouring them into my trowsers' pockets. I let them 
3605stay. He then went about his evening prayers, took 
3606out his idol, and removed the paper fire-board. By 
3607
3608
3609
361064 MOBY-DICK 
3611
3612certain signs and symptoms, I thought he seemed anxious 
3613for me to join him ; but well knowing what was to follow, 
3614I deliberated a moment whether, in case he invited me, 
3615I would comply or otherwise. 
3616
3617I was a good Christian ; born and bred in the bosom 
3618of the infallible Presbyterian Church. How then could 
3619I unite with this wild idolater in worshipping his piece of 
3620wood ? But what is worship ? thought I. Do you 
3621suppose now, Ishmael, that the magnanimous God of 
3622heaven and earth pagans and all included can possibly 
3623be jealous of an insignificant bit of black wood ? Im- 
3624possible ! But what is worship ? to do the will of 
3625God ? that is worship. And what is the will of God ? 
3626to do to my fellow-man what I would have my fellow-man 
3627to do to me that is the will of God. Now, Queequeg is 
3628my fellow- man. And what do I wish that this Queequeg 
3629would do to me ? Why, unite with me in my particular 
3630Presbyterian form of worship. Consequently, I must 
3631then unite with him in his ; ergo, I must turn idolater. 
3632So I kindled the shavings ; helped prop up the innocent 
3633little idol ; offered him burnt biscuit with Queequeg ; 
3634salaamed before him twice or thrice ; kissed his nose ; 
3635and that done, we undressed and went to bed, at peace 
3636with our own consciences and all the world. But we 
3637did not go to sleep without some little chat. 
3638
3639How it is I know not ; but there is no place like a bed 
3640for confidential disclosures between friends. Man and 
3641wife, they say, there open the very bottom of their souls 
3642to each other ; and some old couples often lie and chat 
3643over old times till nearly morning. Thus, then, in our 
3644hearts' honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg a cosy, loving 
3645pair. 
3646
3647
3648
3649CHAPTER XI 
3650
3651NIGHTGOWN 
3652
3653WE had lain thus in bed, chatting and napping at short 
3654intervals, and Queequeg now and then affectionately 
3655throwing his brown tattooed legs over mine, and then 
3656drawing them back ; so entirely sociable and free and easy 
3657were we ; when, at last, by reason of our confabulations, 
3658what little nappishness remained in us altogether departed, 
3659and we felt like getting up again, though day-break was 
3660yet some way down the future. 
3661
3662Yes, we became very wakeful ; so much so that our 
3663recumbent position began to grow wearisome, and by 
3664little and little we found ourselves sitting up ; the clothes 
3665well tucked around us, leaning against the head-board 
3666with our four knees drawn up close together, and our two 
3667noses bending over them, as if our knee-pans were warm- 
3668ing-pans. We felt very nice and snug, the more so since 
3669it was so chilly out of doors ; indeed out of bed-clothes 
3670too, seeing that there was no fire in the room. The more 
3671so, I say, because truly to enjoy bodily warmth, some 
3672small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality 
3673in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. 
3674Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you 
3675are all over comfortable, and have been so a long time, 
3676then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more. 
3677But if, like Queequeg and me in the bed, the tip of your 
3678nose or the crown of your head be slightly chilled, why 
3679then, indeed, in the general consciousness you feel most 
3680delightfully and unmistakably warm. For this reason 
3681
3682VOL. i. E 
3683
3684
3685
368666 MOBY-DICK 
3687
3688a sleeping apartment should never be furnished with a 
3689fire, which is one of the luxurious discomforts of the rich. 
3690For the height of this sort of deliciousness is to have 
3691nothing but the blanket between you and your snugness 
3692and the cold of the outer air. Then there you lie 
3693like the one warm spark in the heart of an arctic 
3694crystal. 
3695
3696We had been sitting in this crouching manner for some 
3697time, when all at once I thought I would open my eyes ; 
3698for when between sheets, whether by day or by night, 
3699and whether asleep or awake, I have a way of always 
3700keeping my eyes shut, in order the more to concentrate 
3701the snugness of being in bed. Because no man can ever 
3702feel his own identity aright except his eyes be closed ; as 
3703if darkness were indeed the proper element of our essences, 
3704though light be more congenial to our clayey part. Upon 
3705opening my eyes then, and coming out of my own pleasant 
3706and self-created darkness into the imposed and coarse 
3707outer gloom of the unilluminated twelve-o'clock-at-night, 
3708I experienced a disagreeable revulsion. Nor did I at all 
3709object to the hint from Queequeg that perhaps it were best 
3710to strike a light, seeing that we were so wide awake ; and 
3711besides he felt a strong desire to have a few quiet puffs 
3712from his tomahawk. Be it said, that though I had felt 
3713such a strong repugnance to his smoking in the bed the 
3714night before, yet see how elastic our stiff prejudices grow 
3715when love once comes to bend them. For now I liked 
3716nothing better than to have Queequeg smoking by me, 
3717even in bed, because he seemed to be full of such serene 
3718household joy then. I no more felt unduly concerned 
3719for the landlord's policy of insurance. I was only alive 
3720to the condensed confidential comfortableness of sharing 
3721a pipe and a blanket with a real friend. With our shaggy 
3722jackets drawn about our shoulders, we now passed the 
3723tomahawk from one to the other, till slowly there grew 
3724
3725
3726
3727NIGHTGOWN 67 
3728
3729over us a blue hanging tester of smoke, illuminated by 
3730the flame of the new-lit lamp. 
3731
3732Whether it was that this undulating tester rolled the 
3733savage away to far distant scenes, I know not, but he now 
3734spoke of his native island ; and, eager to hear his history, 
3735I begged him to go on and tell it. He gladly complied. 
3736Though at the time I but ill comprehended not a few of 
3737his words, yet subsequent disclosures, when I had become 
3738more familiar with his broken phraseology, now enable 
3739me to present the whole story such as it may prove in 
3740the mere skeleton I give. 
3741
3742
3743
3744CHAPTER XII 
3745
3746BIOGRAPHICAL 
3747
3748QUEEQUEG was a native of Rokovoko, an island far away 
3749to the west and south. It is not down in any map ; true 
3750places never are. 
3751
3752When a new-hatched savage running wild about his 
3753native woodlands in a grass clout, followed by the nib- 
3754bling goats, as if he were a green sapling ; even then, in 
3755Queequeg's ambitious soul, lurked a strong desire to see 
3756something more of Christendom than a specimen whaler 
3757or two. His father was a High Chief, a King ; his uncle 
3758a High Priest ; and on the maternal side he boasted aunts 
3759who were the wives of unconquerable warriors. There 
3760was excellent blood in his veins royal stuff ; though 
3761sadly vitiated, I fear, by the cannibal propensity he 
3762nourished in his untutored youth. 
3763
3764A Sag Harbour ship visited his father's bay, and Quee- 
3765queg sought a passage to Christian lands. But the ship, 
3766having her full complement of seamen, spurned his suit ; 
3767and not all the King his father's influence could prevail. 
3768But Queequeg vowed a vow. Alone in his canoe, he 
3769paddled off to a distant strait, which he knew the ship 
3770must pass through when she quitted the island. On one 
3771side was a coral reef ; on the other a low tongue of land, 
3772covered with mangrove thickets that grew out into the 
3773water. Hiding his canoe, still afloat, among these thickets, 
3774with its prow seaward, he sat down in the stern, paddle 
3775low in hand ; and when the ship was gliding by, like a 
3776flash he darted out ; gained her side ; with one backward 
3777
377868 
3779
3780
3781
3782BIOGRAPHICAL 69 
3783
3784dash of his foot capsized and sank his canoe ; climbed 
3785up the chains ; and throwing himself at full length upon 
3786the deck, grappled a ring-bolt there, and swore not to let 
3787it go, though hacked in pieces. 
3788
3789In vain the captain threatened to throw him overboard ; 
3790suspended a cutlass over his naked wrists ; Queequeg was 
3791the son of a King, and Queequeg budged not. Struck 
3792by his desperate dauntlessness, and his wild desire to visit 
3793Christendom, the captain at last relented, and told him 
3794he might make himself at home. But this fine young 
3795savage this sea Prince of Wales never saw the captain's 
3796cabin. They put him down among the sailors, and made 
3797a whaleman of him. But like Czar Peter content to toil 
3798in the shipyards of foreign cities, Queequeg disdained no 
3799seeming ignominy, if thereby he might happily gain the 
3800power of enlightening his untutored countrymen. For at 
3801bottom so he told me he was actuated by a profound 
3802desire to learn among the Christians, the arts whereby 
3803to make his people still happier than they were ; and more 
3804than that, still better than they were. But, alas ! the 
3805\ practices of whalemen soon convinced him that even 
3806j Christians could be both miserable and wicked ; infinitely 
3807more so, than all his father's heathens. Arrived at last 
3808in old Sag Harbour ; and seeing what the sailors did 
3809there ; and then going on to Nantucket, and seeing how 
3810they spent their wages in that place also, poor Queequeg 
3811gave it up for lost. Thought he, it 5 s a wicked world 
3812in all meridians ; 1 11 die a pagan. 
3813
3814And thus an old idolater at heart, he yet lived among 
3815these Christians, wore their clothes, and tried to talk their 
3816gibberish. Hence the queer ways about him, though 
3817now some time from home. 
3818
3819By hints, I asked him whether he did not propose going 
3820back, and having a coronation ; since he might now 
3821consider his father dead and gone, he being very old and 
3822
3823
3824
382570 MOBY-DICK 
3826
3827feeble at the last accounts. He answered no, not yet ; 
3828and added that he was fearful Christianity, or rather 
3829Christians, had unfitted him for ascending the pure and 
3830undefiled throne of thirty pagan kings before him. But 
3831by and by, he said, he would return, as soon as he felt 
3832himself baptized again. For the nonce, however, he 
3833proposed to sail about, and sow his wild oats in all four 
3834oceans. They had made a harpooneer of him, and that 
3835barbed iron was in lieu of a sceptre now. 
3836
3837I asked him what might be his immediate purpose, 
3838touching his future movements. He answered, to go to 
3839sea again, in his old vocation. Upon this, I told him that 
3840whaling was my own design, and informed him of my 
3841intention to sail out of Nantucket, as being the most 
3842promising port for an adventurous whaleman to embark 
3843from. He at once resolved to accompany me to that 
3844island, ship aboard the same vessel, get into the same 
3845watch, the same boat, the same mess with me, in short 
3846to share my every hap ; with both my hands in his, boldly 
3847dip into the Potluck of both worlds. To all this I joy- 
3848ously assented ; for besides the affection I now felt for 
3849Queequeg, he was an experienced harpooneer, and as such, 
3850could not fail to be of great usefulness to one who, like me, 
3851was wholly ignorant of the mysteries of whaling, though 
3852well acquainted with the sea as known to merchant 
3853seamen. 
3854
3855His story being ended with his pipe's last dying puff, 
3856Queequeg embraced me, pressed his forehead against 
3857mine, and blowing out the light, we rolled over from each 
3858other, this way and that, and very soon were sleeping. 
3859
3860
3861
3862CHAPTER XIII 
3863
3864WHEELBARROW 
3865
3866NEXT morning, Monday, after disposing of the embalmed 
3867head to a barber, for a block, I settled my own and com- 
3868rade's bill ; using, however, my comrade's money. The 
3869grinning landlord, as well as the boarders, seemed amaz- 
3870ingly tickled at the sudden friendship which had sprung 
3871up between me and Queequeg especially as Peter Coffin's 
3872cock-and-bull stories about him had previously so much 
3873alarmed me concerning the very person whom I now 
3874companied with. 
3875
3876We borrowed a wheelbarrow, and embarking our 
3877things, including my own poor carpet-bag, and Quee- 
3878queg 's canvas sack and hammock, away we went down to 
3879the Moss, the little Nantucket packet schooner moored 
3880at the wharf. As we were going along the people stared ; 
3881not at Queequeg so much for they were used to seeing 
3882cannibals like him in their streets, but at seeing him 
3883and me upon such confidential terms. But we heeded 
3884them not, going along wheeling the barrow by turns, 
3885and Queequeg now and then stopping to adjust the sheath 
3886on his harpoon barbs. I asked him why he carried such 
3887a troublesome thing with him ashore, and whether all 
3888whaling-ships did not find their own harpoons. To this, 
3889in substance, he replied, that though what I hinted was 
3890true enough, yet he had a particular affection for his own 
3891harpoon, because it was of assured stuff, well tried in 
3892many a mortal combat, and deeply intimate with the 
3893hearts of whales. In short, like many inland reapers and 
3894
389571 
3896
3897
3898
389972 MOBY-DICK 
3900
3901mowers, who go into the farmer's meadows armed with 
3902their own scythes though in no wise obliged to furnish 
3903them even so, Queequeg, for his own private reasons, 
3904preferred his own harpoon. 
3905
3906Shifting the barrow from my hand to his, he told me 
3907a funny story about the first wheelbarrow he had ever 
3908seen. It was in Sag Harbour. The owners of his ship, 
3909it seems, had lent him one, in which to carry his heavy 
3910chest to his boarding-house. Not to seem ignorant about 
3911the thing though in truth he was entirely so, concerning 
3912the precise way in which to manage the barrow Quee- 
3913queg puts his chest upon it ; lashes it fast ; and then 
3914shoulders the barrow and marches up the wharf. ' Why/ 
3915said I, ' Queequeg, you might have known better than 
3916that, one would think. Didn't the people laugh ? ' 
3917
3918Upon this, he told me another story. The people 
3919of his island of Rokovoko, it seems, at their wedding 
3920feasts express the fragrant water of young cocoa-nuts into 
3921a large stained calabash like a punch -bowl ; and this 
3922punch -bowl always forms the great central ornament on 
3923the braided mat where the feast is held. Now a certain 
3924grand merchant ship once touched at Rokovoko, and its 
3925commander from all accounts a very stately punctilious 
3926gentleman, at least for a sea-captain this commander 
3927was invited to the wedding feast of Queequeg 's sister, a 
3928pretty young princess just turned of ten. Well ; when all 
3929the wedding guests were assembled at the bride's bamboo 
3930cottage, this captain marches in, and being assigned the 
3931post of honour, placed himself over against the punch- 
3932bowl, and between the High Priest and his majesty the 
3933King, Queequeg 's father. Grace being said, for those 
3934people have their grace as well as we though Queequeg 
3935told me that unlike us, who at such times look downward 
3936to our platters, they, on the contrary, copying the ducks, 
3937glance upward to the great Giver of all feasts Grace, 
3938
3939
3940
3941WHEELBARROW 73 
3942
3943I say, being said, the High Priest opens the banquet by 
3944the immemorial ceremony of the island ; that is, dipping 
3945his consecrated and consecrating fingers into the bowl 
3946before the blessed - beverage circulates. Seeing himself 
3947placed next the Priest, and noting the ceremony, and 
3948thinking himself being captain of a ship as having 
3949plain precedence over a mere island King, especially in 
3950the King's own house the captain coolly proceeds to 
3951wash his hands in the punch-bowl ; taking it, I suppose, 
3952for a huge finger-glass. ' Now/ said Queequeg, ' what 
3953you tink now ? Didn't our people laugh ? ' 
3954
3955At last, passage paid, and luggage safe, we stood on 
3956board the schooner. Hoisting sail, it glided down the 
3957Acushnet river. On one side, New Bedford rose in 
3958terraces of streets, their ice -covered trees all glittering 
3959in the clear, cold air. Huge hills and mountains of casks 
3960on casks were piled upon her wharves, and side by side 
3961the world-wandering whale-ships lay silent and safely 
3962moored at last ; while from others came a sound of 
3963carpenters and coopers, with blended noises of fires and 
3964forges to melt the pitch, all betokening that new cruises 
3965were on the start ; that one most perilous and long 
3966voyage ended, only begins a second ; and a second ended, 
3967only begins a third, and so on, forever and for aye. 
3968Such is the endlessness, yea, the intolerableness of all 
3969earthly effort. 
3970
3971Gaining the more open water, the bracing breeze 
3972waxed fresh ; the little Moss tossed the quick foam from 
3973her bows, as a young colt his snortings. How I snuffed 
3974that Tartar air ! how I spurned that turnpike earth ! 
3975that common highway all over dented with the marks 
3976of slavish heels and hoofs ; and turned me to admire the 
3977magnanimity of the sea which will permit no records. 
3978
3979At the same foam-fountain, Queequeg seemed to drink 
3980and reel with me. His dusky nostrils swelled apart ; he 
3981
3982
3983
398474 MOBY-DICK 
3985
3986showed his filed and pointed teeth. On, on we flew ; and 
3987our offing gained, the Moss did homage to the blast ; 
3988ducked and dived her brows as a slave before the Sultan. 
3989Sideways leaning, we sideways darted ; every rope-yarn 
3990tingling like a wire ; the two tall masts buckling like 
3991Indian canes in land tornadoes. So full of this reeling 
3992scene were we, as we stood by the plunging bowsprit, 
3993that for some time we did not notice the jeering glances 
3994of the passengers, a lubber-like assembly, who marvelled 
3995that two fellow-beings should be so companionable ; as 
3996though a white man were anything more dignified than 
3997a whitewashed negro. But there were some boobies 
3998and bumpkins there, who, by their intense greenness, 
3999must have come from the heart and centre of all verdure. 
4000Queequeg caught one of these young saplings mimicking 
4001him behind his back. I thought the bumpkin's hour of 
4002doom was come. Dropping his harpoon, the brawny 
4003savage caught him in his arms, and by an almost miracu- 
4004lous dexterity and strength, sent him high up bodily into 
4005the air ; then slightly tapping his stern in mid-somerset, 
4006the fellow landed with bursting lungs upon his feet, while 
4007Queequeg, turning his back upon him, lighted his toma- 
4008hawk-pipe and passed it to me for a puff. 
4009
4010' Capting ! capting ! ' yelled the bumpkin, running 
4011toward that officer ; ' Capting, capting, here 's the 
4012devil.' 
4013
4014' Halloa, you sir/ cried the captain, a gaunt rib of the 
4015sea, stalking up to Queequeg, ' what in thunder do you 
4016mean by that ? Don't you know you might have killed 
4017that chap ? ' 
4018
4019' What him say ? ' said Queequeg, as he mildly turned 
4020to me. 
4021
4022' He say,' said I, ' that you came near kill-e that man 
4023there,' pointing to the still shivering greenhorn. 
4024
4025' Kill-e/ cried Queequeg, twisting his tattooed face 
4026
4027
4028
4029WHEELBARROW 75 
4030
4031into an unearthly expression of disdain, ' ah ! him bevy 
4032small-e fish-e ; Queequeg no-kill-e so small-e fish-e ; 
4033Queequeg Idll-e big whale ! ' 
4034
4035' Look you/ roared the captain, ' I '11 kill-e you, you 
4036cannibal, if you try any more of your tricks aboard here ; 
4037so mind your eye.' 
4038
4039But it so happened just then, that it was high time for 
4040the captain to mind his own eye. The prodigious strain 
4041upon the mainsail had parted the weather-sheet, and the 
4042tremendous boom was now flying from side to side, com- 
4043pletely sweeping the entire after part of the deck. The 
4044poor fellow whom Queequeg had handled so roughly, 
4045was swept overboard ; all hands were in a panic ; and to 
4046attempt snatching at the boom to stay it, seemed madness. 
4047It flew from right to left, and back again, almost in one 
4048ticking of a watch, and every instant seemed on the point 
4049of snapping into splinters. Nothing was done, and noth- 
4050ing seemed capable of being done ; those on deck rushed 
4051toward the bows, and stood eyeing the boom as if it were 
4052the lower jaw of an exasperated whale. In the midst of 
4053this consternation, Queequeg dropped deftly to his knees, 
4054and crawling under the path of the boom, whipped hold 
4055of a rope, secured one end to the bulwarks, and then 
4056flinging the other like a lasso, caught it round the boom 
4057as it swept over his head, and at the next jerk, the spar 
4058was that way trapped, and all was safe. The schooner 
4059was run into the wind, and while the hands were clearing 
4060away the stern boat, Queequeg, stripped to the waist, 
4061darted from the side with a long living arc of a leap. For 
4062three minutes or more he was seen swimming like a dog, 
4063throwing his long arms straight out before him, and by 
4064turns revealing his brawny shoulders through the freezing 
4065foam. I looked at the grand and glorious fellow, but saw 
4066no one to be saved. The greenhorn had gone down. 
4067Shooting himself perpendicularly from the water, Quee- 
4068
4069
4070
407176 MOBY-DICK 
4072
4073queg now took an instant's glance around him, and seem- 
4074ing to see just how matters were, dived down and dis- 
4075appeared. A few minutes more, and he rose again, one 
4076arm still striking out, and with the other dragging a life- 
4077less form. The boat soon picked them up. The poor 
4078bumpkin was restored. All hands voted Queequeg a 
4079noble trump ; the captain begged his pardon. From 
4080that hour I clove to Queequeg like a barnacle ; yea, till 
4081poor Queequeg took his last long dive. 
4082
4083Was there ever such unconsciousness ? He did not 
4084seem to think that he at all deserved a medal from the 
4085Humane and Magnanimous Societies. He only asked for 
4086water fresh water something to wipe the brine off ; 
4087that done, he put on dry clothes, lighted his pipe, and 
4088leaning against the bulwarks, and mildly eyeing those 
4089around him, seemed to be saying to himself ' It 's a 
4090mutual, joint-stock world, in all meridians. We canni- 
4091bals must help these Christians. 5 
4092
4093
4094
4095CHAPTER XIV 
4096
4097
4098
4099NANTUCKET 
4100
4101NOTHING more happened on the passage worthy the 
4102mentioning ; so, after a fine run, we safely arrived in 
4103Nantucket. 
4104
4105Nantucket ! Take out your map and look at it. 
4106See what a real corner of the world it occupies ; how it 
4107stands there, away off shore, more lonely than the Eddy- 
4108stone lighthouse. Look at it a mere hillock, and elbow 
4109of sand ; all beach, without a background. There is 
4110more sand there than you would use in twenty years as a 
4111substitute for blotting-paper. Some gamesome wights 
4112will tell you that they have to plant weeds there, they 
4113don't grow naturally ; that they import Canada thistles ; 
4114that they have to send beyond seas for a spile to stop a 
4115leak in an oil-cask ; that pieces of wood in Nantucket 
4116are carried about like bits of the true cross in Rome ; 
4117that people there plant toadstools before their houses, 
4118to get under the shade in summer time ; that one blade 
4119of grass makes an oasis, three blades in a day's walk a 
4120prairie ; that they wear quicksand shoes, something like 
4121Laplander snow-shoes ; that they are so shut up, belted 
4122about, every way enclosed, surrounded, and made an 
4123utter island of by the ocean, that to their very chairs and 
4124tables small clams will sometimes be found adhering, as 
4125to the backs of sea-turtles. But these extravaganzas 
4126only show that Nantucket is no Illinois. 
4127
4128Look now at the wondrous traditional story of how this 
4129island was settled by the red men. Thus goes the legend. 
4130
413177 
4132
4133
4134
413578 MOBY-DICK 
4136
4137In olden times an eagle swooped down upon the New 
4138England coast, and carried off an infant Indian in his 
4139talons. With loud lament the parents saw their child 
4140borne out of sight over the wide waters. They resolved 
4141to follow in the same direction. Setting out in their 
4142canoes, after a perilous passage they discovered the 
4143island, and there they found an empty ivory casket, 
4144the poor little Indian's skeleton. 
4145
4146What wonder, then, that these Nantucketers, born on 
4147a beach, should take to the sea for a livelihood ! They 
4148first caught crabs and quohogs in the sand ; grown 
4149bolder, they waded out with nets for mackerel ; more 
4150experienced, they pushed off in boats and captured cod ; 
4151and at last, launching a navy of great ships on the sea, 
4152explored this watery world ; put an incessant belt of cir- 
4153cumnavigations round it ; peeped in at Behring Straits ; 
4154and in all seasons and all oceans declared everlasting war 
4155with the mightiest animated mass that has survived the 
4156Flood ; most monstrous and most mountainous ! That 
4157Himalayan, salt-sea mastodon, clothed with such por- 
4158tentousness of unconscious power, that his very panics 
4159are more to be dreaded than his most fearless and malicious 
4160assaults ! 
4161
4162And thus have these naked Nantucketers, these sea- 
4163hermits, issuing from their ant-hill in the sea, overrun 
4164and conquered the watery world like so many Alexanders ; 
4165parcelling out among them the Atlantic, Pacific, and 
4166Indian oceans, as the three pirate powers did Poland. Let 
4167America add Mexico to Texas, and pile Cuba upon Canada ; 
4168let the English over swarm all India, and hang out their 
4169blazing banner from the sun; two-thirds of this terr- 
4170aqueous globe are the Nantucketer's. For the sea is his ; 
4171he owns it, as Emperors own empires ; other seamen 
4172having but a right of way through it. Merchant ships 
4173are but extension bridges ; armed ones but floating forts ; 
4174
4175
4176
4177NANTUCKET 79 
4178
4179even pirates and privateers, though following the sea as 
4180highwaymen the road, they but plunder other ships, other 
4181fragments of the land like themselves, without seeking to 
4182draw their living from the bottomless deep itself. The 
4183Nantucketer, he alone resides and riots on the sea ; he 
4184alone, in Bible language, goes down to it in ships ; to and 
4185fro ploughing it as his own special plantation. There is 
4186his home ; there lies his business, which a Noah's flood 
4187would not interrupt, though it overwhelmed all the 
4188millions in China. He lives on the sea, as prairie cocks 
4189in the prairie ; he hides among the waves, he climbs 
4190them as chamois hunters climb the Alps. For years he 
4191knows not the land ; so that when he comes to it at last, 
4192it smells like another world, more strangely than the 
4193moon would to an Earthsman. With the landless gull, 
4194that at sunset folds her wings and is rocked to sleep 
4195between billows ; so, at nightfall, the Nantucketer, out 
4196of sight of land, furls his sails, and lays him to his rest, 
4197while under his very pillow rush herds of walruses and 
4198whales. 
4199
4200
4201
4202CHAPTER XV 
4203
4204CHOWDER 
4205
4206IT was quite late in the evening when the little Moss came 
4207snugly to anchor, and Queequeg and I went ashore ; so 
4208we could attend to no business that day, at least none 
4209but a supper and a bed. The landlord of the Spouter- 
4210Inn had recommended us to his cousin Hosea Hussey 
4211of the Try Pots, whom he asserted to be the proprietor 
4212of one of the best kept hotels in all Nantucket, and more- 
4213over he had assured us that Cousin Hosea, as he called 
4214him, was famous for his chowders. In short, he plainly 
4215hinted that we could not possibly do better than try pot- 
4216luck at the Try Pots. But the directions he had given 
4217us about keeping a yellow warehouse on our starboard 
4218hand till we opened a white church to the larboard, and 
4219then keeping that on the larboard hand till we made a 
4220corner three points to the starboard, and that done, 
4221then ask the first man we met where the place was : these 
4222crooked directions of his very much puzzled us at first, 
4223especially as, at the outset, Queequeg insisted that the 
4224yellow warehouse our first point of departure must be 
4225left on the larboard hand, whereas I had understood 
4226Peter Coffin to say it was on the starboard. However, 
4227by dint of beating about a little in the dark, and now and 
4228then knocking up a peaceable inhabitant to inquire the 
4229way, we at last came to something which there was no 
4230mistaking. 
4231
4232Two enormous wooden pots painted black, and sus- 
4233pended by asses' ears, swung from the cross-trees of an 
4234
423580 
4236
4237
4238
4239
4240
4241
4242CHOWDER 81 
4243
4244old topmast, planted in front of an old doorway. The 
4245horns of the cross-trees were sawed off on the other side, 
4246so that this old topmast looked not a little like a gallows. 
4247Perhaps I was over-sensitive to such impressions at the 
4248time, but I could not help staring at this gallows with a 
4249vague misgiving. A sort of crick was in my neck as I 
4250gazed up to the two remaining horns ; yes, two of them, 
4251one for Queequeg, and one for me. It 's ominous, thinks 
4252I. A Coffin my Innkeeper upon landing in my first 
4253whaling port ; tombstones staring at me in the whale- 
4254man's chapel ; and here a gallows ! and a pair of pro- 
4255digious black pots too ! Are these last throwing out 
4256oblique hints touching Tophet ? 
4257
4258I was called from these reflections by the sight of a 
4259freckled woman with yellow hair and a yellow gown, 
4260standing in the porch of the inn, under a dull red lamp 
4261swinging there, that looked much like an injured eye, 
4262and carrying on a brisk scolding with a man in a purple 
4263woollen shirt. 
4264
42651 Get along with ye, 5 said she to the man, ' or I '11 be 
4266combing ye ! ' 
4267
42684 Come on, Queequeg,' said I, 'all right. There's 
4269Mrs. Hussey.' 
4270
4271And so it turned out ; Mr. Hosea Hussey being from 
4272home, but leaving Mrs. Hussey entirely competent to 
4273attend to all his affairs. Upon making known our de- 
4274sires for a supper and a bed, Mrs. Hussey, postponing 
4275further scolding for the present, ushered us into a little 
4276room, and seating us at a table spread with the relics 
4277of a recently concluded repast, turned round to us and 
4278said, ' Clam or cod ? ' 
4279
4280' What 's that about cods, ma'am ? ' said I, with much 
4281politeness. 
4282
42834 Clam or cod ? ' she repeated. 
4284
4285' A clam for supper ? a cold clam ; is that what you 
4286
4287VOL. I. F 
4288
4289
4290
429182 MOBY-DICK 
4292
4293mean, Mrs. Hussey ? ' says I ; ' but that 's a rather cold 
4294and clammy reception in the winter time, ain't it, Mrs. 
4295Hussey ? ' 
4296
4297But being in a great hurry to resume scolding the 
4298man in the purple shirt, who was waiting for it in 
4299the entry, and seeming to hear nothing but the word 
4300' clam, 5 Mrs. Hussey hurried toward an open door 
4301leading to the kitchen, and bawling out ' clam for two, ' 
4302disappeared. 
4303
4304' Queequeg,' said I, ' do you think that we can make out 
4305a supper for us both on one clam ? ' 
4306
4307However, a warm savoury steam from the kitchen 
4308served to belie the apparently cheerless prospect before 
4309us. But when that smoking chowder came in, the 
4310mystery was delightfully explained. Oh, sweet friends ! 
4311hearken to me. It was made of small juicy clams, 
4312scarcely bigger than hazel nuts, mixed with pounded ship- 
4313biscuit, and salted pork cut up into little flakes ; the 
4314whole enriched with butter, and plentifully seasoned with 
4315pepper and salt. Our appetites being sharpened by the 
4316frosty voyage, and in particular, Queequeg seeing his 
4317favourite fishing food before him, and the chowder being 
4318surpassingly excellent, we dispatched it with great 
4319expedition : when leaning back a moment and bethink- 
4320ing me of Mrs. Hussey's clam and cod announcement, 
4321I thought I would try a little experiment. Stepping 
4322to the kitchen door, I uttered the word ' cod ' with great 
4323emphasis, and resumed my seat. In a few moments the 
4324savoury steam came forth again, but with a different 
4325flavour, and in good time a fine cod-chowder was placed 
4326before us. 
4327
4328We resumed business ; and while plying our spoons 
4329in the bowl, thinks I to myself, I wonder now if this here 
4330has any effect on the head ? What 's that stultifying 
4331saying about chowder-headed people ? ' But look, 
4332
4333
4334
4335CHOWDER 83 
4336
4337Queequeg, ain't that a live eel in your bowl ? Where 's 
4338your harpoon ? ' 
4339
4340Fishiest of all fishy places was the Try Pots; which well 
4341deserved its name ; for the pots there were always boiling 
4342chowders. Chowder for breakfast, and chowder for 
4343dinner, and chowder for supper, till you began to look for 
4344fish-bones coming through your clothes. The area before 
4345the house was paved with clam-shells. Mrs. Hussey wore 
4346a polished necklace of codfish vertebra ; and Hosea 
4347Hussey had his account-books bound in superior old 
4348shark-skin. There was a fishy flavour to the milk, too, 
4349which I could not at all account for, till one morning 
4350happening to take a stroll along the beach among some 
4351fishermen's boats, I saw Hosea 's brindled cow feeding 
4352on fish remnants, and marching along the sand with each 
4353foot in a cod's decapitated head, looking very slipshod, 
4354I assure ye. 
4355
4356Supper concluded, we received a lamp, and directions 
4357from Mrs. Hussey concerning the nearest way to bed ; 
4358but, as Queequeg was about to precede me up the stairs, 
4359the lady reached forth her arm, and demanded his har- 
4360poon ; she allowed no harpoon in her chambers. ' Why 
4361not ? J said I ; ' every true whaleman sleeps with his 
4362harpoon but why not ? ' ' Because it 's dangerous, 5 
4363says she. ' Ever since young Stiggs coming from that 
4364unfort'nt v'y'ge of his, when he was gone four years and 
4365a half, with only three barrels of ile, was found dead in 
4366my first floor back, with his harpoon in his side ; ever 
4367since then I allow no boarders to take sich dangerous 
4368weepons in their rooms at night. So, Mr. Queequeg ' 
4369(for she had learned his name), ' I will just take this 
4370here iron, and keep it for you till morning. But the 
4371chowder ; clam or cod to-morrow for breakfast, men ? ' 
4372
4373' Both,' says I ; ' and let 's have a couple of smoked 
4374herring by way of variety.' 
4375
4376
4377
4378CHAPTER XVI 
4379
4380THE SHIP 
4381
4382IN bed we concocted our plans for the morrow. But to 
4383my surprise and no small concern, Queequeg now gave 
4384me to understand, that he had been diligently consulting 
4385Yojo the name of his black little god and Yojo had 
4386told him two or three times over, and strongly insisted 
4387upon it everyway, that instead of our going together 
4388among the whaling-fleet in harbour, and in concert 
4389selecting our craft ; instead of this, I say, Yojo earnestly 
4390enjoined that the selection of the ship should rest wholly 
4391with me, inasmuch as Yojo purposed befriending us ; and, 
4392in order to do so, had already pitched upon a vessel, which, 
4393if left to myself, I, Ishmael, should infallibly light upon, 
4394for all the world as though it had turned out by chance ; 
4395and in that vessel I must immediately ship myself, for 
4396the present irrespective of Queequeg. 
4397
4398I have forgotten to mention that, in many things, 
4399Queequeg placed great confidence in the excellence of 
4400Yojo's judgment and surprising forecast of things ; and 
4401cherished Yojo with considerable esteem, as a rather 
4402good sort of god, who perhaps meant well enough upon 
4403the whole, but in all cases did not succeed in his benevolent 
4404designs. 
4405
4406Now, this plan of Queequeg's, or rather Yojo's, touch- 
4407ing the selection of our craft ; I did not like that plan at 
4408all. I had not a little relied upon Queequeg's sagacity 
4409to point out the whaler best fitted to carry us and our 
4410fortunes securely. But as all my remonstrances pro- 
4411
441284 
4413
4414
4415
4416
4417
4418
4419THE SHIP 85 
4420
4421duced no effect upon Queequeg, I was obliged to acquiesce; 
4422and accordingly prepared to set about this business with 
4423a determined rushing sort of energy and vigour, that 
4424should quickly settle that trifling little affair. Next 
4425morning early, leaving Queequeg shut up with Yojo in 
4426our little bedroom for it seemed that it was some sort 
4427of Lent or Ramadan, or day of fasting, humiliation, and 
4428prayer with Queequeg and Yojo that day ; how it was 
4429I never could find out, for, though I applied myself to 
4430it several times, I never could master his liturgies and 
4431XXXIX Articles leaving Queequeg, then, fasting on 
4432his tomahawk-pipe, and Yojo warming himself at his 
4433sacrificial fire of shavings, I sallied out among the shipping. 
4434After much prolonged sauntering and many random 
4435inquiries, I learnt that there were three ships up for 
4436three-years' voyages the Devil-Dam, the Tit-bit, and 
4437the Pequod. Devil-Dam, I do not know the origin of ; 
4438Tit-bit is obvious ; Pequod, you will no doubt remember, 
4439was the name of a celebrated tribe of Massachusetts 
4440Indians, now extinct as the ancient Medes. I peered and 
4441pryed about the Devil-Dam ; from her, hopped over to 
4442the Tit-bit ; and, finally, going on board the Pequod, 
4443looked around her for a moment, and then decided that 
4444this was the very ship for us. 
4445
4446You may have seen many a quaint craft in your day, 
4447for aught I know ; square-toed luggers ; mountainous 
4448Japanese junks ; butter-box galliots, and what not ; but 
4449take my word for it, you never saw such a rare old craft 
4450as this same rare old Pequod. She was a ship of the old 
4451school, rather small if anything ; with an old-fashioned 
4452claw-footed look about her. Long seasoned and weather- 
4453stained in the typhoons and calms of all four oceans, her 
4454old hull's complexion was darkened like a French grena- 
4455dier's, who has alike fought in Egypt and Siberia. Her 
4456venerable bows looked bearded. Her masts cut some- 
4457
4458
4459
446086 MOBY-DICK 
4461
4462where on the coast of Japan, where her original ones were 
4463lost overboard in a gale her masts stood stiffly up like 
4464the spines of the three old kings of Cologne. Her ancient 
4465decks were worn and wrinkled, like the pilgrim-worshipped 
4466flag-stone in Canterbury Cathedral where Becket bled. 
4467But to all these her old antiquities were added new and 
4468marvellous features, pertaining to the wild business that 
4469for more than half a century she had followed. Old 
4470Captain Peleg, many years her chief mate, before he com- 
4471manded another vessel of his own, and now a retired 
4472seaman, and one of the principal owners of the Pequod, 
4473this old Peleg, during the term of his chief mateship, had 
4474built upon her original grotesqueness, and inlaid it, all 
4475over, with a quaintness both of material and device, un- 
4476matched by anything except it be Thorkill-Hake's carved 
4477buckler or bedstead. She was apparelled like any bar- 
4478baric Ethiopian emperor, his neck heavy with pendants 
4479of polished ivory. She was a thing of trophies. A canni- 
4480bal of a craft, tricking herself forth in the chased bones 
4481of her enemies. All round, her unpanelled, open bul- 
4482warks were garnished like one continuous jaw, with the 
4483long sharp teeth of the sperm whale, inserted there for 
4484pins, to fasten her old hempen thews and tendons to. 
4485Those thews ran not through base blocks of land-wood, 
4486but deftly travelled over sheaves of sea -ivory. Scorning 
4487a turnstile wheel at her reverend helm, she sported there 
4488a tiller ; and that tiller was in one mass, curiously carved 
4489from the long narrow lower jaw of her hereditary foe. 
4490The helmsman who steered by that tiller in a tempest, 
4491felt like the Tartar, when he holds back his fiery steed 
4492by clutching its jaw. A noble craft, but somehow a most 
4493melancholy ! All noble things are touched with that. 
4494
4495Now when I looked about the quarter-deck, for some 
4496one having authority, in order to propose myself as a 
4497candidate for the voyage, at first I saw nobody ; but I 
4498
4499
4500
4501THE SHIP 87 
4502
4503could not well overlook a strange sort of tent, or rather 
4504wigwam, pitched a little behind the mainmast. It 
4505seemed only a temporary erection used in port. It was 
4506of a conical shape, some ten feet high ; consisting of the 
4507long, huge slabs of limber black bone taken from the 
4508middle and highest part of the jaws of the right whale. 
4509Planted with their broad ends on the deck, a circle of these 
4510slabs laced together, mutually sloped toward each other, 
4511and at the apex united in a tufted point, where the loose 
4512hairy fibres waved to and fro like the top-knot on some 
4513old Pottowottamie sachem's head. A triangular opening 
4514faced toward the bows of the ship, so that the insider 
4515commanded a complete view forward. 
4516
4517And half concealed in this queer tenement, I at length 
4518found one who by his aspect seemed to have authority ; 
4519and who, it being noon, and the ship's work suspended, 
4520was now enjoying respite from the burden of command. 
4521He was seated on an old-fashioned oaken chair, wriggling 
4522all over with curious carving ; and the bottom of which 
4523was formed of a stout interlacing of the same elastic stuff 
4524of which the wigwam was constructed. 
4525
4526There was nothing so very particular, perhaps, about 
4527the appearance of the elderly man I saw ; he was brown 
4528and brawny, like most old seamen, and heavily rolled up 
4529in blue pilot-cloth, cut in the Quaker style ; only there 
4530was a fine and almost microscopic network of the minutest 
4531wrinkles interlacing round his eyes, which must have 
4532arisen from his continual sailings in many hard gales, and 
4533always looking to windward ; for this causes the muscles 
4534about the eyes to become pursed together. Such eye- 
4535wrinkles are very effectual in a scowl. 
4536
4537' Is this the captain of the Pequod ? ' said I, advancing 
4538to the door of the tent. 
4539
4540' Supposing it be the captain of the Pequod, what 
4541dost thou want of him ? ' he demanded. 
4542
4543
4544
454588 MOBY-DICK 
4546
4547' I was thinking of shipping.' 
4548
4549' Thou wast, wast thou ? I see thou art no Nan- 
4550tucketer ever been in a stove boat ? ' 
4551
4552' No, sir, I never have.' 
4553
4554' Dost know nothing at all about whaling, I dare say 
4555eh? ' 
4556
4557' Nothing, sir ; but I have no doubt I shall soon learn. 
4558I 've been several voyages in the merchant service, and 
4559I think that 
4560
4561' Marchant service be damned. Talk not that lingo 
4562to me. Dost see that leg ? I '11 take that leg away from 
4563thy stern, if ever thou talkest of the marchant service to 
4564me again. Marchant service indeed ! I suppose now 
4565ye feel considerable proud of having served in those 
4566marchant ships. But flukes ! man, what makes thee 
4567want to go a-whaling, eh ? it looks a little suspicious, 
4568don't it, eh ? Hast not been a pirate, hast thou ? 
4569Didst not rob thy last captain, didst thou ? Dost not 
4570think of murdering the officers when thou gettest to sea ? ' 
4571
4572I protested my innocence of these things. I saw that 
4573under the mask of these half-humorous innuendoes, this 
4574old seaman, as an insulated Quakerish Nantucketer, was 
4575full of his insular prejudices, and rather distrustful of all 
4576aliens, unless they hailed from Cape Cod or the Vineyard. 
4577
4578' But what takes thee a-whaling ? I want to know that 
4579before I think of shipping ye.' 
4580
45814 Well, sir, I want to see what whaling is. I want to 
4582see the world/ 
4583
4584' Want to see what whaling is, eh ? Have ye clapped 
4585eye on Captain Ahab ? ' 
4586
4587' Who is Captain Ahab, sir ? ' 
4588
45894 Ay, ay, I thought so. Captain Ahab is the captain 
4590of this ship.' 
4591
4592' I am mistaken then. I thought I was speaking to 
4593the captain himself.' 
4594
4595
4596
4597THE SHIP 89 
4598
4599' Thou art speaking to Captain Peleg that 's who ye 
4600are speaking to, young man. It belongs to me and 
4601Captain Bildad to see the Pequod fitted out for the voyage, 
4602and supplied with all her needs, including crew. We are 
4603part owners and agents. But as I was going to say, if 
4604thou wantest to know what whaling is, as thou tellest ye 
4605do, I can put ye in a way of finding it out before ye bind 
4606yourself to it, past backing out. Clap eye on Captain 
4607Ahab, young man, and thou wilt finxl that he has only 
4608one leg.' 
4609
4610' What do you mean, sir ? Was the other one lost by 
4611a whale ? ' 
4612
4613' Lost by a whale ! Young man, come nearer to me : 
4614it was devoured, chewed up, crunched by the mon- 
4615strousest parmacetty that ever chipped a boat ! ah, ah ! ' 
4616
4617I was a little alarmed by his energy, perhaps also a little 
4618touched at the hearty grief in his concluding exclamation, 
4619but said as calmly as I could, ' What you say is no doubt 
4620true enough, sir ; but how could I know there was any 
4621peculiar ferocity in that particular whale, though indeed 
4622I might have inferred as much from the simple fact of 
4623the accident.' 
4624
4625' Look ye now, young man, thy lungs are a sort of soft, 
4626d' ye see ; thou dost not talk shark a bit. Sure, ye 've 
4627been to sea before now ; sure of that ? ' 
4628
4629' Sir,' said I, ' I thought I told you that I had been four 
4630voyages in the merchant ' 
4631
4632' Hard down out of that ! Mind what I said about the 
4633marchant service don't aggravate me I won't have it. 
4634But let us understand each other. I have given thee a 
4635hint about what whaling is ; do ye yet feel inclined for it ? ' 
4636
46374 1 do, sir.' 
4638
4639' Very good. Now, art thou the man to pitch a 
4640harpoon down a live whale's throat, and then jump 
4641after it ? Answer, quick ! ' 
4642
4643
4644
464590 MOBY-DICK 
4646
4647' I am, sir, if it should be positively indispensable to 
4648do so ; not to be got rid of, that is ; which I don't take 
4649to be the fact.' 
4650
46516 Good again. Now then, thou not only wantest to go 
4652a -whaling, to find out by experience what whaling is, 
4653but ye also want to go in order to see the world ? Was 
4654not that what ye said ? I thought so. Well then, just 
4655step forward there, and take a peep over the weather-bow, 
4656and then back to me and tell me what ye see there.' 
4657
4658For a moment I stood a little puzzled by this curious 
4659request, not knowing exactly how to take it, whether 
4660humorously or in earnest. But concentrating all his 
4661crow's feet into one scowl, Captain Peleg started me on 
4662the errand. 
4663
4664Going forward and glancing over the weather -bow, I 
4665perceived that the ship, swinging to her anchor with the 
4666flood-tide, was now obliquely pointing toward the open 
4667ocean. The prospect was unlimited, but exceedingly 
4668monotonous and forbidding ; not the slightest variety 
4669that I could see. 
4670
4671' Well, what 's the report ? ' said Peleg when I came 
4672back ; ' what did ye see ? ' 
4673
46741 Not much,' I replied 'nothing but water ; considerable 
4675horizon though, and there 's a squall coming up, I think.' 
4676
4677' Well, what dost thou think then of seeing the world ? 
4678Do ye wish to go round Cape Horn to see any more of it, 
4679I eh ? Can't ye see the world where you stand ? ' 
4680
4681I was a little staggered, but go a-whaling I must, and 
4682I would ; and the Pequod was as good a ship as any I 
4683
4684(thought the best and all this I now repeated to Peleg. 
4685Seeing me so determined, he expressed his willingness to 
4686ship me. 
4687
4688' And thou mayest as well sign the papers right off, ' he 
4689added ' come along with ye.' And so saying, he led 
4690the way below deck into the cabin. 
4691
4692
4693
4694THE SHIP 91 
4695
4696Seated on the transom was what seemed to me a most 
4697uncommon and surprising figure. It turned out to be 
4698Captain Bildad, who along with Captain Peleg was one 
4699of the largest owners of the vessel ; the other shares, as 
4700is sometimes the case in these ports, being held by a 
4701crowd of old annuitants ; widows, fatherless children, 
4702and chancery wards ; each owning about the value of a 
4703timber head, or a foot of plank, or a nail or two in the ship. 
4704People in Nantucket invest their money in whaling- 
4705vessels, the same way that you do yours in approved 
4706state stocks bringing in good interest. 
4707
4708Now Bildad, like Peleg, and indeed many other Nan- 
4709tucketers, was a Quaker, the island having been originally 
4710settled by that sect ; and to this day its inhabitants in 
4711general retain in an uncommon measure the peculiarities 
4712of the Quaker, only variously and anomalously modified 
4713by things altogether alien and heterogeneous. For some 
4714of these same Quakers are the most sanguinary of all 
4715sailors and whale -hunters. They are fighting Quakers ; 
4716they are Quakers with a vengeance. 
4717
4718So that there are instances among them of men, who, 
4719named with Scripture names a singularly common 
4720fashion on the island and in childhood naturally imbib- 
4721ing the stately dramatic thee and thou of the Quaker 
4722idiom ; still, from the audacious, daring, and boundless 
4723adventure of their subsequent lives, strangely blend with 
4724these unoutgrown peculiarities a thousand bold dashes 
4725of character, not unworthy a Scandinavian sea-king, or a 
4726poetical pagan Roman. And when these things unite 
4727in a man of greatly superior natural force, with a globular 
4728brain and a ponderous heart ; who has also by the still- 
4729ness and seclusion of many long night-watches in the 
4730remotest waters, and beneath constellations never seen 
4731here at the north, been led to think untraditionally and 
4732independently ; receiving all nature's sweet or savage 
4733
4734
4735
473692 MOBY-DICK 
4737
4738impressions fresh from her own virgin voluntary and 
4739confiding breast, and thereby chiefly, but with some help 
4740from accidental advantages, to learn a bold and nervous 
4741lofty language that man makes one in a whole nation's 
4742census a mighty pageant creature, formed for noble 
4743tragedies. Nor will it at all detract from him, dramatic- 
4744ally regarded, if either by birth or other circumstances, he 
4745have what seems a half- wilful over-ruling morbidness at 
4746the bottom of his nature. For all men tragically great 
4747are made so through a certain morbidness. Be sure of 
4748this, young ambition, all mortal greatness is but disease. 
4749But, as yet we have not to do with such an one, but with 
4750quite another ; and still a man, who, if indeed peculiar, 
4751it only results again from another phase of the Quaker, 
4752modified by individual circumstances. 
4753
4754Like Captain Peleg, Captain Bildad was a well-to-do, 
4755retired whaleman. But unlike Captain Peleg who 
4756cared not a rush for what are called serious things, and 
4757indeed deemed those self-same serious things the veriest 
4758of all trifles Captain Bildad had not only been originally 
4759educated according to the strictest sect of Nantucket 
4760Quakerism, but all his subsequent ocean life ; and the sight 
4761of many unclad, lovely island creatures, round the Horn 
4762all that had not moved this native-born Quaker one 
4763single jot, had not so much as altered one angle of his vest. 
4764Still, for all this immutableness, was there some lack of 
4765common consistency about worthy Captain Bildad. 
4766Though refusing, from conscientious scruples, to bear 
4767arms against land invaders, yet himself had illimitably 
4768invaded the Atlantic and Pacific ; and though a sworn 
4769foe to human bloodshed, yet had he in his straight -bodied 
4770coat, spilled tuns upon tuns of leviathan gore. How 
4771now in the contemplative evening of his days, the pious 
4772Bildad reconciled these things in the reminiscence, I do 
4773not know ; but it did not seem to concern him much, 
4774
4775
4776
4777
4778
4779
4780THE SHIP 93 
4781
4782and very probably he had long since come to the sage and 
4783sensible conclusion that a Oman's religion is one thing, 
4784and this practical world quite another. This world pays 
4785dividends. Rising from a little cabin-boy in short clothes 
4786of the drabbest drab, to a harpooneer in a broad shad- 
4787bellied waistcoat ; from that becoming boat-header, 
4788chief mate, and captain, and finally a shipowner ; Bildad, 
4789as I hinted before, had concluded his adventurous career 
4790by wholly retiring from active life at the goodly age of 
4791sixty, and dedicating his remaining days to the quiet 
4792receiving of his well-earned income. 
4793
4794Now Bildad, I am sorry to say, had the reputation of 
4795being an incorrigible old hunks, and in his sea -going days, 
4796a bitter, hard taskmaster. They told me in Nantucket, 
4797though it certainly seems a curious story, that when he 
4798sailed the old Categut whaleman, his crew, upon arriving 
4799home, were mostly all carried ashore to the hospital, 
4800sore exhausted and worn out. For a pious man, especi- v 
4801ally for a Quaker, he was certainly rather hard-hearted, to \ 
4802say the least. He never used to swear, though, at his 
4803men, they said ; but somehow he got an inordinate 
4804quantity of cruel, unmitigated hard work out of them. 
4805When Bildad was a chief mate, to have his drab-coloured 
4806eye intently looking at you, made you feel completely 
4807nervous, till you could clutch something a hammer or a 
4808marling-spike and go to work like mad, at something or 
4809other, never mind what. Indolence and idleness perished 
4810from before him. His own person was the exact embodi- 
4811ment of his utilitarian character. On his long, gaunt 
4812body he carried no spare flesh, no superfluous beard, 
4813his chin having a soft, economical nap to it, like the worn 
4814nap of his broad-brimmed hat. 
4815
4816Such, then, was the person that I saw seated on the 
4817transom when I followed Captain Peleg down into the 
4818cabin. The space between the decks was small ; and 
4819
4820
4821
482294 MOBY-DICK 
4823
4824there, bolt-upright, sat old Bildad, who always sat so, 
4825and never leaned, and this to save his coat-tails. His 
4826broad-brim was placed beside him ; his legs were stiffly 
4827crossed ; his drab vesture was buttoned up to his chin ; 
4828and spectacles on nose, he seemed absorbed in reading 
4829from a ponderous volume. 
4830
4831' Bildad,' cried Captain Peleg, ' at it again, Bildad, eh ? 
4832Ye have been studying those Scriptures, now, for the last 
4833thirty years, to my certain knowledge. How far ye got, 
4834Bildad ? ' 
4835
4836As if long habituated to such profane talk from his old 
4837shipmate, Bildad, without noticing his present irreverence, 
4838quietly looked up, and seeing me, glanced again inquiringly 
4839toward Peleg. 
4840
48414 He says he 's our man, Bildad/ said Peleg, ' he wants 
4842to ship. 5 
4843
4844' Dost thee ? ' said Bildad, in a hollow tone, and turning 
4845round to me. 
4846
4847' I dost/ said I unconsciously, he was so intense a 
4848Quaker. 
4849
4850' What do ye think of him, Bildad ? ' said Peleg. 
4851
4852' He '11 do,' said Bildad, eyeing me, and then went on 
4853spelling away at his book in a mumbling tone quite 
4854audible. 
4855
4856I thought him the queerest old Quaker I ever saw, 
4857especially as Peleg, his friend and old shipmate, seemed 
4858such a blusterer. But I said nothing, only looking round 
4859me sharply. Peleg now threw open a chest, and drawing 
4860forth the ship's articles, placed pen and ink before him, 
4861and seated himself at a little table. I began to think 
4862it was high time to settle with myself at what terms I 
4863would be willing to engage for the voyage. I was already 
4864aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages ; 
4865but all hands, including the captain, received certain 
4866shares of the profits called lays, and that these lays were 
4867
4868
4869
4870THE SHIP 95 
4871
4872proportioned to the degree of importance pertaining to 
4873the respective duties of the ship's company. I was also 
4874aware that being a green-hand at whaling, my own lay 
4875would not be very large ; but considering that I was used 
4876to the sea, could steer a ship, splice a rope, and all that, 
4877I made no doubt that from all I had heard I should be 
4878offered at least the 275th lay that is, the 275th part of 
4879the clear nett proceeds of the voyage, whatever that 
4880might eventually amount to. And though the 275th 
4881lay was what they call a rather long lay, yet it was better 
4882than nothing ; and if we had a lucky voyage, might 
4883pretty nearly pay for the clothing I would wear out on it, 
4884not to speak of my three years' beef and board, for which 
4885I would not have to pay one stiver. 
4886
4887It might be thought that this was a poor way to 
4888accumulate a princely fortune and so it was, a very poor 
4889way indeed. But I am one of those that never take on 
4890about princely fortunes, and am quite content if the world 
4891is ready to board and lodge me, while I am putting up at 
4892this grim sign of the Thunder Cloud. Upon the whole, I 
4893thought that the 275th lay would be about the fair thing, 
4894but would not have been surprised had I been offered 
4895the 200th, considering I was of a broad-shouldered make. 
4896
4897But one thing, nevertheless, that made me a little 
4898distrustful about receiving a generous share of the profits 
4899was this : Ashore, I had heard something of both Captain 
4900Peleg and his unaccountable old crony Bildad ; how that 
4901they being the principal proprietors of the Pequod, there- 
4902fore the other and more inconsiderable and scattered 
4903owners, left nearly the whole management of the ship's 
4904affairs to these two. And I did not know but what the 
4905stingy old Bildad might have a mighty deal to say about 
4906shipping hands, especially as I now found him on board 
4907the Pequod, quite at home there in the cabin, and reading 
4908his Bible as if at his own fireside. Now while Peleg was 
4909
4910
4911
491296 MOBY-DICK 
4913
4914vainly trying to mend a pen with his jack-knife, old Bildad, 
4915to my no small surprise, considering that he was such an 
4916interested party in these proceedings ; Bildad never 
4917heeded us, but went on mumbling to himself out of his 
4918book, ' Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, 
4919where moth ' 
4920
4921' Well, Captain Bildad,' interrupted Peleg, ' what d' ye 
4922say, what lay shall we give this young man ? ' 
4923
4924' Thou knowest best,' was the sepulchral reply, ' the 
4925seven hundred and seventy-seventh wouldn't be too 
4926much, would it ? " where moth and rust do corrupt, 
4927but lay " ' 
4928
4929Lay, indeed, thought I, and such a lay ! the seven 
4930hundred and seventy-seventh ! Well, old Bildad, you 
4931are determined that I, for one, shall not lay up many lays 
4932here below, where moth and rust do corrupt. It was an 
4933exceedingly long lay that, indeed ; and though from the 
4934magnitude of the figure it might at first deceive a lands- 
4935man, yet the slightest consideration will show that though 
4936seven hundred and seventy -seven is a pretty large num- 
4937ber, yet, when you come to make a teenth of it, you will 
4938then see, I say, that the seven hundred and seventy- 
4939seventh part of a farthing is a good deal less than seven 
4940hundred and seventy -seven gold doubloons ; and so I 
4941thought at the time. 
4942
49434 Why, blast your eyes, Bildad,' cried Peleg, ' thou dost 
4944not want to swindle this young man ! he must have more 
4945than that.' 
4946
4947' Seven hundred and seventy -seventh,' again said 
4948Bildad, without lifting his eyes ; and then went on 
4949mumbling ' for where your treasure is, there will your 
4950heart be also.' 
4951
4952' I am going to put him down for the three hundredth,' 
4953said Peleg, ' do ye hear that, Bildad ? The three hundredth 
4954lay, I say.' 
4955
4956
4957
4958
4959
4960
4961THE SHIP 97 
4962
4963Bildad laid down his book, and turning solemnly to- 
4964ward him said, ' Captain Peleg, thou hast a generous 
4965heart ; but thou must consider the duty thou owest to 
4966the other owners of this ship widows and orphans; many 
4967of them and that if we too abundantly reward the 
4968labours of this young man, we may be taking the bread 
4969from those widows and those orphans. The seven 
4970hundred and seventy -seventh lay, Captain Peleg.' 
4971
4972' Thou Bildad ! ' roared Peleg, starting up and clattering 
4973about the cabin. ' Blast ye, Captain Bildad, if I had 
4974followed thy advice in these matters, I would afore now 
4975had a conscience to lug about that would be heavy 
4976enough to founder the largest ship that ever sailed round 
4977Cape Horn.' 
4978
49794 Captain Peleg,' said Bildad steadily, ' thy conscience 
4980may be drawing ten inches of water, or ten fathoms, I 
4981can't tell ; but as thou art still an impenitent man, 
4982Captain Peleg, I greatly fear lest thy conscience be but 
4983a leaky one ; and will in the end sink thee foundering 
4984down to the fiery pit, Captain Peleg.' 
4985
4986' Fiery pit ! fiery pit ! ye insult me, man ; past all 
4987natural bearing, ye insult me. It 's an all-fired outrage 
4988to tell any human creature that he 's bound to hell. 
4989Flukes and flames ! Bildad, say that again to me, and 
4990start my soul-bolts, but I '11 I '11 yes, I '11 swallow a 
4991live goat with all his hair and horns on. Out of the cabin, 
4992ye canting, drab-coloured son of a wooden gun & straight 
4993wake with ye ! ' 
4994
4995As he thundered out this he made a rush at Bildad, but 
4996with a marvellous oblique, sliding celerity, Bildad for 
4997that time eluded him. 
4998
4999Alarmed at this terrible outburst between the two 
5000principal and responsible owners of the ship, and feeling 
5001half a mind to give up all idea of sailing in a vessel so 
5002questionably owned and temporarily commanded, I 
5003
5004VOL. i. G 
5005
5006
5007
500898 MOBY-DICK 
5009
5010stepped aside from the door to give egress to Bildad, who, 
5011I made no doubt, was all eagerness to vanish from before 
5012the awakened wrath of Peleg. But to my astonishment, 
5013he sat down again on the transom very quietly, and seemed 
5014to have not the slightest intention of withdrawing. He 
5015seemed quite used to impenitent Peleg and his ways. As 
5016for Peleg, after letting off his rage as he had, there seemed 
5017no more left in him, and he, too, sat down like a lamb, 
5018though he twitched a little as if still nervously agitated. 
5019' Whew ! ' he whistled at last ' the squall 's gone off to 
5020leeward, I think. Bildad, thou used to be good at 
5021sharpening a lance, mend that pen, will ye. My jack- 
5022knife here needs the grindstone. That 's he ; thank ye, 
5023Bildad. Now then, my young man, Ishmael 's thy name, 
5024didn't ye say ? Well then, down ye go here, Ishmael, 
5025for the three hundredth lay.' 
5026
5027' Captain Peleg,' said I, ' I have a friend with me who 
5028wants to ship too shall I bring him down to-morrow ? ' 
5029
5030' To be sure,' said Peleg. ' Fetch him along, and we '11 
5031look at him.' 
5032
5033' What lay does he want ? ' groaned Bildad, glancing 
5034up from the book in which he had again been burying 
5035himself. 
5036
5037* Oh ! never thee mind about that, Bildad,' said Peleg. 
5038' Has he ever whaled it any ? ' turning to me. 
5039
5040' Killed more whales than I can count, Captain Peleg.' 
5041
5042' Well, bring him along then.' 
5043
5044And, after signing the papers, off I went ; nothing 
5045doubting but that I had done a good morning's work, 
5046and that the Pequod was the identical ship that Yojo 
5047had provided to carry Queequeg and me round the Cape. 
5048
5049But I had not proceeded far, when I began to bethink 
5050me that the captain with whom I was to sail yet remained 
5051unseen by me ; though, indeed, in many cases, a whale- 
5052ship will be completely fitted out, and receive all her crew 
5053
5054
5055
5056
5057
5058
5059THE SHIP 99 
5060
5061on board, ere the captain makes himself visible by arriv- 
5062ing to take command ; for sometimes these voyages are 
5063so prolonged, and the shore intervals at home so exceed- 
5064ingly brief, that if the captain have a family, or any 
5065absorbing concernment of that sort, he does not trouble 
5066himself much about his ship in port, but leaves her to 
5067the owners till all is ready for sea. However, it is always 
5068as well to have a look at him before irrevocably commit- 
5069ting yourself into his hands. Turning back I accosted 
5070Captain Peleg, inquiring where Captain Ahab was to be 
5071found. 
5072
5073* And what dost thou want of Captain Ahab ? It 's 
5074all right enough ; thou art shipped.' 
5075
5076' Yes, but I should like to see him. 3 
5077
5078' But I don't think thou wilt be able to at present. I 
5079don't know exactly what 's the matter with him ; but 
5080he keeps close inside the house ; a sort of sick, and yet he 
5081don't look so. In fact, he ain't sick ; but no, he isn't well 
5082either. Anyhow, young man, he won't always see me, 
5083so I don't suppose he will thee. He 's a queer man, 
5084Captain Ahab so some think but a good one. Oh, 
5085thou 'It like him well enough ; no fear, no fear. He 's a 
5086grand, ungodly, god-like man, Captain Ahab ; doesn't 
5087speak much ; but, when he does speak, then you may well 
5088listen. Mark ye, be forewarned ; Ahab 's above the 
5089common ; Ahab 's been in colleges, as well as 'mong the 
5090cannibals ; been used to deeper wonders than the waves ; 
5091fixed his fiery lance hi mightier, stranger foes than whales. 
5092His lance ! ay, the keenest and the surest that out of 
5093all our isle ! Oh ! he ain't Captain Bildad ; no, and he 
5094ain't Captain Peleg ; he 's Ahab, boy ; and Ahab of old, 
5095thou knowest, was a crowned king ! ' 
5096
5097' And a very vile one. When that wicked king was 
5098slain, the dogs, did they not lick his blood ? ' 
5099
51001 Come hither to me hither, hither,' said Peleg, with 
5101
5102
5103
5104100 MOBY-DICK 
5105
5106a significance in his eye that almost startled me. ' Look 
5107ye, lad ; never say that on board the Pequod. Never say 
5108it anywhere. Captain Ahab did not name himself. 
5109'Twas a foolish, ignorant whim of his crazy, widowed 
5110mother, who died when he was only a twelvemonth old. 
5111And yet the old squaw Tistig, at Gay Head, said that the 
5112name would somehow prove prophetic. And, perhaps, 
5113other fools like her may tell thee the same. I wish to 
5114warn thee. It 's a lie. I know Captain Ahab well ; I 've 
5115sailed with him as mate years ago ; I know what he is a 
5116good man not a pious, good man, like Bildad, but a 
5117swearing good man something like me only there 's a 
5118good deal more of him. Ay, ay, I know that he was 
5119never very jolly ; and I know that on the passage home, 
5120he was a little out of his mind for a spell ; but it was the 
5121sharp shooting pains in his bleeding stump that brought 
5122that about, as anyone might see. I know, too, that ever 
5123since he lost his leg last voyage by that accursed whale, 
5124he ? s been a kind of moody desperate moody, and savage 
5125sometimes ; but that will all pass off. And once for all, 
5126let me tell thee and assure thee, young man, it 's better 
5127to sail with a moody good captain than a laughing bad 
5128one. So good-bye to thee and wrong not Captain 
5129Ahab, because he happens to have a wicked name. Be- 
5130sides, my boy, he has a wife not three voyages wedded 
5131a_ sweet, resigned girl. Think of that ; by that sweet 
5132girl that old man has a child : hold ye then there can be 
5133any utter, hopeless harm in Ahab ? No, no, my lad ; 
5134stricken, blasted, if he be, Ahab has his humanities ! ' 
5135
5136As I walked away, I was full of thoughtfuhiess ; what 
5137had been incidentally revealed to me of Captain Ahab, 
5138filled me with a certain wild vagueness of painfulness 
5139concerning him. And somehow, at the time, I felt a 
5140sympathy and a sorrow for him, but for I don't know 
5141what, ^unless it was the cruel loss of his leg. And yet I 
5142
5143
5144
5145
5146
5147
5148THE SHIP 101 
5149
5150also felt a strange awe of him ; but that sort of awe, 
5151which I cannot at all describe, was not exactly awe ; I 
5152do not know what it was. But I felt it ; and it did not 
5153disincline me toward him ; though I felt impatience 
5154at what seemed like mystery in him, so imperfectly as 
5155he was known to me then. However, my thoughts were 
5156at length carried in other directions, so that for the present 
5157dark Ahab slipped my mind. 
5158
5159
5160
5161CHAPTER XVII 
5162
5163THE RAMADAN 
5164
5165As Queequeg 's Ramadan, or Fasting and Humiliation, 
5166was to continue all day, I did not choose to disturb him 
5167till toward night -fall ; for I cherish the greatest respect 
5168toward everybody's religious obligations, never mind 
5169how comical, and could not find it in my heart to under- 
5170value even a congregation of ants worshipping a toad- 
5171stool ; or those other creatures in certain parts of our 
5172earth, who with a degree of footmanism quite unpre- 
5173cedented in other planets, bow down before the torso 
5174of a deceased landed proprietor merely on account of 
5175the inordinate possessions yet owned and rented in his 
5176name. 
5177
5178I say, we good Presbyterian Christians should be 
5179charitable in these things, and not fancy ourselves so 
5180vastly superior to other mortals, pagans and what not, 
5181because of their half -crazy conceits on these subjects. 
5182There was Queequeg, now, certainly entertaining the most 
5183absurd notions about Yojo and his Ramadan ; but what 
5184of that ? Queequeg thought he knew what he was about, 
5185I suppose ; he seemed to be content ; and there let him 
5186rest. All our arguing with him would not avail ; let him 
5187be, I say : and Heaven have mercy on us all Presby- 
5188terians and pagans alike for we are all somehow dread- 
5189fully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending. 
5190
5191Toward evening, when I felt assured that all his 
5192performances and rituals must be over, I went up to his 
5193room and knocked at the door ; but no answer. I tried 
5194102 
5195
5196
5197
5198i 
5199
5200
5201
5202THE RAMADAN 103 
5203
5204to open it, but it was fastened inside. ' Queequeg,' said I 
5205softly through the keyhole : all silent. ' I say, Quee- 
5206queg ! why don't you speak ? It 's I Ishmael.' But 
5207all remained still as before. I began to grow alarmed. I 
5208had allowed him such abundant time ; I thought he might 
5209have had an apoplectic fit. I looked through the key- 
5210hole ; but the door opening into an odd corner of the 
5211room, the keyhole prospect was but a crooked and sinister 
5212one. I could only see part of the foot-board of the bed 
5213and a line of the wall, but nothing more. I was surprised 
5214to behold resting against the wall the wooden shaft of Quee- 
5215queg 's harpoon, which the landlady the evening previous 
5216had taken from him, before our mounting to the chamber. 
5217That 's strange, thought I ; but at any rate, since the 
5218harpoon stands yonder, and he seldom or never goes 
5219abroad without it, therefore he must be inside here, and 
5220no possible mistake. 
5221
5222' Queequeg ! Queequeg ! ' all still. Something must 
5223have happened. Apoplexy ! I tried to burst open the 
5224door ; but it stubbornly resisted. Running downstairs, 
5225I quickly stated my suspicions to the first person I met 
5226the chambermaid. ' La ! la ! ' she cried, ' I thought 
5227something must be the matter. I went to make the bed 
5228after breakfast, and the door was locked ; and not a 
5229mouse to be heard ; and it 's been just so silent ever since. 
5230But I thought, maybe, you had both gone off and locked 
5231your baggage in for safe keeping. La ! la, ma'am ! 
5232Mistress ! murder ! Mrs. Hussey ! apoplexy ! ' and 
5233with these cries, she ran toward the kitchen, I following. 
5234
5235Mrs. Hussey soon appeared, with a mustard-pot in one 
5236hand and a vinegar-cruet in the other, having just broken 
5237away from the occupation of attending to the castors, 
5238and scolding her little black boy meantime. 
5239
5240' Wood-house ! ' cried I, ' which way to it ? Run, for 
5241God's sake, and fetch something to pry open the door 
5242
5243
5244
5245104 MOBY-DICK 
5246
5247the axe ! the axe ! he 's had a stroke ; depend upon 
5248it ! ' and so saying I was unmethodically rushing up- 
5249stairs again empty-handed, when Mrs. Hussey interposed 
5250the mustard-pot and vinegar-cruet, and the entire castor 
5251of her countenance. 
5252
5253' What J s the matter with you, young man ? ' 
5254
5255' Get the axe ! For God's sake, run for the doctor, 
5256someone, while I pry it open ! ' 
5257
5258' Look here/ said the landlady, quickly putting down 
5259the vinegar-cruet, so as to have one hand free ; ' look 
5260here ; are you talking about prying open any of my 
5261doors ? ' and with that she seized my arm. ' What 's 
5262the matter with you ? What 's the matter with you, 
5263shipmate ? ' 
5264
5265In as calm, but rapid a manner as possible, I gave her 
5266to understand the whole case. Unconsciously clapping 
5267the vinegar-cruet to one side of her nose, she ruminated 
5268for an instant ; then exclaimed 4 No ! I haven't seen it 
5269since I put it there.' Running to a little closet under the 
5270landing of the stairs, she glanced in, and returning, told 
5271me that Queequeg's harpoon was missing. ' He 's killed 
5272himself,' she cried. ' It 's unfort'nate Stiggs done over 
5273again there goes another counterpane God pity his 
5274poor mother ! it will be the ruin of my house. Has 
5275the poor lad a sister ? Where 's that girl ? there, Betty, 
5276go to Snarles the Painter, and tell him to paint me a sign, 
5277with " no suicides permitted here, and no smoking in 
5278the parlour " ; might as well kill both birds at once. 
5279Kill ? The Lord be merciful to his ghost ! What 's 
5280that noise there ? You, young man, avast there ! ' 
5281
5282And running after me, she caught me as I was again 
5283trying to force open the door. 
5284
5285' I won't allow it ; I won't have my premises spoiled. 
5286Go for the locksmith, there 's one about a mile from here. 
5287But avast ! ' putting her hand in her side-pocket, ' here 's 
5288
5289
5290
5291THE RAMADAN 105 
5292
5293a key that '11 fit, I guess ; let 's see.' And with that, she 
5294turned it in the lock ; but, alas ! Queequeg 's supple- 
5295mental bolt remained unwithdrawn within. 
5296
52976 Have to burst it open,' said I, and was running down 
5298the entry a little, for a good start, when the landlady 
5299caught at me, again vowing I should not break down her 
5300premises ; but I tore from her, and with a sudden bodily 
5301rush dashed myself full against the mark. 
5302
5303With a prodigious noise the door flew open, and the 
5304knob slamming against the wall, sent the plaster to the 
5305ceiling ; and there, good heavens ! there sat Queequeg, 
5306altogether cool and self-collected ; right in the middle 
5307of the room ; squatting on his hams, and holding Yojo 
5308on top of his head. He looked neither one way nor the 
5309other way, but sat like a carved image with scarce a sign 
5310of active life. 
5311
5312' Queequeg/ said I, going up to him, ' Queequeg, what 's 
5313the matter with you ? ' 
5314
5315' He hain't been a-sittin* so all day, has he ? ' said the 
5316landlady. 
5317
5318But all we said, not a word could we drag out of him ; 
5319I almost felt like pushing him over, so as to change his 
5320position, for it was almost intolerable, it seemed so pain- 
5321fully and unnaturally constrained ; especially, as in all 
5322probability he had been sitting so for upward of eight or 
5323ten hours, going too without his regular meals. 
5324
5325'Mrs. Hussey,' said I, 'he's alive, at all events; so 
5326leave us, if you please, and I will see to this strange affair 
5327myself.' 
5328
5329Closing the door upon the landlady, I endeavoured to 
5330>revail upon Queequeg to take a chair ; but in vain. 
5331There he sat ; and all he could do for all my polite 
5332arts and blandishments he would not move a peg, nor 
5333say a single word, nor even look at me, nor notice my 
5334presence in any the slightest way. 
5335
5336
5337
5338106 MOBY-DICK 
5339
5340I wonder, thought I, if this can possibly be a part of his 
5341Ramadan ; do they fast on their hams that way in his 
5342native island ? It must be so ; yes, it 's part of his 
5343creed, I suppose ; well, then, let him rest ; he '11 get up 
5344sooner or later, no doubt. It can't last for ever, thank 
5345God, and his Ramadan only comes once a year ; and I 
5346don't believe it 's very punctual then. 
5347
5348I went down to supper. After sitting a long time 
5349listening to the long stories of some sailors who had just 
5350come from a plum-pudding voyage, as they called it (that 
5351is, a short whaling voyage in a schooner or brig, confined 
5352to the north of the Line, in the Atlantic Ocean only) ; after 
5353listening to these plum-puddingers till nearly eleven 
5354o'clock, I went upstairs to go to bed, feeling quite sure 
5355by this time Queequeg must certainly have brought his 
5356Ramadan to a termination. But no ; there he was just 
5357where I had left him ; he had not stirred an inch. I began 
5358to grow vexed with him ; it seemed so downright sense- 
5359less and insane to be sitting there all day and half the 
5360night on his hams in a cold room, holding a piece of wood 
5361on his head. 
5362
5363' For heaven's sake, Queequeg, get up and shake your- 
5364self ; get up and have some supper. You 11 starve ; 
5365you '11 kill yourself, Queequeg.' But not a word did he 
5366reply. 
5367
5368Despairing of him, therefore, I deter mined to go to bed 
5369and to sleep ; and no doubt, before a great while, he 
5370would follow me. But previous to turning in, I took my 
5371heavy bearskin jacket, and threw it over him, as it 
5372promised to be a very cold night ; and he had nothing 
5373but his ordinary round jacket on. For some time, do 
5374all I would, I could not get into the faintest doze. I had 
5375blown out the candle ; and the mere thought of Queequeg 
5376not four feet off sitting there in that uneasy position, 
5377stark alone in the cold and dark ; this made me really 
5378
5379
5380
5381THE RAMADAN 107 
5382
5383wretched. Think of it ; sleeping all night in the same 
5384room with a wide-awake pagan on his hams in this dreary, 
5385unaccountable Ramadan ! 
5386
5387But somehow I dropped off at last, and knew nothing 
5388more till break of day ; when, looking over the bedside, 
5389there squatted Queequeg, as if he had been screwed down 
5390to the floor. But as soon as the first glimpse of sun 
5391entered the window, up he got, with stiff and grating 
5392joints, but with a cheerful look ; limped toward me where 
5393I lay ; pressed his forehead again against mine ; and said 
5394his Ramadan was over. 
5395
5396Now, as I before hinted, I have no objection to any 
5397person's religion, be it what it may, so long as that person 
5398does not kill or insult any other person, because that other 
5399person don't believe it also. But when a man's religion 
5400becomes really frantic ; when it is a positive torment to 
5401him ; and, in fine, makes this earth of ours an uncom- 
5402fortable inn to lodge in ; then I think it high time to take 
5403that individual aside and argue the point with him. 
5404
5405And just so I now did with Queequeg. ' Queequeg,' 
5406said I, ' get into bed now, and lie and listen to me.' I 
5407then went on, beginning with the rise and progress of 
5408the primitive religions, and coming down to the various 
5409religions of the present time, during which time I laboured 
5410to show Queequeg that all these Lents, Ramadans, and 
5411prolonged ham-squattings in cold, cheerless rooms were 
5412stark nonsense ; bad for the health ; useless for the soul ; 
5413opposed, in short, to the obvious laws of hygiene and 
5414common-sense. I told him, too, that he being in other 
5415things such an extremely sensible and sagacious savage, 
5416it pained me, very badly pained me, to see him now so 
5417deplorably foolish about this ridiculous Ramadan of his. 
5418Besides, argued I, fasting makes the body cave in ; hence 
5419the spirit caves in ; and all thoughts born of a fast must 
5420necessarily be half -starved. This is the reason why most 
5421
5422
5423
5424
5425
5426
5427108 MOBY-DICK 
5428
5429dyspeptic religionists cherish such melancholy notions 
5430about their hereafters. In one word, Queequeg, said I, 
5431rather digressively ; hell is an idea first born on an un- 
5432digested apple-dumpling ; and since then perpetuated 
5433through the hereditary dyspepsias nurtured by Bamadans. 
5434
5435I then asked Queequeg whether he himself was ever 
5436troubled with dyspepsia ; expressing the idea very plainly, 
5437so that he could take it in. He said no ; only upon one 
5438memorable occasion. It was after a great feast given 
5439by his father the King, on the gaming of a great battle 
5440wherein fifty of the enemy had been killed by about two 
5441o'clock in the afternoon, and all cooked and eaten that 
5442very evening. 
5443
54444 No more, Queequeg,' said I, shuddering ; 'that will 
5445do ' ; for I knew the inferences without his further hint- 
5446ing them. I had seen a sailor who had visited that very 
5447island, and he told me that it was the custom, when a 
5448great battle had been gained there, to barbecue all the 
5449slain in the yard or garden of the victor ; and then, one 
5450by one, they were placed in great wooden trenchers, and 
5451garnished round like a pilau, with breadfruit and cocoa- 
5452nuts ; and with some parsley in their mouths, were sent 
5453round with the victor's compliments to all his friends, 
5454just as though these presents were so many Christmas 
5455turkeys. 
5456
5457After all, I do not think that my remarks about religion 
5458made much impression upon Queequeg. Because, in 
5459the first place, he somehow seemed dull of hearing on 
5460that important subject, unless considered from his own 
5461point of view ; and, in the second place, he did not more 
5462than one-third understand me, couch my ideas simply as 
5463I would ; and, finally, he no doubt thought he knew a 
5464good deal more about the true religion than I did. He 
5465looked at me with a sort of condescending concern and 
5466compassion, as though he thought it a great pity that such 
5467
5468
5469
5470THE RAMADAN 109 
5471
5472a sensible young man should be so hopelessly lost to 
5473evangelical pagan piety. 
5474
5475At last we rose and dressed ; and Queequeg, taking a 
5476prodigiously hearty breakfast of chowders of all sorts, so 
5477that the landlady should not make much profit by reason 
5478of his Ramadan, we sallied out to board the Pequod, 
5479sauntering along, and picking our teeth with halibut 
5480bones. 
5481
5482
5483
5484CHAPTER XVIII 
5485
5486HIS MARK 
5487
5488As we were walking down the end of the wharf toward 
5489the ship, Queequeg carrying his harpoon, Captain Peleg 
5490in his gruff voice loudly hailed us from his wigwam, saying 
5491he had not suspected my friend was a cannibal, and 
5492furthermore announcing that he let no cannibals on 
5493board that craft, unless they previously produced their 
5494papers. 
5495
5496' What do you mean by that, Captain Peleg ? ' said I, 
5497now jumping on the bulwarks, and leaving my comrade 
5498standing on the wharf. 
5499
5500' I mean,' he replied, ' he must show his papers.' 
5501
5502' Yea,' said Captain Bildad in his hollow voice, sticking 
5503his head from behind Peleg 's, out of the wigwam. ' He 
5504must show that he 's converted. Son of darkness/ he 
5505added, turning to Queequeg, c art thou at present in 
5506communion with any Christian church ? ' 
5507
5508' Why/ said I, ' he 's a member of the First Congrega- 
5509tional Church/ Here be it said, that many tattooed 
5510savages sailing in Nantucket ships at last come to be 
5511converted into the churches. 
5512
5513' First Congregational Church/ cried Bildad, ' what ! 
5514that worships in Deacon Deuteronomy Cole man's meeting- 
5515house ? ' and so saying, taking out his spectacles, he rubbed 
5516them with his great yellow bandana handkerchief, and 
5517putting them on very carefully, came out of the wigwam, 
5518and leaning stiffly over the bulwarks, took a good long 
5519look at Queequeg. 
5520IIP 
5521
5522
5523
5524HIS MARK 111 
5525
5526* How long hath he been a member ? ' he then said, 
5527turning to me ; ' not very long, I rather guess, young 
5528man.' 
5529
55304 No/ said Peleg, ' and he hasn't been baptized right 
5531either, or it would have washed some of that devil's blue 
5532off his face.' 
5533
5534' Do tell, now/ cried Bildad, ' is this Philistine a 
5535regular member of Deacon Deuteronomy's meeting ? 
5536I never saw him going there, and I pass it every Lord's 
5537day.' 
5538
5539' I don't know anything about Deacon Deuteronomy 
5540or his meeting/ said I, ' all I know is, that Queequeg here 
5541is a born member of the First Congregational Church. 
5542He is a deacon himself, Queequeg is.' 
5543
5544' Young man/ said Bildad sternly, ' thou art skylarking 
5545with me explain thyself, thou young Hittite. What 
5546church dost thee mean ? answer me.' 
5547
5548Finding myself thus hard pushed, I replied, ' I mean, sir, 
5549the same ancient Catholic Church to which you and I, 
5550and Captain Peleg there, and Queequeg here, and all of 
5551us, and every mother's son and soul of us belong ; the 
5552great and everlasting First Congregation of this whole 
5553worshipping world ; we all belong to that ; only some of 
5554us cherish some queer crotchets no ways touching the 
5555grand belief ; in that we all join hands/ 
5556
5557' Splice, thou mean'st splice hands/ cried Peleg, draw- 
5558ing nearer. ' Young man, you 'd better ship for a mis- 
5559sionary, instead of a foremast hand ; I never heard a 
5560better sermon. Deacon Deuteronomy why Father 
5561Mapple himself couldn't beat it, and he 's reckoned some- 
5562thing. Come aboard, come aboard ; never mind about 
5563the papers. I say, tell Quohog there what 's that you 
5564call him ? tell Quohog to step along. By the great 
5565anchor, what a harpoon he 's got there ! looks like good 
5566stuff that ; and he handles it about right. I say, Quohog, 
5567
5568
5569
5570112 MOBY-DICK 
5571
5572or whatever your name is, did you ever stand in the head 
5573of a whale-boat ? did you ever strike a fish ? ' 
5574
5575Without saying a word, Queequeg, in his wild sort of 
5576way, jumped upon the bulwarks, from thence into the 
5577bows of one of the whale-boats hanging to the side ; and 
5578then bracing his left knee, and poising his harpoon, cried 
5579out in some such way as this : 
5580
5581' Cap'ain, you see him small drop tar on water dere ? 
5582You see him ? well, spose him one whale eye, well, den ! ' 
5583and taking sharp aim at it, he darted the iron right over 
5584old Bildad's broad brim, clean across the ship's decks, 
5585and struck the glistening tar spot out of sight/ 
5586
5587' Now, 5 said Queequeg, quietly hauling in the line, 
5588* spos-ee him whale-e eye ; why, dad whale dead.' 
5589
5590' Quick, Bildad,' said Peleg to his partner, who, aghast 
5591at the close vicinity of the flying harpoon, had retreated 
5592toward the cabin gangway. ' Quick, I say, you, Bildad, 
5593and get the ship's papers. We must have Hedgehog 
5594there, I mean Quohog, in one of our boats. Look ye, 
5595Quohog, we '11 give ye the ninetieth lay, and that 's 
5596more than ever was given a harpooneer yet out of 
5597Nantucket.' 
5598
5599So down we went into the cabin, and to my great joy 
5600Queequeg was soon enrolled among the same ship's 
5601company to which I myself belonged. 
5602
5603When all preliminaries were over and Peleg had got 
5604everything ready for signing, he turned to me and said, 
5605' I guess, Quohog there don't know how to write, does he ? 
5606I say, Quohog, blast ye ! dost thou sign thy name or 
5607make thy mark ? ' 
5608
5609But at this question, Queequeg, who had twice or 
5610thrice before taken part in similar ceremonies, looked 
5611no ways abashed ; but taking the offered pen, copied 
5612upon the paper, in the proper place, an exact counterpart 
5613of a queer round figure which was tattooed upon his arm ; 
5614
5615
5616
5617HIS MARK 113 
5618
5619so that through Captain Peleg's obstinate mistake touch- 
5620ing his appellative, it stood something like this : 
5621
5622Quohog. 
5623his >J< mark. 
5624
5625Meanwhile Captain Bildad sat earnestly and stead- 
5626fastly eyeing Queequeg, and at last rising solemnly and 
5627fumbling in the huge pockets of his broad-skirted drab 
5628coat, took out a bundle of tracts, and selecting one entitled 
5629' The Latter Day Coming ; or No Time to Lose,' placed 
5630it in Queequeg 's hands, and then grasping them and the 
5631book with both his, looked earnestly into his eyes, and 
5632said, ' Son of darkness, I must do my duty by thee ; I am 
5633part owner of this ship, and feel concerned for the souls of 
5634all its crew ; if thou still clingest to thy pagan ways, which 
5635I sadly fear, I beseech thee, remain not for aye a Belial 
5636bondsman. Spurn the idol Bell, and the hideous dragon ; 
5637turn from the wrath to come ; mind thine eye, I say ; oh ! 
5638goodness gracious ! steer clear of the fiery pit ! ' 
5639
5640Something of the salt sea yet lingered in old Bildad's 
5641language, heterogeneously mixed with Scriptural and 
5642domestic phrases. 
5643
5644' Avast there, avast there, Bildad, avast now spoiling 
5645our harpooneer,' cried Peleg. ' Pious harpooneers never 
5646make good voyagers it takes the shark out of 'em ; no 
5647harpooneer is worth a straw who ain't pretty sharkish. 
5648There was young Nat Swaine, once the bravest boat- 
5649header out of all Nantucket and the Vineyard ; he joined 
5650the meeting, and never came to good. He got so 
5651frightened about his plaguy soul, that he shrinked and 
5652sheered away from whales, for fear of after-claps, in case 
5653he got stove and went to Davy Jones.' 
5654
5655c Peleg ! Peleg ! ' said Bildad, lifting his eyes and hands, 
5656'thou thyself, as I myself, hast seen many a perilous 
5657time ; thou knowest, Peleg, what it is to have the fear of 
5658
5659VOL. I. H 
5660
5661
5662
5663114 MOBY-DICK 
5664
5665death ; how, then, can'st thou prate in this ungodly guise. 
5666Thou beliest thine own heart, Peleg. Tell me, when this 
5667same Pequod here had her three masts overboard in that 
5668typhoon on Japan, that same voyage when thou went 
5669mate with Captain Ahab, didst thou not think of Death 
5670and the Judgment then ? ' 
5671
5672' Hear him, hear him now, ' cried Peleg, marching across 
5673the cabin, and thrusting his hands far down into his 
5674pockets, ' hear him, all of ye. Think of that ! When 
5675every moment we thought the ship would sink ! Death 
5676and the Judgment then ? What ? With all three masts 
5677making such an everlasting thundering against the side ; 
5678and every sea breaking over us, fore and aft. Think of 
5679Death and the Judgment then ? No ! no time to think 
5680about Death then. Life was what Captain Ahab and I 
5681was thinking of ; and how to save all hands how to rig 
5682jury-masts how to get into the nearest port ; that was 
5683what I was thinking of. } 
5684
5685Bildad said no more, but buttoning up his coat, stalked 
5686on deck, where we followed him. There he stood, very 
5687quietly overlooking some sail-makers who were mending 
5688a topsail in the waist. Now and then he stooped to pick 
5689up a patch, or save an end of the tarred twine, which 
5690otherwise might have been wasted. 
5691
5692
5693
5694
5695CHAPTER XIX 
5696
5697THE PEOPHET 
5698
5699' SHIPMATES, have ye shipped in that ship ? ' 
5700
5701Queequeg and I had just left the Pequod, and were 
5702sauntering away from the water, for the moment each 
5703occupied with his own thoughts, when the above words 
5704were put to us by a stranger, who, pausing before us, 
5705levelled his massive forefinger at the vessel in question. 
5706He was but shabbily apparelled in faded jacket and 
5707patched trowsers ; a rag of a black handkerchief investing 
5708his neck. A confluent small-pox had in all directions 
5709flowed over his face, and left it like the complicated ribbed 
5710bed of a torrent, when the rushing waters have been 
5711dried up. 
5712
57134 Have ye shipped in her ? ' he repeated. 
5714
57154 You mean the ship Pequod, I suppose,' said I, trying 
5716to gain a little more time for an uninterrupted look at him. 
5717
5718' Ay, the Pequod that ship there/ he said, drawing 
5719back his whole arm, and then rapidly shoving it straight 
5720out from him, with the fixed bayonet of his pointed 
5721finger darted full at the object. 
5722
5723' Yes,' said I, ' we have just signed the articles.' 
5724
5725' Anything down there about your souls ? ' 
5726
5727' About what ? ' 
5728
5729' Oh, perhaps you hav'n't got any,' he said quickly. 
5730No matter though, I know many chaps that hav'n't got 
5731
5732ly, good luck to 'em ; and they are all the better off for 
5733it. A soul 's a sort of a fifth wheel to a wagon.' 
5734
5735' What are you jabbering about, shipmate ? ' said I. 
5736
5737115 
5738
5739! 
5740
5741
5742
5743116 MOBY-DICK 
5744
5745' He 's got enough, though, to make up for all de- 
5746ficiencies of that sort in other chaps,' abruptly said the 
5747stranger, placing a nervous emphasis upon the word he. 
5748
5749' Queequeg,' said I, ' let 's go ; this fellow has broken 
5750loose from somewhere ; he 's talking about something 
5751and somebody we don't know.' 
5752
5753' Stop ! ' cried the stranger. ' Ye said true ye 
5754hav'n't seen Old Thunder yet, have ye ? ' 
5755
5756' Who 's Old Thunder ? ' said I, again riveted with the 
5757insane earnestness of his manner. 
5758
5759' Captain Ahab.' 
5760
5761' What ! the captain of our ship, the Pequod ? ' 
5762
5763' Ay, among some of us old sailor chaps, he goes by 
5764that name. Ye hav'n't seen him yet, have ye ? ' 
5765
5766' No, we hav'n't. He 's sick, they say, but is getting 
5767better, and will be all right again before long.' 
5768
57694 All right again before long ! ' laughed the stranger, 
5770with a solemnly derisive sort of laugh. ' Look ye ; when 
5771Captain Ahab is all right, then this left arm of mine will 
5772be all right ; not before.' 
5773
5774i What do you know about him ? ' 
5775
5776' What did they tell you about him ? Say that ! ' 
5777
5778' They didn't tell much of anything about him ; only 
5779I 've heard that he 's a good whale -hunter, and a good 
5780captain to his crew.' 
5781
5782' That 's true, that 's true yes, both true enough. 
5783But you must jump when he gives an order. Step and 
5784growl ; growl and go that 's the word with Captain 
5785Ahab. But nothing about that thing that happened to 
5786him off Cape Horn, long ago, when he lay like dead for 
5787three days and nights ; nothing about that deadly scrim- 
5788mage with the Spaniard afore the altar in Santa ? heard 
5789nothing about that, eh ? Nothing about the silver cala- 
5790bash he spat into ? And nothing about his losing his 
5791leg last voyage, according to the prophecy. Didn't ye 
5792
5793
5794
5795THE PROPHET 117 
5796
5797hear a word about them matters and something more, eh ? 
5798No, I don't think ye did ; how could ye ? Who knows 
5799it ? Not all Nantucket, I guess. But hows'ever, may- 
5800hap, ye Ve heard tell about the leg, and how he lost it ; 
5801ay> ye have heard of that, I dare say. Oh yes, that 
5802every one knows a 'most I mean they know he 's only 
5803one leg ; and that a parmacetti took the other off.' 
5804
58054 My friend/ said I, ' what all this gibberish of yours is 
5806about, I don't know, and I don't much care ; for it seems 
5807to me that you must be a little damaged in the head. 
5808But if you are speaking of Captain Ahab of that ship there, 
5809the Pequod, then let me tell you, that I know all about 
5810the loss of his leg.' 
5811
5812' All about it, eh sure you do ? all ? ' 
5813
5814* Pretty sure.' 
5815
5816With finger pointed and eye levelled at the Pequod, the 
5817beggar-like stranger stood a moment, as if in a troubled 
5818re very ; then starting a little, turned and said, ' Ye Ve 
5819shipped, have ye ? Names down on the papers ? Well, 
5820well, what 's signed, is signed ; and what 's to be, will be ; 
5821and then again, perhaps it won't be, after all. Anyhow, 
5822it's all fixed and arranged a 'ready ; and some sailors 
5823or other must go with him, I suppose ; as well these as 
5824any other men, God pity 'em ! Morning to ye, shipmates, 
5825morning ; the ineffable heavens bless ye ; I 'm sorry I 
5826stopped ye.' 
5827
5828' Look here, friend,' said I, 'if you have anything im- 
5829portant to tell us, out with it ; but if you are only trying 
5830to bamboozle us, you are mistaken in your game ; that 's 
5831all I have to say.' 
5832
5833' And it 's said very well, and I like to hear a chap talk 
5834up that way ; you are just the man for him the likes of 
5835ye. Morning to ye, shipmates, morning ! Oh ! when ye get 
5836there, tell 'em I Ve concluded not to make one of 'em.' 
5837
5838' Ah, my dear fellow, you can't fool us that way you 
5839
5840
5841
5842118 MOBY-DICK 
5843
5844can't fool us. It is the easiest thing in the world for a man 
5845to look as if he had a great secret in him.' 
5846
5847' Morning to ye, shipmates, morning.' 
5848
5849' Morning it is,' said I. ' Come along, Queequeg, let 's 
5850leave this crazy man. But stop, tell me your name, will 
5851you?' 
5852
5853^Elijah/ 
5854
5855Elijah ! thought I, and we walked away, both comment- 
5856ing, after each other's fashion, upon this ragged old sailor ; 
5857and agreed that he was nothing but a humbug, trying to 
5858be a bugbear. But we had not gone perhaps above a 
5859hundred yards, when chancing to turn a corner, and look- 
5860ing back as I did so, who should be seen but Elijah follow- 
5861ing us, though at a distance. Somehow, the sight of him 
5862struck me so, that I said nothing to Queequeg of his being 
5863behind, but passed on with my comrade, anxious to see 
5864whether the stranger would turn the same corner that we 
5865did. He did ; and then it seemed to me that he was 
5866dogging us, but with what intent I could not for the life 
5867of me imagine. This circumstance, coupled with his 
5868ambiguous, half-hinting, half-revealing, shrouded sort of 
5869talk, now begat in me all kinds of vague wonderments 
5870and half -apprehensions, and all connected with the 
5871Pequod ; and Captain Ahab ; and the leg he had lost ; 
5872and the Cape Horn fit ; and the silver calabash ; and what 
5873Captain Peleg had said of him, when I left the ship the 
5874day previous ; and the prediction of the squaw Tistig ; 
5875and the voyage we had bound ourselves to sail ; and a 
5876hundred other shadowy things. 
5877
5878I was resolved to satisfy myself whether this ragged Elijah 
5879was really dogging us or not, and with that intent crossed 
5880the way with Queequeg, and on that side of it retraced our 
5881steps. But Elijah passed on, without seeming to notice 
5882us. This relieved me ; and once more, and finally as it 
5883seemed to me, I pronounced him in my heart, a humbug. 
5884
5885
5886
5887CHAPTER XX 
5888
5889
5890
5891ALL ASTIR 
5892
5893A DAY or two passed, and there was great activity aboard 
5894the Pequod. Not only were the old sails being mended, 
5895but new sails were coming on board, and bolts of canvas, 
5896and coils of rigging ; in short, everything betokened that 
5897the ship's preparations were hurrying to a close. Captain 
5898Peleg seldom or never went ashore, but sat in his wigwam 
5899keeping a sharp look-out upon the hands : Bildad did all 
5900the purchasing and providing at the stores ; and the men 
5901employed in the hold and on the rigging were working till 
5902long after night-fall. 
5903
5904On the day following Queequeg's signing the articles, 
5905word was given at all the inns where the ship's company were 
5906stopping, that their chests must be on board before night, 
5907for there was no telling how soon the vessel might be sailing. 
5908So Queequeg and I got down our traps, resolving, how- 
5909ever, to sleep ashore till the last. But it seems they always 
5910give very long notice in these cases, and the ship did not 
5911sail for several days. But no wonder ; there was a good 
5912deal to be done, and there is no telling how many things 
5913to be thought of, before the Pequod was fully equipped. 
5914
5915Everyone knows what a multitude of things beds, 
5916saucepans, knives and forks, shovels and tongs, napkins, 
5917nut -crackers, and what not, are indispensable to the 
5918business of housekeeping. Just so with whaling, which 
5919necessitates a three -years' housekeeping upon the wide 
5920ocean, far from all grocers, costermongers, doctors, bakers, 
5921and bankers . And though this also holds true of merchant 
5922
5923
5924
5925120 MOBY-DICK 
5926
5927vessels, yet not by any means to the same extent as with 
5928whalemen. For besides the great length of the whaling 
5929voyage, the numerous articles peculiar to the prosecution 
5930of the fishery, and the impossibility of replacing them at 
5931the remote harbours usually frequented, it must be 
5932remembered, that of all ships, whaling-vessels are the most 
5933exposed to accidents of all kinds, and especially to the 
5934destruction and loss of the very things upon which the 
5935success of the voyage most depends. Hence, the spare 
5936boats, spare spars, and spare lines and harpoons, and spare 
5937everythings, almost, but a spare captain and duplicate 
5938ship. 
5939
5940At the period of our arrival at the Island, the heaviest 
5941storage of the Pequod had been almost completed ; com- 
5942prising her beef, bread, water, fuel, and iron hoops and 
5943staves. But, as before hinted, for some time there was a 
5944continual fetching and carrying on board of divers odds 
5945and ends of things, both large and small. 
5946
5947Chief among those who did this fetching and carrying 
5948was Captain Bildad's sister, a lean old lady of a most 
5949determined and indefatigable spirit, but withal very kind- 
5950hearted, who seemed resolved that, if she could help it, 
5951nothing should be found wanting in the Pequod, after 
5952once fairly getting to sea. At one time she would come 
5953on board with a jar of pickles for the steward's pantry ; 
5954another time with a bunch of quills for the chief mate's 
5955desk, where he kept his log ; a third time with a roll of 
5956flannel for the small of some one's rheumatic back. Never 
5957did any woman better deserve her name, which was 
5958Charity Aunt Charity, as everybody called her. And 
5959like a sister of charity did this charitable Aunt Charity 
5960bustle about hither and thither, ready to turn her hand 
5961and heart to anything that promised to yield safety, 
5962comfort, and consolation to all on board a ship in which 
5963her beloved brother Bildad was concerned, and in 
5964
5965
5966
5967ALL ASTIR 121 
5968
5969which she herself owned a score or two of well-saved 
5970dollars. 
5971
5972But it was startling to see this excellent-hearted 
5973Quakeress coming on board, as she did the last day, with 
5974a long oil-ladle in one hand, and a still longer whaling- 
5975lance in the other. Nor was Bildad himself nor Captain 
5976Peleg at all backward. As for Bildad, he carried about 
5977with him a long list of the articles needed, and at every 
5978fresh arrival, down went his mark opposite that article 
5979upon the paper. Every once and a while Peleg came 
5980hobbling out of his whalebone den, roaring at the men 
5981down the hatchways, roaring up to the riggers at the 
5982mast-head, and then concluded by roaring back into his 
5983wigwam. 
5984
5985During these days of preparation, Queequeg and I often 
5986visited the craft, and as often I asked about Captain 
5987Ahab, and how he was, and when he was going to come on 
5988board his ship. To these questions they would answer, 
5989that he was getting better and better, and was expected 
5990aboard every day ; meantime, the two captains, Peleg 
5991and Bildad, could attend to everything necessary to fit the 
5992vessel for the voyage. If I had been downright honest 
5993with myself, I would have seen very plainly in my heart 
5994that I did but half fancy being committed this way to 
5995so long a voyage, without once laying my eyes on the man 
5996who was to be the absolute dictator of it, so soon as the 
5997ship sailed out upon the open sea. But when a man 
5998suspects any wrong, it sometimes happens that if he be 
5999already involved in the matter, he insensibly strives to 
6000cover up his suspicions even from himself. And much 
6001this way it was with me. I said nothing, and tried to 
6002think nothing. 
6003
6004At last it was given out that some time next day the 
6005ship would certainly sail. So next morning, Queequeg 
6006and I took a very early start. 
6007
6008
6009
6010CHAPTER XXI 
6011
6012GOING ABOARD 
6013
6014IT was nearly six o'clock, but only gray imperfect misty 
6015dawn, when we drew nigh the wharf. 
6016
6017' There are some sailors running ahead there, if I see 
6018right/ said I to Queequeg, ' it can't be shadows ; she 's off 
6019by sunrise, I guess ; come on ! ' 
6020
6021' Avast ! ' cried a voice, whose owner at the same time 
6022coming close behind us, laid a hand upon both our 
6023shoulders, and then insinuating himself between us, stood 
6024stooping forward a little, in the uncertain twilight, 
6025strangely peering from Queequeg to me. It was 
6026Elijah. 
6027
6028c Going aboard ? ' 
6029
6030' Hands off, will you,' said I. 
6031
6032' Lookee here,' said Queequeg, shaking himself, ' go 
6033'way ! ' 
6034
6035' Ain't going aboard, then ? ' 
6036
6037' Yes, we are,' said I, ' but what business is that of 
6038yours ? Do you know, Mr. Elijah, that I consider you a 
6039little impertinent ? ' 
6040
6041' No, no, no ; I wasn't aware of that,' said Elijah, 
6042slowly and wonderingly looking from me to Queequeg, 
6043with the most unaccountable glances. 
6044
6045' Elijah,' said I, ' you will oblige my friend and me by 
6046withdrawing. We are going to the Indian and Pacific 
6047Oceans, and would prefer not to be detained.' 
6048
6049c Ye be, be ye ? Coming back afore breakfast ? ' 
6050
6051' He 's cracked, Queequeg,' said I ; ' come on.' 
6052122 
6053
6054
6055
6056GOING ABOARD 123 
6057
6058' Halloa ! ' cried stationary Elijah, hailing us when we 
6059had removed a few paces. 
6060
6061' Never mind him/ said I ; ' Queequeg, come on. 5 
6062
6063But he stole up to us again, and suddenly clapping his 
6064hand on my shoulder, said, ' Did ye see anything looking 
6065like men going toward that ship a while ago ? ' 
6066
6067Struck by this plain matter-of-fact question, I answered, 
6068saying, ' Yes, I thought I did see four or five men ; but it 
6069was too dim to be sure.' 
6070
6071' Very dim, very dim,' said Elijah. ' Morning to ye.' 
6072
6073Once more we quitted him ; but once more he came 
6074softly after us ; and touching my shoulder again, said, 
60754 See if you can find 'em now, will ye ? ' 
6076
6077' Find who ? ' 
6078
6079* Morning to ye ! morning to ye ! ' he rejoined, again 
6080moving off. ' Oh ! I was going to warn ye against 
6081but never mind, never mind it 's all one, all in the 
6082family too ; sharp frost this morning, ain't it ? Good- 
6083bye to ye. Shan't see ye again very soon, I guess ; unless 
6084it 's before the Grand Jury.' And with these cracked 
6085words he finally departed, leaving me, for the moment, in 
6086no small wonderment at his frantic impudence. 
6087
6088At last, stepping on board the Peqiiod, we found every- 
6089thing in profound quiet, not a soul moving. The cabin 
6090entrance was locked within ; the hatches were all on, and 
6091lumbered with coils of rigging. Going forward to the 
6092forecastle, we found the slide of the scuttle open. Seeing 
6093a light, we went down, and found only an old rigger there, 
6094wrapped in a tattered pea-jacket. He was thrown at 
6095whole length upon two chests, his face downward and 
6096enclosed in his folded arms. The profoundest slumber 
6097slept upon him. 
6098
6099' Those sailors we saw, Queequeg, where can they have 
6100gone to ? ' said I, looking dubiously at the sleeper. But 
6101it seemed that, when on the wharf, Queequeg had not at 
6102
6103
6104
6105124 MOBY-DICK 
6106
6107all noticed what I now alluded to ; hence I would have 
6108thought myself to have been optically deceived in that 
6109matter, were it not for Elijah's otherwise inexplicable 
6110question. But I beat the thing down ; and again mark- 
6111ing the sleeper, jocularly hinted to Queequeg that perhaps 
6112we had best sit up with the body ; telling him to estab- 
6113lish himself accordingly. He put his hand upon the 
6114sleeper's rear, as though feeling if it was soft enough ; and 
6115then, without more ado, sat quietly down there. 
6116
6117' Gracious ! Queequeg, don't sit there,' said I. 
6118
6119c Oh ! perry dood seat,' said Queequeg, ' my country 
6120way ; won't hurt him face.' 
6121
6122' Face ! ' said I, ' call that his face ? very benevolent 
6123countenance then ; but how hard he breathes, he ? s 
6124heaving himself ; get off, Queequeg, you are heavy, it 's 
6125grinding the face of the poor. Get off, Queequeg ! Look, 
6126he '11 twitch you off soon. I wonder he don't wake.' 
6127
6128Queequeg removed himself to just beyond the head of 
6129the sleeper, and lighted his tomahawk-pipe. I sat at the 
6130feet. We kept the pipe passing over the sleeper, from 
6131one to the other. Meanwhile, upon questioning him in 
6132his broken fashion, Queequeg gave me to understand 
6133that, in his land, owing to the absence of settees and sofas 
6134of all sorts, the king, chiefs, and great people generally, 
6135were in the custom of fattening some of the lower orders 
6136for ottomans ; and to furnish a house comfortably in that 
6137respect, you had only to buy up eight or ten lazy fellows, 
6138and lay them round in the piers and alcoves. Besides, 
6139it was very convenient on an excursion ; much better 
6140than those garden-chairs which are convertible into 
6141walking-sticks ; upon occasion, a chief calling his attend- 
6142ant, and desiring him to make a settee of himself 
6143under a spreading tree, perhaps in some damp marshy 
6144place. 
6145
6146While narrating these things, every time Queequeg 
6147
6148
6149
6150GOING ABOARD 125 
6151
6152received the tomahawk from me, he flourished the hatchet - 
6153side of it over the sleeper's head. 
6154
6155' What 's that for, Queequeg ? ' 
6156
6157' Perry easy, kill-e ; oh ! perry easy ! ' 
6158
6159He was going on with some wild reminiscences about 
6160his tomahawk-pipe, which, it seemed, had in its two uses 
6161both brained his foes and soothed his soul, when we were 
6162directly attracted to the sleeping rigger. The strong 
6163vapour now completely filling the contracted hole, it began 
6164to tell upon him. He breathed with a sort of muffledness ; 
6165then seemed troubled in the nose ; then revolved over 
6166once or twice ; then sat up and rubbed his eyes. 
6167
61684 Halloa ! ' he breathed at last, ' who be ye smokers ? ' 
6169
6170' Shipped men/ answered I. c When does she sail ? ' 
6171
6172' Ay, ay, ye are going in her, be ye ? She sails to- 
6173day. The captain came aboard last night.' 
6174
6175' What captain ? Ahab ? ' 
6176
6177' Who but him indeed ? ' 
6178
6179I was going to ask him some further questions concern- 
6180ing Ahab, when we heard a noise on deck. 
6181
6182' Halloa ! Starbuck 's astir,' said the rigger. ' He 's 
6183a lively chief mate, that ; .good man, and a pious ; but 
6184all alive now, I must turn to.' And so saying he went on 
6185deck, and we followed. 
6186
6187It was now clear sunrise. Soon the crew came on board 
6188in twos and threes ; the riggers bestirred themselves ; the 
6189mates were actively engaged ; and several of the shore 
6190people were busy in bringing various last things on board. 
6191Meanwhile Captain Ahab remained invisibly enshrined 
6192within his cabin. 
6193
6194
6195
6196CHAPTER XXII 
6197
6198MERRY CHRISTMAS 
6199
6200AT length, toward noon, upon the final dismissal of the 
6201ship's riggers, and after the Pequod had been hauled out 
6202from the wharf, and after the ever-thoughtful Charity 
6203had come off in a whale-boat, with her last gift a night- 
6204cap for Stubb, the second mate, her brother-in-law, and 
6205a spare Bible for the steward after all this, the two 
6206captains, Peleg and Bildad, issued from the cabin, and 
6207turning to the chief mate, Peleg said : 
6208
6209' Now, Mr. Starbuck, are you sure everything is right ? 
6210Captain Ahab is all ready just spoke to him nothing 
6211more to be got from shore, eh ? Well, call all hands, 
6212then. Muster 'em aft here blast 'em ! ' 
6213
6214' No need of profane words, however great the hurry, 
6215Peleg,' said Bildad, ' but away with thee, friend Starbuck, 
6216and do our bidding.' 
6217
6218How now ! Here upon the very point of starting for 
6219the voyage, Captain Peleg and Captain Bildad were going 
6220it with a high hand on the quarter-deck, just as if they 
6221were to be joint-commanders at sea, as well as to all 
6222appearances in port. And, as for Captain Ahab, no sign 
6223of him was yet to be seen ; only, they said he was in the 
6224cabin. But then, the idea was, that his presence was by 
6225no means necessary in getting the ship under weigh, and 
6226steering her well out to sea. Indeed, as that was not at 
6227all his proper business, but the pilot's ; and as he was not 
6228yet completely recovered so they said therefore, Cap- 
6229tain Ahab stayed below. And all this seemed natural 
6230
6231126 
6232
6233
6234
6235MEKRY CHRISTMAS 127 
6236
6237enough ; especially as in the merchant service many 
6238captains never show themselves on deck for a consider- 
6239able time after heaving up the anchor, but remain over 
6240the cabin table, having a farewell merry-making with 
6241their shore friends, before they quit the ship for good 
6242with the pilot. 
6243
6244But there was not much chance to think over the 
6245matter, for Captain Peleg was now all alive. He seemed to 
6246do most of the talking and commanding, and not Bildad. 
6247
6248' Aft here, ye sons of bachelors,' he cried, as the sailors 
6249lingered at the mainmast. ' Mr. Starbuck, drive 'em 
6250aft.' 
6251
6252' Strike the tent there ! ' was the next order. As I 
6253hinted before, this whalebone marquee was never pitched 
6254except in port ; and on board the Pequod, for thirty years, 
6255the order to strike the tent was well known to be the next 
6256thing to heaving up the anchor. 
6257
6258' Man the capstan ! Blood and thunder ! jump ! ' 
6259was the next command, and the crew sprang for the 
6260handspikes. 
6261
6262Now, in getting under weigh, the station generally 
6263occupied by the pilot is the forward part of the ship. 
6264And here Bildad, who, with Peleg, be it known, in addi- 
6265tion to his other offices, was one of the licensed pilots of 
6266the port he being suspected to have got himself made a 
6267pilot in order to save the Nantucket pilot -fee to all the 
6268ships he was concerned in, for he never piloted any other 
6269craft Bildad, I say, might now be seen actively engaged 
6270in looking over the bows for the approaching anchor, 
6271and at intervals singing what seemed a dismal stave of 
6272psalmody, to cheer the hands at the windlass, who roared 
6273forth some sort of a chorus about the girls in Booble Alley, 
6274with hearty goodwill. Nevertheless, not three days 
6275previous, Bildad had told them that no profane songs 
6276would be allowed on board the Pequod, particularly in 
6277
6278
6279
6280
6281128 MOBY-DICK 
6282
6283getting under weigh ; and Charity, his sister, had placed 
6284a small choice copy of Watts in each seaman's berth. 
6285
6286Meantime, overseeing the other part of the ship, Captain 
6287Peleg ripped and swore astern in the most frightful 
6288manner. I almost thought he would sink the ship before 
6289the anchor could be got up ; involuntarily I paused on my 
6290handspike, and told Queequeg to do the same, thinking 
6291of the perils we both ran, in starting on the voyage with 
6292such a devil for a pilot. I was comforting myself, how- 
6293ever, with the thought that in pious Bildad might be 
6294found some salvation, spite of his seven hundred and 
6295seventy-seventh lay ; when I felt a sudden sharp poke 
6296in my rear, and turning round, was horrified at the 
6297apparition of Captain Peleg in the act of withdrawing 
6298his leg from my immediate vicinity. That was my first 
6299kick. 
6300
6301' Is that the way they heave in the marchant service ? ' 
6302he roared. ' Spring, thou sheep-head ; spring, and break 
6303thy backbone ! Why don't ye spring, I say, all of ye 
6304spring ! Quohag ! spring, thou chap with the red 
6305whiskers ; spring there, Scotch-cap ; spring, thou green 
6306pants. Spring, I say, all of ye, and spring your eyes out ! ' 
6307And so saying, he moved along the windlass, here and 
6308there using his leg very freely, while imperturbable Bildad 
6309kept leading off with his psalmody. Thinks I, Captain 
6310Peleg must have been drinking something to-day. 
6311
6312At last the anchor was up, the sails were set, and off 
6313we glided. It was a short, cold Christmas ; and as the 
6314short northern day merged into night, we found ourselves 
6315almost broad upon the wintry ocean, whose freezing spray 
6316cased us in ice, as in polished armour. The long rows of 
6317teeth on the bulwarks glistened in the moonlight ; and 
6318like the white ivory tusks of some huge elephant, vast 
6319curving icicles depended from the bows. 
6320
6321Lank Bildad, as pilot, headed the first watch, and ever 
6322
6323
6324
6325MERRY CHRISTMAS 129 
6326
6327and anon, as the old craft deep dived into the green seas, 
6328and sent the shivering frost all over her, and the winds 
6329howled, and the cordage rang, his steady notes were 
6330heard, 
6331
6332* Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood, 
6333
6334Stand dressed in living green. 
6335
6336So to the Jews old Canaan stood, 
6337
6338While Jordan rolled between.' 
6339
6340Never did those sweet words sound more sweetly to me 
6341than then. They were full of hope and fruition. Spite 
6342of this frigid winter night in the boisterous Atlantic, 
6343spite of my wet feet and wetter jacket, there was yet, it 
6344then seemed to me, many a pleasant haven in store ; and 
6345meads and glades so eternally vernal, that the grass shot 
6346up by the spring, untrodden, unwilted, remains at 
6347midsummer. 
6348
6349At last we gained such an offing, that the two pilots 
6350were needed no longer. The stout sail-boat that had 
6351accompanied us began ranging alongside. 
6352
6353It was curious and not unpleasing, how Peleg and Bildad 
6354were affected at this juncture, especially Captain Bildad. 
6355For loath to depart, yet ; very loath to leave, for good, 
6356a ship bound on so long and perilous a voyage beyond 
6357both stormy Capes ; a ship in which some thousands of 
6358his hard-earned dollars were invested ; a ship, in which 
6359an old shipmate sailed as captain ; a man almost as old 
6360as he, once more starting to encounter all the terrors of 
6361the pitiless jaw ; loath to say good-bye to a thing so every 
6362way brimful of every interest to him, poor old Bildad 
6363lingered long ; paced the deck with anxious strides ; ran 
6364down into the cabin to speak another farewell word there ; 
6365again came on deck, and looked to windward ; looked 
6366toward the wide and endless waters, only bounded by the 
6367* r-off unseen Eastern Continents ; looked toward the 
6368
6369VOL. I. I 
6370
6371
6372
6373130 MOBY-DICK 
6374
6375land ; looked aloft ; looked right and left ; looked every- 
6376where and nowhere ; and at last, mechanically coiling 
6377a rope upon its pin, convulsively grasped stout Peleg 
6378by the hand, and holding up a lantern, for a moment stood 
6379gazing heroically in his face, as much as to say, * Never- 
6380theless, friend Peleg, I can stand it ; yes, I can.' 
6381
6382As for Peleg himself, he took it more like a philosopher ; 
6383but for all his philosophy, there was a tear twinkling in 
6384his eye, when the lantern came too near. And he, too, 
6385did not a little run from cabin to deck now a word 
6386below, and now a word with Starbuck, the chief mate. 
6387
6388But, at last, he turned to his comrade, with a final sort 
6389of look about him, 4 Captain Bildad come, old ship- 
6390mate, we must go. Back the main-yard there ! Boat 
6391ahoy ! Stand by to come close alongside, now ! Careful, 
6392careful ! come, Bildad, boy say your last. Luck to ye, 
6393Starbuck luck to ye, Mr. Stubb luck to ye, Mr. Flask 
6394good-bye, and good luck to ye all and this day three 
6395years I '11 have a hot supper smoking for ye in old 
6396Nantucket. Hurrah and away ! ' 
6397
6398' God bless ye, and have ye in His holy keeping, men/ 
6399murmured old Bildad, almost incoherently. ' I hope 
6400ye '11 have fine weather now, so that Captain Ahab may 
6401soon be moving among ye a pleasant sun is all he needs, 
6402and ye '11 have plenty of them in the tropic voyage ye go. 
6403Be careful in the hunt, ye mates. Don't stave the boats 
6404needlessly, ye harpooneers ; good white cedar plank is 
6405raised full three per cent, within the year. Don't forget 
6406your prayers, either. Mr. Starbuck, mind that cooper 
6407don't waste the spare staves. Oh ! the sail-needles are 
6408in the green locker ! Don't whale it too much a Lord's 
6409days, men ; but don't miss a fair chance either, that 's 
6410rejecting Heaven's good gifts. Have an eye to the 
6411molasses tierce, Mr. Stubb ; it was a little leaky, I thought. 
6412If ye touch at the islands, Mr. Flask, beware of fornica- 
6413
6414
6415
6416MERRY CHRISTMAS 131 
6417
6418tion. Good-bye, good-bye ! Don't keep that cheese too 
6419long down in the hold, Mr. Starbuck ; it '11 spoil. Be 
6420careful with the butter twenty cents the pound it was, 
6421and mind ye, if 
6422
6423' Come, come, Captain Bildad ; stop palavering, 
6424away ! ' and with that, Peleg hurried him over the side, 
6425and both dropped into the boat. 
6426
6427Ship and boat diverged ; the cold, damp night breeze 
6428blew between ; a screaming gull flew overhead ; the two 
6429hulls wildly rolled ; we gave three heavy-hearted cheers, 
6430and blindly plunged like fate into the lone Atlantic. 
6431
6432
6433
6434CHAPTER XXIII 
6435
6436THE LEE SHORE 
6437
6438SOME chapters back, one Bulkington was spoken of, a tall, 
6439new-landed mariner, encountered in New Bedford at the 
6440inn. 
6441
6442When on that shivering winter's night the Pequod 
6443thrust her vindictive bows into the cold malicious waves, 
6444who should I see standing at her helm but Bulkington ! 
6445I looked with sympathetic awe and fearfulness upon the 
6446man, who in mid- winter just landed from a four years' 
6447dangerous voyage, could so unrestingly push off again 
6448for still another tempestuous term. The land seemed 
6449scorching to his feet. Wonderfullest things are ever the 
6450unmentionable ; deep memories yield no epitaphs ; this 
6451six-inch chapter is the stoneless grave of Bulkington. Let 
6452me only say that it fared with him as with the storm-tossed 
6453ship, that miserably drives along the leeward land. The 
6454port would fain give succour ; the port is pitiful ; in the 
6455port is safety, comfort, hearthstone, supper, warm 
6456blankets, friends, all that 's kind to our mortalities. But 
6457in that gale, the port, the land, is that ship's direst 
6458jeopardy ; she must fly all hospitality ; one touch of land, 
6459though it but graze the keel, would make her shudder 
6460through and through. With all her might she crowds all 
6461sail off shore ; in so doing, fights 'gainst the very winds 
6462that fain would blow her homeward ; seeks all the lashed 
6463sea's landlessness again ; for refuge's sake forlornly 
6464rushing into peril ; her only friend her bitterest foe ! 
6465
6466Know ye, now, Bulkington ? Glimpses do ye seem to 
6467
6468132 
6469
6470
6471
6472THE LEE SHORE 133 
6473
6474see of that mortally intolerable truth ; that all deep, 
6475earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to 
6476keep the open independence of her sea ; while the wildest 
6477winds of heaven and earth conspire to cast her on the 
6478treacherous, slavish shore ? 
6479
6480But as in landlessness alone resides the highest truth, 
6481shoreless, indefinite as God so, better is it to perish in 
6482that howling infinite, than be ingloriously dashed upon 
6483the lee, even if that were safety ! For worm-like, then, 
6484oh ! who would craven crawl to land ! Terrors of the 
6485terrible ! is all this agony so vain ? Take heart, take 
6486heart, Bulkington ! Bear thee grimly, demigod ! Up 
6487from the spray of thy ocean-perishing straight up, 
6488leaps thy apotheosis ! 
6489
6490
6491
6492CHAPTER XXIV 
6493
6494THE ADVOCATE 
6495
6496As Queequeg and I are now fairly embarked in this busi- 
6497ness of whaling ; and as this business of whaling has some- 
6498how come to be regarded among landsmen as a rather 
6499unpoetical and disreputable pursuit ; therefore, I am all 
6500anxiety to convince ye, ye landsmen, of the injustice 
6501hereby done to us hunters of whales. 
6502
6503In the first place, it may be deemed almost superfluous 
6504to establish the fact, that among people at large, the 
6505business of whaling is not accounted on a level with what 
6506are called the liberal professions. If a stranger were 
6507introduced into any miscellaneous metropolitan society, 
6508it would but slightly advance the general opinion of his 
6509merits, were he presented to the company as a harpooneer, 
6510say ; and if in emulation of the naval officers he should 
6511append the initials S.W.F. (Sperm Whale Fishery) to 
6512his visiting card, such a procedure would be deemed pre- 
6513eminently presuming and ridiculous. 
6514
6515Doubtless one leading reason why the world declines 
6516honouring us whalemen is this : they think that, at best, 
6517our vocation amounts to a butchering sort of business ; 
6518and that when actively engaged therein, we are surrounded 
6519by all manner of defilements. Butchers we are, that is 
6520true. But butchers, also, and butchers of the bloodiest 
6521badge, have been all Martial Commanders whom the world 
6522invariably delights to honour. And as for the matter of 
6523the alleged uncleanliness of our business, ye shall soon 
6524be initiated into certain facts hitherto pretty generally 
6525
6526134 
6527
6528
6529
6530THE ADVOCATE 185 
6531
6532unknown, and which, upon the whole, will triumphantly 
6533plant the sperm whale-ship at least among the cleanliest 
6534things of this tidy earth. But even granting the charge 
6535in question to be true ; what disordered slippery decks 
6536of a whale-ship are comparable to the unspeakable carrion 
6537of those battlefields from which so many soldiers return 
6538to drink in all ladies' plaudits ? And if the idea of peril 
6539so much enhances the popular conceit of the soldier's 
6540profession ; let me assure ye that many a veteran who 
6541has freely marched up to a battery, would quickly recoil 
6542at the apparition of the sperm whale's vast tail, fanning 
6543into eddies the air over his head. For what are the 
6544comprehensible terrors of man compared with the inter- i 
6545linked terrors and wonders of God ! 
6546
6547But, though the world scouts at us whale-hunters, yet 
6548does it unwittingly pay us the profoundest homage ; yea, 
6549an all-abounding adoration ! for almost all the tapers, 
6550lamps, and candles that burn round the globe, burn, 
6551as before so many shrines, to our glory ! 
6552
6553But look at this matter in other lights ; weigh it in all 
6554sorts of scales ; see what we whalemen are, and have been. 
6555
6556Why did the Dutch in De Witt's time have admirals 
6557of their whaling-fleets ? Why did Louis xvi. of France, 
6558at his own personal expense, fit out whaling-ships from 
6559Dunkirk, and politely invite to that town some score or 
6560two of families from our own island of Nantucket ? Why 
6561did Britain between the years 1750 and 1788 pay to her 
6562whalemen in bounties upward of 1,000,000 ? And 
6563lastly, how comes it that we whalemen of America now\ 
6564outnumber all the rest of the banded whalemen hi the \ 
6565world ; sail a navy of upward of seven hundred vessels ; 
6566manned by eighteen thousand men ; yearly consuming 
65674,000,000 of dollars ; the ships worth, at the time of 
6568sailing, $20,000,000 ; and every year importing into our 
6569harbours a well-reaped harvest of $7,000,000. How 
6570
6571
6572
6573136 MOBY-DICK 
6574
6575comes all this, if there be not something puissant in 
6576whaling ? 
6577
6578But this is not the half ; look again. 
6579I freely assert, that the cosmopolite philosopher cannot, 
6580for his life, point out one single peaceful influence, which 
6581within the last sixty years has operated more potentially 
6582upon the whole broad world, taken in one aggregate, than 
6583the high and mighty business of whaling. One way and 
6584another, it has begotten events so remarkable in them- 
6585selves, and so continuously momentous in their sequential 
6586f issues, that whaling may well be regarded as that Egyptian 
6587/ mother, who bore offspring themselves pregnant from her 
6588womb. It would be a hopeless, endless task to catalogue 
6589all these things. Let a handful suffice. For many years 
6590\ past the whale-ship has been the pioneer in ferreting out 
6591the remotest and least known parts of the earth. She has 
6592explored seas and archipelagoes which had no chart, 
6593where no Cook or Vancouver had ever sailed. If Ameri- 
6594can and European men-of-war now peacefully ride in once 
6595savage harbours, let them fire salutes to the honour and 
6596the glory of the whale-ship, which originally showed them 
6597the way, and first interpreted between them and the 
6598savages. They may celebrate as they will the heroes 
6599of exploring expeditions, your Cooks, your Krusen- 
6600sterns ; but I say that scores of anonymous captains 
6601have sailed out of Nantucket, that were as great, and 
6602greater than your Cook and your Krusenstern. For in 
6603their succourless empty-handedness, they, in the heathen- 
6604ish sharked waters, and by the beaches of unrecorded, 
6605javelin islands, battled with virgin wonders and terrors 
6606that Cook with all his marines and muskets would not 
6607willingly have dared. All that is made such a flourish of 
6608in the old South Sea Voyages, those things were but the 
6609lifetime commonplaces of our heroic Nantucketers. 
6610Often, adventures which Vancouver dedicates three 
6611
6612
6613
6614THE ADVOCATE 137 
6615
6616chapters to, these men accounted unworthy of being set 
6617down in the ship's common log. Ah, the world ! Oh, 
6618the world ! 
6619
6620Until the whale-fishery rounded Cape Horn, no com- 
6621merce but colonial, scarcely any intercourse but colonial, 
6622was carried on between Europe and the long line of the 
6623opulent Spanish provinces on the Pacific coast. It was 
6624the whaleman who first broke through the jealous policy 
6625of the Spanish crown, touching those colonies ; and, if 
6626space permitted, it might be distinctly shown how from 
6627those whalemen at last eventuated the liberation of Peru, 
6628Chili, and Bolivia from the yoke of Old Spain, and the 
6629establishment of the eternal democracy in those parts. 
6630
6631That great America on the other side of the sphere, 
6632Australia, was given to the enlightened world by the 
6633whaleman. After its first blunder-born discovery by a 
6634Dutchman, all other ships long shunned those shores as 
6635pestiferously barbarous ; but the whale -ship touched 
6636there. The whale-ship is the true mother of that now 
6637mighty colony. Moreover, in the infancy of the first 
6638Australian settlement, the emigrants were several times 
6639saved from starvation by the benevolent biscuit of the 
6640whale -ship luckily dropping an anchor in their waters. 
6641The uncounted isles of all Polynesia confess the same 
6642truth, and do commercial homage to the whale-ship, that 
6643cleared the way for the missionary and the merchant, and 
6644in many cases carried the primitive missionaries to their 
6645first destinations. If that double -bolted land, Japan, 
6646is ever to become hospitable, it is the whale-ship alone 
6647to whom the credit will be due ; for already she is on the 
6648threshold. 
6649
6650But if, in the face of all this, you still declare that 
6651whaling has no aesthetically noble associations connected 
6652with it, then am I ready to shiver fifty lances with you 
6653
6654jre, and unhorse you with a split helmet every time. 
6655
6656
6657
6658138 MOBY-DICK 
6659
6660The whale has no famous author, and whaling no 
6661famous chronicler, you will say. 
6662
6663The whale no famous author, and whaling no famous 
6664chronicler ? Who wrote the first account of our levia- 
6665than ? Who but mighty Job ! And who composed the 
6666first narrative of a whaling voyage ? Who, but no less 
6667a prince than Alfred the Great, who, with his own royal 
6668pen, took down the words from Other, the Norwegian 
6669whale -hunter of those times ! And who pronounced our 
6670glowing eulogy in Parliament ? Who, but Edmund 
6671Burke ! 
6672
6673True enough, but then whalemen themselves are poor 
6674devils ; they have no good blood in their veins. 
6675
6676No good blood in their veins ? They have something 
6677better than royal blood there. The grandmother of 
6678Benjamin Franklin was Mary Morrel ; afterward, by 
6679marriage, Mary Folger, one of the old settlers of Nantucket ? 
6680and the ancestress to a long line of Folgers and har- 
6681pooneers all kith and kin to noble Benjamin this day 
6682darting the barbed iron from one side of the world to 
6683the other. 
6684
6685Good again ; but then all confess that somehow whal- 
6686ing is not respectable. 
6687
6688Whaling not respectable ? Whaling is imperial ! By old 
6689English statutory law, the whale is declared 'a royal fish.' l 
6690
6691Oh, that 's only nominal ! The whale himself has never 
6692figured in any grand imposing way. 
6693
6694The whale never figured in any grand imposing way ? 
6695In one of the mighty triumphs given to a Roman general 
6696upon his entering the world's capital, the bones of a whale, 
6697brought all the way from the Syrian coast, were the most 
6698conspicuous object in the cymballed procession. 1 
6699
6700Grant it, since you cite it ; but, say what you will, 
6701there is no real dignity in whaling. 
6702
67031 See subsequent chapters for something more on this head. 
6704
6705
6706
6707
6708
6709
6710THE ADVOCATE 139 
6711
6712No dignity in whaling ? The dignity of our calling the 
6713very heavens attest. Cetus is a constellation in the south ! 
6714No more ! Drive down your hat in presence of the Czar, 
6715and take it off to Queequeg ! No more ! I know a man 
6716that, in his lifetime, has taken three hundred and fifty 
6717whales. I account that man more honourable than that 
6718great captain of antiquity who boasted of taking as many 
6719walled towns. 
6720
6721And, as for me, if, by any possibility, there be any as 
6722yet undiscovered prime thing in me ; if I shall ever 
6723deserve any real repute in that small but high hushed 
6724world which I might not be unreasonably ambitious of ; 
6725if hereafter I shall do anything that, upon the whole, 
6726a man might rather have done than to have left undone ; 
6727if, at my death, my executors, or more properly my 
6728creditors, find any precious MSS. in my desk, then here 
6729I prospectively ascribe all the honour and the glory to 
6730whaling ; for a whale -ship was my Yale College and my 
6731Harvard. 
6732
6733
6734
6735CHAPTER XXV 
6736
6737POSTSCRIPT 
6738
6739IN behalf of the dignity of whaling, I would fain advance 
6740naught but substantiated facts. But after embattling his 
6741facts, an advocate who should wholly suppress a not 
6742unreasonable surmise, which might tell eloquently upon his 
6743cause such an advocate, would he not be blameworthy ? 
6744
6745It is well known that at the coronation of kings and 
6746queens, even modern ones, a certain curious process of 
6747seasoning them for their functions is gone through. There 
6748is a salt-cellar of state, so called, and there may be a castor 
6749of state. How they use the salt, precisely who knows ? 
6750Certain I am, however, that a king's head is solemnly 
6751oiled at his coronation, even as a head of salad. Can it 
6752be, though, that they anoint it with a view of making 
6753its interior run well, as they anoint machinery ? Much 
6754might be ruminated here, concerning the essential dignity 
6755of this regal process, because in common life we esteem 
6756but meanly and contemptibly a fellow who anoints his 
6757hair, and palpably smells of that anointing. In truth, a 
6758mature man who uses hair-oil, unless medicinally, that 
6759man has probably got a quoggy spot in him somewhere. 
6760As a general rule, he can't amount to much in his totality. 
6761
6762But the only thing to be considered here, is this what 
6763kind of oil is used at coronations ? Certainly it cannot 
6764be olive oil, nor macassar oil, nor castor oil, nor bear's oil, 
6765nor train oil, nor cod-liver oil. What then can it possibly 
6766be, but sperm oil in its unmanufactured, unpolluted 
6767state, the sweetest of all oils ? 
6768
6769Think of that, ye loyal Britons ! we whalemen supply 
6770your kings and queens with coronation stuff ! 
6771
6772140 
6773
6774
6775
6776CHAPTER XXVI 
6777
6778KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES 
6779
6780THE chief mate of the Pequod was Starbuck, a native of 
6781Nantucket, and a Quaker by descent. He was a long, 
6782earnest man, and though born on an icy coast, seemed 
6783well adapted to endure hot latitudes, his flesh being hard 
6784as twice-baked biscuit. Transported to the Indies, his 
6785live blood would not spoil like bottled ale. He must have 
6786been born in some time of general drought and famine, 
6787or upon one of those fast days for which his state is 
6788famous. Only some thirty arid summers had he seen ; 
6789those summers had dried up all his physical superfluous- 
6790ness. But this, his thinness, so to speak, seemed no more 
6791the token of wasting anxieties and cares, than it seemed 
6792the indication of any bodily blight. It was merely the 
6793condensation of the man. He was by no means ill-look- 
6794ing ; quite the contrary. His pure tight skin was an 
6795excellent fit ; and closely wrapped up in it, and embalmed 
6796with inner health and strength, like a revivified Egyptian, 
6797this Starbuck seemed prepared to endure for long ages 
6798to come, and to endure always, as now ; for be it Polar 
6799snow or torrid sun, like a patent chronometer, his interior 
6800vitality was warranted to do well in all climates. Look- 
6801ing into his eyes, you seemed to see there the yet lingering 
6802images of those thousand-fold perils he had calmly con- 
6803fronted through life. A staid, steadfast man, whose life 
6804for the most part was a telling pantomime of action, and 
6805not a tame chapter of sounds. Yet, for all his hardy 
6806>briety and fortitude, there were certain qualities in 
6807
6808141 
6809
6810
6811
6812142 MOBY-DICK 
6813
6814him which at times affected, and in some cases seemed well- 
6815nigh to overbalance all the rest. Uncommonly con- 
6816scientious for a seaman, and endued with a deep natural 
6817reverence, the wild watery loneliness of his life did there- 
6818fore strongly incline him to superstition ; but to that 
6819sort of superstition, which in some organisations seems 
6820rather to spring, somehow, from intelligence than from 
6821ignorance. Outward portents and inward presentiments 
6822were his. And if at times these things bent the welded 
6823iron of his soul, much more did his far-away domestic 
6824memories of his young Cape wife and child tend to bend 
6825him still more from the original ruggedness of his nature, 
6826and open him still further to those latent influences which, 
6827in some honest-hearted men, restrain the gush of dare- 
6828devil daring, so often evinced by others in the more 
6829perilous vicissitudes of the fishery. ' I will have no man 
6830in my boat/ said Starbuck, ' who is not afraid of a whale.' 
6831By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most 
6832reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the 
6833fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an 
6834utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than 
6835a coward. 
6836
6837' Ay, ay/ said Stubb, the second mate, ' Starbuck, 
6838there, is as careful a man as you '11 find anywhere in this 
6839fishery.' But we shall ere long see what that word 
6840' careful ' precisely means when used by a man like Stubb, 
6841or almost any other whale-hunter. 
6842
6843Starbuck was no crusader after perils ; in him courage 
6844was not a sentiment ; but a thing simply useful to him, 
6845and always at hand upon all mortally practical occasions. 
6846Besides, he thought, perhaps, that hi this business of 
6847whaling, courage was one of the great staple outfits of the 
6848ship, like her beef and her bread, and not to be foolishly 
6849wasted. Wherefore he had no fancy for lowering for 
6850whales after sundown ; nor for persisting in fighting a 
6851
6852
6853
6854KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES 143 
6855
6856fish that too much persisted in fighting him. For, thought 
6857Starbuck, I am here in this critical ocean to kill whales 
6858for my living, and not to be killed by them for theirs ; 
6859and that hundreds of men had been so killed Starbuck 
6860well knew. What doom was his own father's ? Where, 
6861in the bottomless deeps, could he find the torn limbs of 
6862his brother ? 
6863
6864With memories like these in him, and, moreover, given 
6865to a certain superstitiousness, as has been said ; the 
6866courage of this Starbuck which could, nevertheless, still 
6867flourish, must indeed have been extreme. But it was not 
6868in reasonable nature that a man so organised, and with 
6869such terrible experiences and remembrances as he had ; 
6870it was not in nature that these things should fail in latently 
6871engendering an element in him, which, under suitable 
6872circumstances, would break out from its confinement, 
6873and burn all his courage up. And brave as he might be, 
6874it was that sort of bravery chiefly, visible in some intrepid 
6875men, which, while generally abiding firm in the conflict 
6876with seas, or winds, or whales, or any of the ordinary 
6877irrational horrors of the world, yet cannot withstand 
6878those more terrific, because more spiritual terrors, which 
6879sometimes menace you from the concentrating brow of an 
6880enraged and mighty man. 
6881
6882But were the coming narrative to reveal, in any instance, 
6883the complete abasement of poor Starbuck's fortitude, 
6884scarce might I have the heart to write it ; for it is a thing 
6885most sorrowful, nay shocking, to expose the fall of valour 
6886in the soul. Men may seem detestable as joint-stock 
6887companies and nations ; knaves, fools, and murderers 
6888there may be ; men may have mean and meagre aces ; 
6889but man, hi the ideal, is so noble and so sparkling, such 
6890a grand and glowing creature, that over any ignominious 
6891blemish in him all his fellows should run to throw their 
6892costliest robes. That immaculate manliness we feel 
6893
6894
6895
6896144 MOBY-DICK 
6897
6898within ourselves, so far within us, that it remains intact 
6899though all the outer character seem gone, bleeds with 
6900keenest anguish at the undraped spectacle of a valour- 
6901ruined man. Nor can piety itself, at such a shameful 
6902sight, completely stifle her upbraidings against the per- 
6903mitting stars. But this august dignity I treat of, is not 
6904the dignity of kings and robes, but that abounding dignity 
6905which has no robed investiture. Thou shalt see it shining 
6906in the arm that wields a pick or drives a spike ; that 
6907democratic dignity which, on all hands, radiates without 
6908end from God ; Himself ! The great God absolute ! 
6909The centre and circumference of all democracy ! His 
6910omnipresence, our divine equality ! 
6911
6912If, then, to meanest mariners, and renegades and casta- 
6913ways, I shall hereafter ascribe high qualities, though dark ; 
6914weave round them tragic graces ; if even the most mourn- 
6915ful, perchance the most abased, among them all, shall at 
6916times lift himself to the exalted mounts ; if I shall touch 
6917that workman's arm with some ethereal light ; if I shall 
6918spread a rainbow over his disastrous set of sun ; then 
6919against all mortal critics bear me out in it, thou just 
6920Spirit of Equality, which hast spread one royal mantle 
6921of humanity over all my kind ! Bear me out in it, thou 
6922great democratic God ! who didst not refuse to the 
6923swart convict, Bunyan, the pale, poetic pearl ; Thou 
6924who didst clothe with doubly hammered leaves of finest 
6925gold, the stumped and paupered arm of old Cervantes ; 
6926Thou who didst pick up Andrew Jackson from the pebbles ; 
6927who didst hurl him upon a war-horse ; who didst thunder 
6928him higher than a throne ! Thou who, in all Thy mighty, 
6929earthly marchings, ever cullest Thy selectest champions 
6930from the kingly commons ; bear me out in it, God ! 
6931
6932
6933
6934CHAPTER XXVII 
6935
6936KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES 
6937
6938STUBB was the second mate. He was a native of Cape 
6939Cod ; and hence, according to local usage, was called a 
6940Cape-Cod-man. A happy-go-lucky ; neither craven nor 
6941valiant ; taking perils as they came with an indifferent 
6942air ; and while engaged in the most imminent crisis of 
6943the chase, toiling away, calm and collected as a journey- 
6944man joiner engaged for the year. Good-humoured, easy, 
6945and careless, he presided over his whale-boat as if the 
6946most deadly encounter were but a dinner, and his crew 
6947all invited guests. He was as particular about the com- 
6948fortable arrangement of his part of the boat, as an old 
6949stage-driver is about the snugness of his box. When close 
6950to the whale, in the very death-lock of the fight, he 
6951handled his unpitying lance coolly and off-handedly, 
6952as a whistling tinker his hammer. He would hum over 
6953his old rigadig tunes while flank and flank with the most 
6954exasperated monster. Long usage had, for this Stubb, 
6955converted the jaws of death into an easy-chair. What 
6956he thought of death itself, there is no telling. Whether 
6957he ever thought of it at all, might be a question ; but, if 
6958he ever did chance to cast his mind that way after a com- 
6959fortable dinner, no doubt, like a good sailor, he took it to 
6960be a sort of call of the watch to tumble aloft, and bestir 
6961themselves there, about something which he would find 
6962out when he obeyed the order, and not sooner. 
6963
6964What, perhaps, with other things, made Stubb such an 
6965easy-going, unfearing man, so cheerily trudging off with 
6966
6967VOL. i. K 
6968
6969
6970
6971146 MOBY-DICK 
6972
6973the burden of life in a world full of grave peddlers, all 
6974bowed to the ground with their packs ; what helped to 
6975bring about that almost impious good-humour of his ; 
6976that thing must have been his pipe. For, like his nose, 
6977his short, black little pipe was one of the regular features 
6978of his face. You would almost as soon have expected 
6979him to turn out of his bunk without his nose as without 
6980his pipe. He kept a whole row of pipes there ready loaded, 
6981stuck in a rack, within easy reach of his hand ; and, 
6982whenever he turned in, he smoked them all out in suc- 
6983cession, lighting one from the other to the end of the 
6984chapter ; then loading them again to be in readiness anew. 
6985For, when Stubb dressed, instead of first putting his legs 
6986into his trowsers, he put his pipe into his mouth. 
6987
6988I say this continual smoking must have been one 
6989cause, at least, of his peculiar disposition ; for everyone 
6990knows that this earthly air, whether ashore or afloat, is 
6991terribly infected with the nameless miseries of the number- 
6992less mortals who have died exhaling it ; and as in time 
6993of the cholera, some people go about with a camphorated 
6994handkerchief to their mouths ; so, likewise, against all 
6995mortal tribulations, Stubb 's tobacco smoke might have 
6996operated as a sort of disinfecting agent. 
6997
6998The third mate was Flask, a native of Tisbury, in 
6999Martha's Vineyard. A short, stout, ruddy young fellow, 
7000very pugnacious concerning whales, who somehow seemed 
7001to think that the great leviathans had personally and 
7002hereditarily affronted him ; and therefore it was a sort 
7003of point of honour with him, to destroy them whenever 
7004encountered. So utterly lost was he to all sense of 
7005reverence for the many marvels of their majestic bulk 
7006and mystic ways ; and so dead to anything like an appre- 
7007hension of any possible danger from encountering them ; 
7008that in his poor opinion, the wondrous whale was but a 
7009species of magnified mouse, or at least water-rat, requiring 
7010
7011
7012
7013KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES 147 
7014
7015only a little circumvention and some small application 
7016of time and trouble in order to kill and boil. This ignor- 
7017ant, unconscious fearlessness of his made him a little 
7018waggish in the matter of whales ; he followed these fish 
7019for the fun of it ; and a three years' voyage round Cape 
7020Horn was only a jolly joke that lasted that length of time. 
7021As a carpenter's nails are divided into wrought nails and 
7022cut nails ; so mankind may be similarly divided. Little 
7023Flask was one of the wrought ones ; made to clinch tight 
7024and last long. They called him King-Post on board of the 
7025Pequod ; because, in form, he could be well likened to the 
7026short, square timber known by that name in Arctic 
7027whalers ; and which by the means of many radiating 
7028side timbers inserted into it, served to brace the ship 
7029against the icy concussions of those battering seas. 
7030
7031Now these three mates Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask 
7032were momentous men. They it was who by universal 
7033prescription commanded three of the Pequod' & boats as | 
7034headsmen. In that grand order of battle in which Gap- 
7035tain Ahab would probably marshal his forces to descend 
7036on the whales, these three headsmen were as captains 
7037of companies. Or, being armed with their long keen 
7038whaling-spears, they were as a picked trio of lancers ; 
7039even as the harpooneers were flingers of javelins. 
7040
7041And since in this famous fishery, each mate or heads- 
7042man, like a Gothic knight of old, is always accompanied 
7043by his boat-steerer or harpooneer, who in certain con- 
7044junctures provides him with a fresh lance, when the former 
7045one has been badly twisted, or elbowed in the assault ; 
7046and moreover, as there generally subsists between the 
7047two a close intimacy and friendliness ; it is therefore 
7048but meet, that in this place we set down who the Pequod 's 
7049harpooneers were, and to what headsman each of them 
7050belonged. 
7051
7052First of all was Queequeg, whom Starbuck, the chief 
7053
7054
7055
7056148 MOBY-DICK 
7057
7058mate, had selected for his squire. But Queequeg is 
7059already known. 
7060
7061Next was Tashtego, an unmixed Indian from Gay 
7062Head, the most westerly promontory of Martha's Vine- 
7063yard, where there still exists the last remnant of a village 
7064of red men, which has long supplied the neighbouring 
7065island of Nantucket with many of her most daring har- 
7066pooneers. In the fishery, they usually go by the generic 
7067name of Gay-Headers. Tashtego 's long, lean, sable hair, 
7068his high cheek-bones, and black rounding eyes for an 
7069Indian, Oriental in their largeness, but Antarctic in their 
7070glittering expression all this sufficiently proclaimed him 
7071an inheritor of the unvitiated blood of those proud warrior 
7072hunters, who, in quest of the great New England moose, 
7073had scoured, bow in hand, the aboriginal forests of the 
7074main. But no longer snuffing in the trail of the wild 
7075beasts of the woodland, Tashtego now hunted in the wake 
7076of the great whales of the sea ; the unerring harpoon of 
7077the son fitly replacing the infallible arrow of the sires. 
7078To look at the tawny brawn of his lithe snaky limbs, you 
7079would almost have credited the superstitions of some of 
7080the earlier Puritans, and half-believed this wild Indian 
7081to be a son of the Prince of the Powers of the Air. Tash- 
7082tego was Stubb the second mate's squire. 
7083
7084Third among the harpooneers was Daggoo, a gigantic, 
7085coal - black negro-savage, with a lion -like tread an 
7086Ahasuerus to behold. Suspended from his ears were 
7087two golden hoops, so large that the sailors called them 
7088ring-bolts, and would talk of securing the topsail halyards 
7089to them. In his youth Daggoo had voluntarily shipped 
7090on board of a whaler, lying in a lonely bay on his native 
7091coast. And never having been anywhere in the world 
7092but in Africa, Nantucket, and the pagan harbours most 
7093frequented by whalemen ; and having now led for many 
7094years the bold life of the fishery in the ships of owners un- 
7095
7096
7097
7098I 
7099
7100
7101
7102KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES 149 
7103
7104commonly heedful of what manner of men they shipped ; 
7105Daggoo retained all his barbaric virtues, and erect as a 
7106giraffe, moved about the decks in all the pomp of six feet 
7107five in his socks. There was a corporeal humility in 
7108looking up at him ; and a white man standing before him 
7109seemed a white flag come to beg truce of a fortress. 
7110Curious to tell, this imperial negro, Ahasuerus Daggoo, 
7111was the squire of little Flask, who looked like a chess-man 
7112beside him. As for the residue of the Pequod'B company, 
7113be it said, that at the present day not one in two of the 
7114many thousand men before the mast employed in the 
7115American whale-fishery are Americans born, though pretty 
7116nearly all the officers are. Herein it is the same with 
7117the American whale-fishery as with the American army 
7118and military and merchant navies, and the engineering 
7119forces employed in the construction of the American 
7120canals and railroads. The same, I say, because in all 
7121these cases the native American liberally provides the 
7122brains, the rest of the world as generously supplying the 
7123muscles. No small number of these whaling seamen 
7124belong to the Azores, where the outward-bound Nan- 
7125tucket whalers frequently touch to augment their crews 
7126from the hardy peasants of those rocky shores. In like 
7127manner, the Greenland whalers sailing out of Hull or 
7128London put in at the Shetland Islands, to receive the 
7129full complement of their crew. Upon the passage home- 
7130ward, they drop them there again. How it is, there is 
7131no telling, but Islanders seem to make the best whalemen. 
7132They were nearly all Islanders in the Pequod, ' Isolatoes ' 
7133too, I call such, not acknowledging the common continent 
7134of men, but each Isolate living on a separate continent 
7135of his own. Yet now, federated along one keel, what a 
7136set these Isolatoes were ! An Anacharsis Clootz deputa- 
7137tion from all the isles of the sea, and all the ends of the 
7138earth, accompanying Old Ahab in the Pequod to lay the 
7139
7140
7141
7142150 MOBY-DICK 
7143
7144world's grievances before that bar from which not very 
7145many of them ever come back. Black Little Pip he 
7146never did oh, no ! he went before. Poor Alabama boy ! 
7147On the grim Pequod's forecastle, ye shall ere long see him, 
7148beating his tambourine ; prelusive of the eternal time, 
7149when sent for, to the great quarter-deck on high, he was 
7150bid strike in with angels, and beat his tambourine in 
7151glory ; called a coward here, hailed a hero there ! 
7152
7153
7154
7155CHAPTER XXVIII 
7156
7157AHAB 
7158
7159FOB several days after leaving Nantucket, nothing above 
7160hatches was seen of Captain Ahab. The mates regularly 
7161relieved each other at the watches, and for aught that 
7162could be seen to the contrary, they seemed to be the only 
7163commanders of the ship ; only they sometimes issued from 
7164the cabin with orders so sudden and peremptory, that 
7165after all it was plain they but commanded vicariously. 
7166Yes, their supreme lord and dictator was there, though 
7167hitherto unseen by any eyes not permitted to penetrate 
7168into the now sacred retreat of the cabin. 
7169
7170Every time I ascended to the deck from my watches 
7171below, I instantly gazed aft to mark if any strange face 
7172were visible ; for my first vague disquietude touching 
7173the unknown captain, now in the seclusion of the sea, 
7174became almost a perturbation. This was strangely 
7175heightened at times by the ragged Elijah's diabolical 
7176incoherences uninvitingly recurring to me, with a subtle 
7177energy I could not have before conceived of. But poorly 
7178could I withstand them, much as in other moods I was 
7179almost ready to smile at the solemn whimsicalities of that 
7180outlandish prophet of the wharves. But whatever it was 
7181of apprehensiveness or uneasiness to call it so which I 
7182felt, yet whenever I came to look about me in the ship, 
7183it seemed against all warranty to cherish such emotions. 
7184For though the harpooneers, with the great body of the 
7185crew, were a far more barbaric, heathenish, and motley 
7186set than any of the tame merchant-ship companies which 
7187
7188151 
7189
7190
7191
7192152 MOBY-DICK 
7193
7194my previous experiences had made me acquainted with, 
7195still I ascribed this and rightly ascribed it to the fierce 
7196uniqueness of the very nature of that wild Scandinavian 
7197vocation in which I had so abandonedly embarked. But 
7198it was especially the aspect of the three chief officers of 
7199the ship, the mates, which was most forcibly calculated 
7200to allay these colourless misgivings, and induce confidence 
7201and cheerfulness in every presentment of the voyage. 
7202Three better, more likely sea-officers and men, each in 
7203his own different way, could not readily be found, and 
7204they were every one of them Americans ; a Nantucketer, 
7205a Vineyarder, a Cape man. Now, it being Christmas 
7206when the ship shot from out her harbour, for a space we 
7207had biting Polar weather, though all the time running 
7208away from it to the southward ; and by every degree 
7209and minute of latitude which we sailed, gradually leaving 
7210that merciless winter, and all its intolerable weather 
7211behind us. It was one of those less lowering, but still 
7212gray and gloomy enough mornings of the transition, when 
7213with a fair wind the ship was rushing through the water 
7214with a vindictive sort of leaping and melancholy rapidity, 
7215that as I mounted to the deck at the call of the forenoon 
7216watch, so soon as I levelled my glance toward the tanrail, 
7217foreboding shivers ran over me. Reality outran appre- 
7218hension ; .Captain Ahab stood upon his quarter-deck. 
7219
7220There seemed no sign of common bodily illness about 
7221him, nor of the recovery from any. He looked like a man 
7222cut away from the stake, when the fire has overrunningly 
7223wasted all the limbs without consuming them, or taking 
7224away one particle from their compacted aged robustness. 
7225His whole high, broad form, seemed made of solid bronze, 
7226and shaped in an unalterable mould, like Cellini's cast 
7227Perseus. Threading its way out from among his gray 
7228hairs, and continuing right down one side of his tawny 
7229scorched face and neck, till it disappeared in his clothing, 
7230
7231
7232
7233
7234
7235
7236AHAB 153 
7237
7238you saw a slender rod-like mark, lividly whitish. It 
7239resembled that perpendicular seam sometimes made in 
7240the straight, lofty trunk of a great tree, when the upper 
7241lightning tearingly darts down it, and without wrenching 
7242a single twig, peels and grooves out the bark from top to 
7243bottom, ere running off into the soil, leaving the tree still 
7244greenly alive, but branded. Whether that mark was born 
7245with him, or whether it was the scar left by some desperate 
7246wound, no one could certainly say. By some tacit con- 
7247sent, throughout the voyage little or no allusion was made 
7248to it, especially by the mates. But once Tashtego's 
7249senior, an old Gay-Head Indian among the crew, super- 
7250stitiously asserted that not till he was full forty years 
7251old did Ahab become that way branded, and then it 
7252came upon him, not in the fury of any mortal fray, but 
7253in an elemental strife at sea. Yet, this wild hint seemed 
7254inferentially negatived by what a gray Manxman in- 
7255sinuated, an old sepulchral man, who, having never 
7256before sailed out of Nantucket, had never ere this laid eye 
7257upon wild Ahab. Nevertheless, the old sea-traditions, 
7258the immemorial credulities, popularly invested this old 
7259Manxman with preternatural powers of discernment. 
7260So that no white sailor seriously contradicted him when 
7261he said that if ever Captain Ahab should be tranquilly 
7262laid out which might hardly come to pass, so he muttered 
7263then, whoever should do that last office for the dead 
7264would find a birth-mark on him from crown to sole. 
7265
7266So powerfully did the whole grim aspect of Ahab affect 
7267me, and the livid brand which streaked it, that for the 
7268first few moments I hardly noted that not a little of this 
7269overbearing grimness was owing to the barbaric white 
7270leg upon which he partly stood. It had previously come 
7271to me that this ivory leg had at sea been fashioned from 
7272the polished bone of the sperm whale's jaw. * Ay, he 
7273was dismasted off Japan,' said the old Gay-Head Indian 
7274
7275
7276
7277154 MOBY-DICK 
7278
7279once ; ' but like his dismasted craft, he shipped another 
7280mast without coming home for it. He has a quiver of 'em.' 
7281
7282I was struck with the singular posture he maintained. 
7283Upon each side of the Pequod's quarter-deck, and pretty 
7284close to the mizen shrouds, there was an auger-hole, 
7285bored about half an inch or so, into the plank. His bone 
7286leg steadied in that hole ; one arm elevated, and holding 
7287by a shroud ; Captain Ahab stood erect, looking straight 
7288out beyond the ship's ever-pitching prow. There was an 
7289infinity of firmest fortitude, a determinate, unsurrender- 
7290able wilfulness, in the fixed and fearless, forward dedi- 
7291cation of that glance. Not a word he spoke ; nor did 
7292his officers say aught to him ; though by all their minutest 
7293gestures and expressions, they plainly showed the uneasy, 
7294if not painful, consciousness of being under a troubled 
7295master-eye. And not only that, but moody stricken 
7296Ahab stood before them with a crucifixion in his face ; 
7297in all the nameless regal overbearing dignity of some 
7298mighty woe. 
7299
7300Ere long, from his first visit in the air, he withdrew into 
7301his cabin. But after that morning, he was every day 
7302visible to the crew ; either standing in his pivot -hole, 
7303or seated upon an ivory stool he had ; or heavily walking 
7304the deck. As the sky grew less gloomy ; indeed, began 
7305to grow a little genial, he became still less and less a recluse ; 
7306as if, when the ship had sailed from home, nothing but 
7307the dead wintry bleakness of the sea had then kept him 
7308so secluded. And, by and by, it came to pass, that he 
7309was almost continually in the air ; but, as yet, for all that 
7310he said, or perceptibly did, on the at last sunny deck, he 
7311seemed as unnecessary there as another mast. But the 
7312Pequod was only making a passage now ; not regularly 
7313cruising ; nearly all whaling preparatives needing super- 
7314vision the mates were fully competent to, so that there 
7315was little or nothing, out of himself, to employ or excite 
7316
7317
7318
7319AHAB 155 
7320
7321Ahab now ; and thus chase away, for that one interval, 
7322the clouds that layer upon layer were piled upon his 
7323brow, as ever all clouds choose the loftiest peaks to pile 
7324themselves upon. 
7325
7326Nevertheless, ere long, the warm, warbling persuasive- 
7327ness of the pleasant, holiday weather we came to, seemed 
7328gradually to charm him from his mood. For, as when the 
7329red-cheeked, dancing girls, April and May, trip home to 
7330the wintry, misanthropic woods ; even the barest, 
7331ruggedest, most thunder-cloven old oak will at least send 
7332forth some few green sprouts, to welcome such glad- 
7333hearted visitants ; so Ahab did, in the end, a little 
7334respond to the playful allurings of that girlish air. More 
7335than once did he put forth the faint blossom of a look, 
7336which, in any other man, would have soon flowered out 
7337in a smile. 
7338
7339
7340
7341
7342
7343
7344CHAPTER XXIX 
7345
7346TO HIM, STUBB 
7347
7348SOME days elapsed, and ice and icebergs all astern, the 
7349Pequod now went rolling through the bright Quito spring, 
7350which, at sea, almost perpetually reigns on the threshold 
7351of the eternal August of the Tropic. The warmly cool, 
7352clear, ringing, perfumed, overflowing, redundant days, 
7353were as crystal goblets of Persian sherbet, heaped up 
7354flaked up, with rose-water snow. The starred and stately 
7355nights seemed haughty dames in jewelled velvets, nursing 
7356at home in lonely pride, the memory of their absent 
7357conquering Earls, the golden helmeted suns ! For 
7358sleeping man, 'twas hard to choose between such winsome 
7359days and such seducing nights. But all the witcheries 
7360of that unwaning weather did not merely lend new spells 
7361and potencies to the outward world. Inward they 
7362turned upon the soul, especially when the still mild hours 
7363of eve came on ; then, memory shot her crystals as the 
7364clear ice most forms of noiseless twilights. And all these 
7365subtle agencies, more and more they wrought on Ahab's 
7366texture. 
7367
7368Old age is always wakeful ; as if, the longer linked with 
7369life, the less man has to do with aught that looks like 
7370death. Among sea-commanders, the old graybeards will 
7371oftenest leave their berths to visit the night-cloaked deck. 
7372It was so with Ahab ; only that now, of late, he seemed 
7373so much to live in the open air, that truly speaking, his 
7374visits were more to the cabin, than from the cabin to the 
7375planks. ' It feels like going down into one's tomb,' 
7376
7377156 
7378
7379
7380
7381ENTER AHAB 157 
7382
7383he would mutter to himself, ' for an old captain like me 
7384to be descending this narrow scuttle, to go to my grave- 
7385dug berth/ 
7386
7387So, almost every twenty-four hours, when the watches 
7388of the night were set, and the band on deck sentinelled 
7389the slumbers of the band below ; and when if a rope was 
7390to be hauled upon the forecastle, the sailors flung it not 
7391rudely down, as by day, but with some cautiousness 
7392dropped it to its place, for fear of disturbing their slumber- 
7393ing shipmates ; when this sort of steady quietude would 
7394begin to prevail, habitually, the silent steersman would 
7395watch the cabin-scuttle ; and ere long the old man would 
7396emerge, gripping at the iron banister, to help his crippled 
7397way. Some considerating touch of humanity was in 
7398him ; for at times like these, he usually abstained from 
7399patrolling the quarter-deck ; because to his wearied 
7400mates, seeking repose within six inches of his ivory heel, 
7401such would have been the reverberating crack and din 
7402of that bony step, that their dreams would have been of 
7403the crunching teeth of sharks. But once, the mood was 
7404on him too deep for common regardings ; and as with 
7405heavy, lumber-like pace he was measuring the ship from 
7406tanrail to mainmast, Stubb, the odd second mate, came 
7407up from below, and with a certain unassured, deprecating 
7408humorousness, hinted that if Captain Ahab was pleased 
7409to walk the planks, then, no one could say nay ; but 
7410there might be some way of muffling the noise ; hinting 
7411something indistinctly and hesitatingly about a globe 
7412of tow, and the insertion into it, of the ivory heel. Ah ! 
7413Stubb, thou didst not know Ahab then. 
7414
7415' Am I a cannon-ball, Stubb/ said Ahab, ' that thou 
7416wouldst wad me that fashion ? But go thy ways ; I had 
7417forgot. Below to thy nightly grave ; where such as ye 
7418sleep between shrouds, to use ye to the filling one at last. 
7419Down, dog, and kennel ! ' 
7420
7421
7422
7423158 MOBY-DICK 
7424
7425{Starting at the unforeseen concluding exclamation of 
7426the so suddenly scornful old man, Stubb was speechless 
7427a moment ; then said excitedly, ' I am not used to be 
7428spoken to that way, sir ; I do but less than half like it, 
7429sir.' 
7430
7431' Avast ! ' gritted Ahab between his set teeth, and 
7432violently moving away, as if to avoid some passionate 
7433temptation. 
7434
7435' No, sir ; not yet,' said Stubb, emboldened. ' I will 
7436not tamely be called a dog, sir.' 
7437
7438' Then be called ten times a donkey, and a mule, and 
7439an ass, and begone, or I 11 clear the world of thee ! ' 
7440
7441As he said this, Ahab advanced upon him with such 
7442overbearing terrors in his aspect, that Stubb involuntarily 
7443retreated. 
7444
7445' I was never served so before without giving a hard blow 
7446for it,' muttered Stubb, as he found himself descending 
7447the cabin-scuttle. ' It 's very queer. Stop, Stubb ; 
7448somehow, now, I don't well know whether to go back and 
7449strike him, or what 's that ? down here on my knees 
7450and pray for him ? Yes, that was the thought coming 
7451up in me ; but it would be the first time I ever did pray. 
7452It 's queer ; very queer ; and he 's queer too ; ay, take 
7453him fore and aft, he 's about the queerest old man Stubb 
7454ever sailed with. How he flashed at me ! his eyes like 
7455powder-pans ! is he mad ? Anyway there 's something 
7456on his mind, as sure as there must be something on a deck 
7457when it cracks. He ain't in his bed now, either, more 
7458than three hours out of the twenty-four ; and he don't 
7459sleep then. Didn't that Dough-Boy, the steward, tell 
7460me that of a morning he always finds the old man's ham- 
7461mock clothes all rumpled and tumbled, and the sheets 
7462down at the foot, and the coverlid almost tied into knots, 
7463and the pillow a sort of frightful hot, as though a baked 
7464brick had been on it ? A hot old man ! I guess he 's 
7465
7466
7467
7468ENTER AHAB 159 
7469
7470got what some folks ashore call a conscience ; it 's a kind 
7471of Tic-Dolly-row they say worse nor a toothache. Well, 
7472well ; I don't know what it is, but the Lord keep me from 
7473catching it. He 's full of riddles ; I wonder what he goes 
7474into the after-hold for, every night, as Dough -Boy tells me 
7475he suspects ; what 's that for, I should like to know ? 
7476Who 's made appointments with him in the hold ? Ain't 
7477that queer, now ? But there 's no telling, it 's the old 
7478game. Here goes for a snooze. Damn me, it 's worth a 
7479fellow's while to be born into the world, if only to fall right 
7480asleep. And now that I think of it, that 's about the first 
7481thing babies do, and that 's a sort of queer, too. Damn 
7482me, but all things are queer, come to think of 'em. But 
7483that 's against my principles. Think not, is my eleventh, 
7484commandment ; and sleep when you can, is my twelfth. 
7485"feo here goes again. But how 's that ? didn't he call me 
7486a dog ? blazes ! he called me ten times a donkey, and 
7487piled a lot of jackasses on top of that \ He might as well 
7488have kicked me, and done with it. Maybe he did kick me, 
7489and I didn't observe it, I was so taken all aback with his 
7490brow, somehow. It flashed like a bleached bone. What 
7491the devil 's the matter with me ? I don't stand right 
7492on my legs. Coming afoul of that old man has a sort of 
7493turned me wrong side out. By the Lord, I must have 
7494been dreaming, though How 1 how ? how ? but the 
7495only way 's to stash it ; so here goes to hammock again ; 
7496and in the morning, I '11 see how this plaguy juggling 
7497thinks over by daylight.' 
7498
7499
7500
7501CHAPTER XXX 
7502
7503THE PIPE 
7504
7505WHEN Stubb had departed, Ahab stood for a while leaning 
7506over the bulwarks ; and then, as had been usual with him 
7507of late, calling a sailor of the watch, he sent him below for 
7508his ivory stool, and also his pipe. Lighting the pipe at 
7509the binnacle lamp and planting the stool on the weather- 
7510side of the deck, he sat and smoked. 
7511
7512In old Norse times, the thrones of the sea-loving Danish 
7513kings were fabricated, saith tradition, of the tusks of the 
7514narwhale. How could one look at Ahab then, seated on 
7515that tripod of bones, without bethinking him of the 
7516royalty it symbolised ? For a khan of the plank, and 
7517a king of the sea, and a great lord of leviathans was Ahab. 
7518
7519Some moments passed, during which the thick vapour 
7520came from his mouth in quick and constant puffs, which 
7521blew back again into his face. ' How now, ' he soliloquised 
7522at last, withdrawing the tube, 'this smoking no longer 
7523soothes. Oh, my pipe ! hard must it go with me if thy 
7524charm be gone ! Here have I been unconsciously toiling, 
7525not pleasuring, ay, and ignorantly smoking to windward 
7526all the while ; to windward, and with such nervous whiffs, 
7527as if, like the dying whale, my final jets were the strongest 
7528and fullest of trouble. What business have I with this 
7529pipe ? This thing that is meant for sereneness, to send up 
7530mild white vapours among mild white hairs, not among 
7531torn iron -gray locks like mine. I '11 smoke no more 
7532
7533He tossed the still lighted pipe into the sea. The fire 
7534hissed in the waves ; the same instant the ship shot by 
7535the bubble the sinking pipe made. With slouched hat, 
7536Ahab lurchingly paced the planks. 
7537
7538160 
7539
7540
7541
7542CHAPTER XXXI 
7543
7544QUEEN MAB 
7545
7546NEXT morning Stubb accosted Flask. 
7547
7548' Such a queer dream, King-Post, I never had. You 
7549know the old man's ivory leg, well I dreamed he kicked 
7550me with it ; and when I tried to kick back, upon my soul, 
7551my little man, I kicked my leg right off ! And then, 
7552presto ! Ahab seemed a pyramid, and I, like a blazing 
7553fool, kept kicking at it. But what was still more curious, 
7554Flask you know how curious all dreams are through 
7555all this rage that I was in, I somehow seemed to be think- 
7556ing to myself, that after all, it was not much of an insult, 
7557that kick from Ahab. " Why," thinks I, " what 's the 
7558row ? It 's not a real leg, only a false leg." And there 's 
7559a mighty difference between a living thump and a dead 
7560thump. That 's what makes a blow from the hand, 
7561Flask, fifty times more savage to bear than a blow from 
7562a cane. The living member that makes the living insult, 
7563my little man. And thinks I to myself afl the wnile, 
7564mind, while I was stubbing my silly toes against that 
7565cursed pyramid so confoundedly contradictory was it 
7566all, all the while, I say, I was thinking to myself, "What 's 
7567his leg now, but a cane a whalebone cane. Yes," 
7568thinks I, "it was only a playful cudgelling in fact, only 
7569a whaleboning that he gave me not a base kick. Be- 
7570sides," thinks I, " look at it once ; why, the end of it 
7571the foot part what a small sort of end it is ; whereas, if 
7572a broad-footed farmer kicked me, there 's a devilish broad 
7573insult. But this insult is whittled down to a point only." 
7574
7575VOL. I. L 
7576
7577
7578
7579162 MOBY-DICK 
7580
7581But now comes the greatest joke of the dream, Flask. 
7582While I was battering away at the pyramid, a sort of 
7583badger-haired old merman, with a hump on his back, 
7584takes me by the shoulders, and slews me round. " What 
7585are you 'bout ? " says he. Slid ! man, but I was 
7586frightened. Such a phiz ! But, somehow, next moment 
7587I was over the fright. " What am I about ? " says I at 
7588last. " And what business is that of yours, I should like 
7589to know, Mr. Humpback ? Do you want a kick ? " By 
7590the lord, Flask, I had no sooner said that, than he turned 
7591round his stern to me, bent over, and dragging up a lot 
7592of seaweed he had for a clout what do you think I saw ? 
7593why, thunder alive, man, his stern was stuck full of 
7594marling-spikes, with the points out. Says I, on second 
7595thoughts, " I guess I won't kick you, old fellow." " Wise 
7596Stubb," said he, " wise Stubb " ; and kept muttering 
7597it all the time, a sort of eating of his own gums like a 
7598chimney hag. Seeing he wasn't going to stop saying 
7599over his " wise Stubb, wise Stubb," I thought I might as 
7600well fall to kicking the pyramid again. But I had only 
7601just lifted my foot for it, when he roared out, " Stop that 
7602kicking ! " " Halloa," says I, " what 's the matter now, 
7603old fellow ? " " Look ye here," says he ; " let 's argue 
7604the insult. Captain Ahab kicked ye, didn't he ? " " Yes, 
7605he did," says I "right here it was." "Very good," 
7606says he " he used his ivory leg, didn't he ? " " Yes, he 
7607did," says I. " WeU, then," says he, " wise Stubb, what 
7608have you to complain of ? Didn't he kick with right 
7609goodwill ? it wasn't a common pitch-pine leg he kicked 
7610with, was it ? No, you were kicked by a great man, and 
7611with a beautiful ivory leg, Stubb. It 's an honour ; I 
7612consider it an honour. Listen, wise Stubb. In old 
7613England the greatest lords think it great glory to be 
7614slapped by a queen, and made garter-knights of ; but, 
7615be your boast, Stubb, that ye were kicked by old Ahab, 
7616
7617
7618
7619QUEEN MAB 163 
7620
7621and made a wise man of. Remember what I say ; be 
7622kicked by him ; account his kicks honours ; and on no 
7623account kick back ; for you can't help yourself, wise 
7624Stubb. Don't you see that pyramid ? " With that, he 
7625all of a sudden seemed somehow, in some queer fashion, 
7626to swim off into the air. I snored ; rolled over ; and there 
7627I was in my hammock ! Now, what do you think of that 
7628dream, Flask ? ' 
7629
76304 1 don't know ; it seems a sort of foolish to me, 
7631though.' 
7632
76334 Maybe ; maybe. But it 's made a wise man of me, 
7634Flask. D' ye see Ahab standing there, sideways looking 
7635over the stern ? Well, the best thing you can do, Flask, 
7636is to let that old man alone ; never speak to him, whatever 
7637he says. Halloa ! What 's that he shouts ? Hark ! ' 
7638
7639' Mast-head, there ! Look sharp, all of ye ! There are 
7640whales hereabouts ! If ye see a white one, split your 
7641lungs for him ! ' 
7642
7643' What do you think of that now, Flask ? ain't there a 
7644small drop of something queer about that, eh ? A white 
7645whale did ye mark that, man ? Look ye there 's 
7646something special in the wind. Stand by for it, Flask. 
7647Ahab has that that 's bloody on his mind. But, mum ; 
7648he comes this way.' 
7649
7650
7651
7652
7653CHAPTER XXXII 
7654
7655CETOLOGY 
7656
7657ALREADY we are boldly launched upon the deep ; but 
7658soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immen- 
7659sities. Ere that come to pass ; ere the Pequod'a weedy 
7660hull rolls side by side with the barnacled hulls of the 
7661leviathan ; at the outset it is but well to attend to a 
7662matter almost indispensable to a thorough appreciative 
7663understanding of the more special leviathanic revelations 
7664and allusions of all sorts which are to follow. 
7665
7666It is some systematised exhibition of the whale in his 
7667broad genera, that I would now fain put before you. Yet 
7668is it no easy task. The classification of the constituents 
7669of a chaos, nothing less is here essayed. Listen to what 
7670the best and latest authorities have laid down. 
7671
7672' No branch of Zoology is so much involved as that which 
7673is entitled Cetology,' says Captain Scoresby, A.D. 1820. 
7674
7675' It is not my intention, were it in my power, to enter 
7676into the inquiry as to the true method of dividing the 
7677cetacea into groups and families. * * * Utter confusion 
7678exists among the historians of this animal ' (Sperm 
7679whale), says Surgeon Beale, A.D. 1839. 
7680
7681' Unfitness to pursue our research in the unfathomable 
7682waters.' ' Impenetrable veil covering our knowledge of 
7683the cetacea.' ' A field strewn with thorns.' ' All these 
7684incomplete indications but serve to torture us naturalists.' 
7685
7686Thus speak of the whale, the great Cuvier, and John 
7687Hunter, and Lesson, those lights of zoology and anatomy. 
7688Nevertheless, though of real knowledge there be little, 
7689
7690164 
7691
7692
7693
7694CETOLOGY 165 
7695
7696yet of books there are a plenty ; and so in some small 
7697degree, with Cetology, or the science of whales. Many are 
7698the men, small and great, old and new, landsmen and sea- 
7699men, who have at large or in little, written of the whale. 
7700Run over a few : The Authors of the Bible ; Aristotle ; 
7701Pliny ; Aldrovandi ; Sir Thomas Browne ; Gesner ; 
7702Ray ; Linnaeus ; Rondeletius ; Willoughby ; Green ; 
7703Artedi ; Sibbald ; Brisson ; Marten ; Lacepede ; Bonne- 
7704terre ; Desmarest ; Baron Cuvier ; Frederick Cuvier ; 
7705John Hunter ; Owen ; Scoresby ; Beale ; Bennett ; J. 
7706Ross Browne ; the Author of Miriam Coffin ; Olmstead ; 
7707and the Rev. T. Cheever. But to what ultimate general- 
7708ising purpose all these have written, the above-cited 
7709extracts will show. 
7710
7711Of the names in this list of whale authors, only those 
7712following Owen ever saw living whales ; and but one of 
7713them was a real professional harpooneer and whaleman. 
7714I mean Captain Scoresby. On the separate subject of 
7715the Greenland or Right whale, he is the best existing 
7716authority. But Scoresby knew nothing and says nothing 
7717of the great Sperm whale, compared with which the Green- 
7718land whale is almost unworthy mentioning. And here 
7719be it said, that the Greenland whale is an usurper upon 
7720the throne of the seas. He is not even by any means the 
7721largest of the whales. Yet, owing to the long priority 
7722of his claims, and the profound ignorance which, till some 
7723seventy years back, invested the then fabulous or utterly 
7724unknown Sperm whale, and which ignorance to this 
7725present day still reigns in all but some few scientific 
7726retreats and whale -ports ; this usurpation has been every 
7727way complete. Reference to nearly all the leviathanic 
7728allusions in the great poets of past days, will satisfy you 
7729that the Greenland whale, without one rival, was to them 
7730the monarch of the seas. But the time has at last come 
7731for a new proclamation. This is Charing Cross ; hear ye ! 
7732
7733
7734
7735166 MOBY-DICK 
7736
7737good people all, the Greenland whale is deposed, the 
7738great Sperm whale now reigneth ! 
7739
7740There are only two books in being which at all pretend 
7741to put the living Sperm whale before you, and at the same 
7742time, in the remotest degree succeed in the attempt. 
7743Those books are Beale's and Bennett's ; both in their 
7744time surgeons to the English South -Sea whale -ships, and 
7745both exact and reliable men. The original matter 
7746touching the Sperm whale to be found in their volumes is 
7747necessarily small ; but so far as it goes, it is of excellent 
7748quality, though mostly confined to scientific description. 
7749As yet, however, the Sperm whale, scientific or poetic, 
7750lives not complete in any literature. Far above all other 
7751hunted whales, his is an unwritten life. 
7752
7753Now the various species of whales need some sort of 
7754popular comprehensive classification, if only an easy 
7755outline one for the present, hereafter to be filled in all its 
7756departments by subsequent labourers. As no better 
7757man advances to take this matter in hand, I hereupon 
7758offer my own poor endeavours. I promise nothing 
7759complete ; because any human thing supposed to be 
7760complete, must for that very reason infallibly be faulty. 
7761I shall not pretend to a minute anatomical description of 
7762the various species, or in this place at least to much of 
7763any description. My object here is simply to project the 
7764draught of a systematisation of Cetology. I am the 
7765architect, not the builder. 
7766
7767But it is a ponderous task ; no ordinary letter-sorter 
7768in the Post Office is equal to it. To grope down into the 
7769bottom of the sea after them ; to have one's hands 
7770among the unspeakable foundations, ribs, and very pelvis 
7771of the world ; this is a fearful thing. What am I that I 
7772should essay to hook the nose of this leviathan ! The 
7773awful tauntings in Job might well appal me. ' Will he 
7774(the leviathan) make a covenant with thee ? Behold the 
7775
7776
7777
7778CETOLOGY 167 
7779
7780hope of him is vain ! ' But I have swam through libraries 
7781and sailed through oceans ; I have had to do with whales 
7782with these visible hands ; I am in earnest ; and I will 
7783try. There are some preliminaries to settle. 
7784
7785First : The uncertain, unsettled condition of this 
7786science of Cetology is in the very vestibule attested by 
7787the fact, that in some quarters it still remains a moot point 
7788whether a whale be a fish. In his System of Nature, 
7789A.D. 1776, Linnaeus declares, ' I hereby separate the whales 
7790from the fish. 5 But of my own knowledge, I know that 
7791down to the year 1850, sharks and shad, ale wives and 
7792herring, against Linnaeus 's express edict, were still found 
7793dividing the possession of the same seas with the leviathan. 
7794
7795The grounds upon which Linnaeus would fain have 
7796banished the whales from the waters, he states as follows : 
7797' On account of their warm bilocular heart, their lungs, 
7798their movable eyelids, their hollow ears, penem intrantem 
7799feminam mammis lactantem,' and finally, ' ex lege naturae 
7800jure meritoque.' I submitted all this to my friends 
7801Simeon Macey and Charley Coffin, of Nantucket, both 
7802messmates of mine in a certain voyage, and they united 
7803in the opinion that the reasons set forth were altogether 
7804insufficient . Charley profanely hinted they were humbug . 
7805
7806Be it known that, waiving all argument, I take the good 
7807old-fashioned ground that the whale is a fish, and call 
7808upon holy Jonah to back me. This fundamental thing 
7809settled, the next point is, in what internal respect does 
7810the whale differ from other fish. Above, Linnaeus has 
7811given you those items. But in brief, they are those : 
7812lungs and warm blood ; whereas, all other fish are lung- 
7813less and cold-blooded. 
7814
7815Next : how shall we define the whale, by his obvious 
7816externals, so as conspicuously to label him for all time to 
7817come ? To be short, then, a whale is a spouting fish with 
7818a horizontal tail. There you have him. However con- 
7819
7820
7821
7822168 MOBY-DICK 
7823
7824traded, that definition is the result of expanded medita- 
7825tion. A walrus spouts much like a whale, but the walrus 
7826is not a fish, because he is amphibious. But the last term 
7827of the definition is still more cogent, as coupled with the 
7828first. Almost any one must have noticed that all the 
7829fish familiar to landsmen have not a flat, but a vertical, 
7830or up-and-down tail. Whereas, among spouting fish the 
7831tail, though it may be similarly shaped, invariably assumes 
7832a horizontal position. 
7833
7834By the above definition of what a whale is, I do by no 
7835means exclude from the leviathanic brotherhood any sea- 
7836creature hitherto identified with the whale by the best- 
7837informed Nantucketers ; nor, on the other hand, link 
7838with it any fish hitherto authoritatively regarded as alien. 1 
7839Hence, all the smaller, spouting, and horizontal-tailed fish 
7840must be included in this ground-plan of Cetology. Now, 
7841then, come the grand divisions of the entire whale host. 
7842
7843First : According to magnitude I divide the whales into 
7844three primary BOOKS (subdivisible into CHAPTERS), and 
7845these shall comprehend them all, both small and large. 
7846
7847I. The FOLIO WHALE ; II. the OCTAVO WHALE ; 
7848III. the DUODECIMO WHALE. 
7849
7850As the type of the FOLIO I present the Sperm Whale ; 
7851of the OCTAVO, the Grampus ; of the DUODECIMO, the 
7852Porpoise. 
7853
7854FOLIOS. Among these I here include the following 
7855chapters : I. the Sperm Whale ; II. the Right Whale ; 
7856III. the Fin-lack Whale ; IV. the Hump-backed Whale \ 
7857V. the Razor-back Whale ; VI. the Sulphur-bottom Whale. 
7858
7859BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER I. (Sperm Whale). This 
7860
78611 I am aware that down to the present time, the fish styled Lamatins 
7862and Dugongs (Pig-fish and Sow-fish of the Coffins of Nantucket) are 
7863included by many naturalists among the whales. But as these pig-fish 
7864are a nosy, contemptible set, mostly lurking in the mouths of rivers, and 
7865feeding on wet hay, and especially as they do not spout, I deny their 
7866credentials as whales ; and have presented them with their passports to 
7867quit the Kingdom of Cetology. 
7868
7869
7870
7871CETOLOGY 169 
7872
7873whale, among the English of old vaguely known as the 
7874Trumpa whale, and the Physeter whale, and the Anvil- 
7875headed whale, is the present Cachalot of the French, and 
7876the Pottsfisch of the Germans, and the Macrocephalus 
7877of the Long Words. He is, without doubt, the largest 
7878inhabitant of the globe ; the most formidable of all 
7879whales to encounter ; the most majestic in aspect ; and 
7880lastly, by far the most valuable in commerce ; he being 
7881the only creature from which that valuable substance, 
7882spermaceti, is obtained. All his peculiarities will, in 
7883many other places, be enlarged upon. It is chiefly with 
7884his name that I now have to do. Philologically con- 
7885sidered, it is absurd. Some centuries ago, when the 
7886Sperm whale was almost wholly unknown in his own 
7887proper individuality, and when his oil was only accident- 
7888ally obtained from the stranded fish ; in those days 
7889spermaceti, it would seem, was popularly supposed to be 
7890derived from a creature identical with the one then known 
7891in England as the Greenland or Right whale. It was 
7892the idea also, that this same spermaceti was that quicken- 
7893ing humour of the Greenland whale which the first 
7894syllable of the word literally expresses. In those times, 
7895also, spermaceti was exceedingly scarce, not being used 
7896for light, but only as an ointment and medicament. It 
7897was only to be had from the druggists as you nowadays 
7898buy an ounce of rhubarb. When, as I opine, in the course 
7899of time, the true nature of spermaceti became known, its 
7900original name was still retained by the dealers ; no doubt 
7901to enhance its value by a notion so strangely significant 
7902of its scarcity. And so the appellation must at last have 
7903come to be bestowed upon the whale from which this 
7904spermaceti was really derived. 
7905
7906BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER II. (Right Whale). In one 
7907respect this is the most venerable of the leviathans, being 
7908the one first regularly hunted by man. It yields the 
7909
7910
7911
7912170 MOBY-DICK 
7913
7914article commonly known as whalebone or baleen ; and 
7915the oil specially known as ' whale oil,' an inferior article 
7916in commerce. Among the fishermen, he is indiscrimin- 
7917ately designated by all the following titles : The Whale ; 
7918the Greenland Whale ; the Black Whale ; the Great 
7919Whale ; the True Whale ; the Right Whale. There is a 
7920deal of obscurity concerning the identity of the species 
7921thus multitudinously baptized. What then is the whale, 
7922which I include in the second species of my Folios ? It is 
7923the Great Mysticetus of the English naturalists ; the 
7924Greenland Whale of the English whalemen ; the Baleine 
7925Ordinaire of the French whalemen ; the Growlands Wal- 
7926fisch of the Swedes. It is the whale which for more than 
7927two centuries past has been hunted by the Dutch and 
7928English in the Arctic seas ; it is the whale which the 
7929American fishermen have long pursued in the Indian 
7930Ocean, on the Brazil Banks, on the Nor '-West Coast, and 
7931various other parts of the world, designated by them 
7932Right Whale Cruising-Grounds. 
7933
7934Some pretend to see a difference between the Greenland 
7935whale of the English and the Right whale of the Ameri- 
7936cans. But they precisely agree in all their grand features ; 
7937nor has there yet been presented a single determinate 
7938fact upon which to ground a radical distinction. It is 
7939by endless subdivisions based upon the most inconclusive 
7940differences, that some departments of natural history 
7941become so repellingly intricate. The Right whale will 
7942be elsewhere treated of at some length, with reference to 
7943elucidating the Sperm whale. 
7944
7945BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER III. (Fin-back). Under 
7946this head I reckon a monster which, by the various names 
7947of Fin-back, Tall-spout, and Long-John, has been seen 
7948almost in every sea and is commonly the whale whose 
7949distant jet is so often descried by passengers crossing the 
7950Atlantic, in the New York packet -tracks. In the length 
7951
7952
7953
7954CETOLOGY 171 
7955
7956he attains, and in his baleen, the Fin-back resembles the 
7957Right whale, but is of a less portly girth, and a lighter 
7958colour, approaching to olive. His great lips present a 
7959cable-like aspect, formed by the intertwisting, slanting 
7960folds of large wrinkles. His grand distinguishing feature, 
7961the fin, from which he derives his name, is often a con- 
7962spicuous object. This fin is some three or four feet long, 
7963growing vertically from the hinder part of the back, of 
7964an angular shape, and with a very sharp-pointed end. 
7965Even if not the slightest other part of the creature be 
7966visible, this isolated fin will, at times, be seen plainly 
7967projecting from the surface. When the sea is moderately 
7968calm, and slightly marked with spherical ripples, and this 
7969gnomon-like fin stands up and casts shadows upon the 
7970wrinkled surface, it may well be supposed that the watery 
7971circle surrounding it somewhat resembles a dial, with its 
7972style and wavy hour-lines graved on it. On that Ahaz- 
7973dial the shadow often goes back. The Fin-back is not 
7974gregarious. He seems a whale-hater, as some men are 
7975man-haters. Very shy ; always going solitary ; unex- 
7976pectedly rising to the surface in the remotest and most 
7977sullen waters ; his straight and single lofty jet rising like 
7978a tall misanthropic spear upon a barren plain ; gifted with 
7979such wondrous power and velocity in swimming, as to 
7980defy all present pursuit from man ; this leviathan seems 
7981the banished and unconquerable Cain of his race, bearing 
7982for his mark that style upon his back. From having the 
7983baleen in his mouth, the Fin-back is sometimes included 
7984with the Right whale, among a theoretic species denomin- 
7985ated Whalebone whales, that is, whales with baleen. Of 
7986these so-called Whalebone whales, there would seem to be 
7987several varieties, most of which, however, are little known. 
7988Broad-nosed whales and Beaked whales ; Pike -headed 
7989whales ; Bunched whales ; Under- jawed whales and 
7990Rostrated whales, are the fishermen's names for a few sorts. 
7991
7992
7993
7994172 MOBY-DICK 
7995
7996In connection with this appellative of ' Whalebone 
7997whales/ it is of great importance to mention, that how- 
7998ever such a nomenclature may be convenient in facilitat- 
7999ing allusions to some kind of whales, yet it is in vain to 
8000attempt a clear classification of the leviathan, founded 
8001upon either his baleen, or hump, or fin, or teeth ; not- 
8002withstanding that those marked parts or features very 
8003obviously seem better adapted to afford the basis for a 
8004regular system of Cetology than any other detached 
8005bodily distinctions, which the whale, in his kinds, presents. 
8006How then ? The baleen, hump, back-fin, and teeth ; 
8007these are things whose peculiarities are indiscriminately 
8008dispersed among all sorts of whales, without any regard 
8009to what may be the nature of their structure in other and 
8010more essential particulars. Thus, the Sperm whale and 
8011the Hump-backed whale, each has a hump ; but there 
8012the similitude ceases. Then, this same Hump-backed 
8013whale and the Greenland whale, each of these has baleen ; 
8014but there again the similitude ceases. And it is just the 
8015same with the other parts above mentioned. In various 
8016sorts of whales, they form such irregular combinations ; 
8017or, in the case of any one of them detached, such an 
8018irregular isolation ; as utterly to defy all general methodis- 
8019ation formed upon such a basis. On this rock every one 
8020of the whale -naturalists has split. 
8021
8022But it may possibly be conceived that, in the internal 
8023parts of the whale, in his anatomy there, at least, we 
8024shall be able to hit the right classification. Nay : what 
8025thing, for example, is there in the Greenland whale's 
8026anatomy more striking than his baleen ? Yet we have 
8027seen that by his baleen it is impossible correctly to classify 
8028the Greenland whale. And if you descend into the bowels 
8029of the various leviathans, why there you will not find 
8030distinctions a fiftieth part as available to the systematiser 
8031as those external ones already enumerated. What then 
8032
8033
8034
8035CETOLOGY 173 
8036
8037remains ? nothing but to take hold of the whales bodily, 
8038in their entire liberal volume, and boldly sort them that 
8039way. And this is the Bibliographical system here adopted ; 
8040and it is the only one that can possibly succeed, for it 
8041alone is practicable. To proceed. 
8042
8043BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER IV. (Hump-back). This 
8044whale is often seen on the northern American coast. He 
8045has been frequently captured there, and towed into 
8046harbour. He has a great pack on him like a peddler ; or 
8047you might call him the Elephant and Castle whale. At 
8048any rate, the popular name for him does not sufficiently 
8049distinguish him, since the Sperm whale also has a hump, 
8050though a smaller one. His oil is not very valuable. He 
8051has baleen. He is the most gamesome and light-hearted 
8052of all the whales, making more gay foam and white water 
8053generally than any other of them. 
8054
8055BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER V. (Razor-back). Of this 
8056whale little is known but his name. I have seen him at a 
8057distance off Cape Horn. Of a retiring nature, he eludes 
8058both hunters and philosophers. Though no coward, he 
8059has never yet shown any part of him but his back, which 
8060rises in a long sharp ridge. Let him go. I know little 
8061more of him, nor does anybody else. 
8062
8063BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER VI. (Sulphur-bottom). 
8064Another retiring gentleman, with a brimstone belly, 
8065doubtless got by scraping along the Tartarian tiles in 
8066some of his profounder divings. He is seldom seen ; at 
8067least I have never seen him except in the remoter Southern 
8068seas, and then always at too great a distance to study his 
8069countenance. He is never chased ; he would run away 
8070with rope -walks of line. Prodigies are told of him. 
8071Adieu, Sulphur-bottom ! I can say nothing more that is 
8072true of ye, nor can the oldest Nantucketer. 
8073
8074Thus ends BOOK I. (Folio), and now begins BOOK II, 
8075(Octavo). 
8076
8077
8078
8079174 MOBY-DICK 
8080
8081OCTAVOS. 1 These embrace the whales of middling 
8082magnitude, among which at present may be numbered : 
8083I. the Grampus ; II. the Black Fish ; III. the Narwhale ; 
8084IV. the Killer ; V. the Thrasher. 
8085
8086BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER I. (Grampus). Though 
8087this fish, whose loud sonorous breathing, or rather blowing, 
8088has furnished a proverb to landsmen, is so well known 
8089a denizen of the deep, yet is he not popularly classed 
8090among whales. But possessing all the grand distinctive 
8091features of the leviathan, most naturalists have recog- 
8092nised him for one. He is of moderate octavo size, varying 
8093from fifteen to twenty-five feet in length, and of corre- 
8094sponding dimensions round the waist. He swims in 
8095herds ; he is never regularly hunted, though his oil is 
8096considerable in quantity, and pretty good for light. By 
8097some fishermen his approach is regarded as premonitory 
8098of the advance of the great Sperm whale. 
8099
8100BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER II. (Black Fish). I give 
8101the popular fishermen's names for all these fish, for gener- 
8102ally they are the best. Where any name happens to be 
8103vague or inexpressive, I shall say so, and suggest another. 
8104I do so now, touching the Black Fish, so called, because 
8105blackness is the rule among almost all whales. So, call 
8106him the Hyena whale, if you please. His voracity is well 
8107known, and from the circumstance that the inner angles 
8108of his lips are curved upward, he carries an everlasting 
8109Mephistophelean grin on his face. This whale averages 
8110some sixteen or eighteen feet in length. He is found in 
8111almost all latitudes. He has a peculiar way of showing 
8112his dorsal hooked fin in swimming, which looks something 
8113like a Roman nose. When not more profitably employed, 
8114
81151 Why this book of whales is not denominated the Quarto is very plain. 
8116Because, while the whales of this order, though smaller than those of the 
8117former order, nevertheless retain a proportionate likeness to them in figure, 
8118yet the bookbinder's Quarto volume in its diminished form does not 
8119preserve the shape of the Folio volume, but the Octavo volume does. 
8120
8121
8122
8123CETOLOGY 175 
8124
8125the Sperm-whale hunters sometimes capture the Hyena 
8126whale, to keep up the supply of cheap oil for domestic 
8127employment as some frugal housekeepers, in the absence 
8128of company, and quite alone by themselves, burn un- 
8129savoury tallow instead of odorous wax. Though their 
8130blubber is very thin, some of these whales will yield you 
8131upward of thirty gallons of oil. 
8132
8133BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER III. (Narwhale), that is, 
8134Nostril Whale. Another instance of a curiously named 
8135whale, so named I suppose from his peculiar horn being 
8136originally mistaken for a peaked nose. The creature is 
8137some sixteen feet in length, while its horn averages five 
8138feet, though some exceed ten, and even attain to fifteen 
8139feet. Strictly speaking, this horn is but a lengthened 
8140tusk, growing out from the jaw in a line a little depressed 
8141from the horizontal. But it is only found on the sinister 
8142side, which has an ill effect, giving its owner something 
8143analogous to the aspect of a clumsy left-handed man. 
8144What precise purpose this ivory horn or lance answers, it 
8145would be hard to say. It does not seem to be used like 
8146the blade of the sword-fish and bill-fish ; though some 
8147sailors tell me that the Narwhale employs it for a rake 
8148in turning over the bottom of the sea for food. Charley 
8149Coffin said it was used for an ice-piercer ; for the Nar- 
8150whale, rising to the surface of the Polar Sea, and finding 
8151it sheeted with ice, thrusts his horn up, and so breaks 
8152through. But you cannot prove either of these surmises 
8153to be correct. My own opinion is, that however this one- 
8154sided horn may really be used by the Narwhale however 
8155that may be it would certainly be very convenient to 
8156him for a folder in reading pamphlets. The Narwhale 
8157I have heard called the Tusked whale, the Horned whale, 
8158and the Unicorn whale. He is certainly a curious 
8159example of the Unicornism to be found in almost every 
8160kingdom of animated nature. From certain cloistered 
8161
8162
8163
8164176 MOBY-DICK 
8165
8166old authors I have gathered that this same sea-unicorn's 
8167horn was in ancient days regarded as the great antidote 
8168against poison, and as such, preparations of it brought 
8169immense prices. It was also distilled to a volatile salts 
8170for fainting ladies, the same way that the horns of the 
8171male deer are manufactured into hartshorn. Originally 
8172it was in itself accounted an object of great curiosity. 
8173Black Letter tells me that Sir Martin Frobisher on his 
8174return from that voyage, when Queen Bess did gallantly 
8175wave her jewelled hand to him from a window of Green- 
8176wich Palace, as his bold ship sailed down the Thames ; 
8177' when Sir Martin returned from that voyage,' saith Black 
8178Letter, ' on bended knees he presented to her highness 
8179a prodigious long horn of the Narwhale, which for a long 
8180period after hung in the castle at Windsor.' An Irish 
8181author avers that the Earl of Leicester, on bended knees, 
8182did likewise present to her highness another horn, per- 
8183taining to a land-beast of the unicorn nature. 
8184
8185The Narwhale has a very picturesque, leopard-like look, 
8186being of a milk-white ground colour, dotted with round 
8187and oblong spots of black. His oil is very superior, clear 
8188and fine ; but there is little of it, and he is seldom hunted. 
8189He is mostly found in the circumpolar seas. 
8190
8191BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER IV. (Killer). Of this 
8192whale little is precisely known to the Nantucketer, and 
8193nothing at all to the professed naturalist. From what I 
8194have seen of him at a distance, I should say that he was 
8195about the bigness of a grampus. He is very savage a 
8196sort of Feegee fish. He sometimes takes the great Folio 
8197whale by the lip, and hangs there like a leech, till the 
8198mighty brute is worried to death. The Killer is never 
8199hunted. I never heard what sort of oil he has. Excep- 
8200tion might be taken to the name bestowed upon this whale, 
8201on the ground of its indistinctness. For we are all killers, 
8202on land and on sea ; Bonapartes and Sharks included. 
8203
8204
8205
8206CETOLOGY 177 
8207
8208BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER V. (Thrasher). This 
8209gentleman is famous for his tail, which he uses for a 
8210ferule in thrashing his foes. He mounts the Folio 
8211whale's back, and as he swims, he works his passage by 
8212flogging him ; as some schoolmasters get along in the 
8213world by a similar process. Still less is known of the 
8214Thrasher than of the Killer. Both are outlaws, even in 
8215the lawless seas. 
8216
8217Thus ends BOOK II. (Octavo), and begins BOOK III. 
8218(Duodecimo). 
8219
8220DUODECIMOS. These include the smaller whales: 
8221I. the Huzza Porpoise ; II. the Algerine Porpoise ; III. 
8222the Mealy-mouthed Porpoise. 
8223
8224To those who have not chanced specially to study the 
8225subject, it may possibly seem strange, that fishes not 
8226commonly exceeding four or five feet should be marshalled 
8227among WHALES a word which, in the popular sense, 
8228always conveys an idea of hugeness. But the creatures 
8229set down above as Duodecimos are infallibly whales, by 
8230the terms of my definition of what a whale is i.e. a 
8231spouting fish, with a horizontal tail. 
8232
8233BOOK III. (Duodecimo), CHAPTER I. (Huzza Porpoise). 
8234This is the common porpoise found almost all over the 
8235globe. The name is of my own bestowal ; for there are 
8236more than one sort of porpoises, and something must be 
8237done to distinguish them. I call him thus, because he 
8238always swims in hilarious shoals, which upon the broad 
8239sea keep tossing themselves to heaven like caps in a 
8240Fourth-of-July crowd. Their appearance is generally 
8241hailed with delight by the mariner. Full of fine spirits, 
8242they invariably come from the breezy billows to windward. 
8243They are the lads that always live before the wind. They 
8244are accounted a lucky omen. If you yourself can with- 
8245stand three cheers at beholding these vivacious fish, then 
8246heaven help ye ; the spirit of godly gamesomeness is not 
8247
8248VOL. I. M 
8249
8250
8251
8252178 MOBY-DICK 
8253
8254in ye. A well-fed, plump Huzza porpoise will yield you 
8255one good gallon of good oil. But the fine and delicate 
8256fluid extracted from his jaws is exceedingly valuable. 
8257It is in request among jewellers and watchmakers. Sailors 
8258put it on their hones. Porpoise meat is good eating, you 
8259know. It may never have occurred to you that a por- 
8260poise spouts. Indeed, his spout is so small that it is not 
8261very readily discernible. But the next time you have a 
8262chance, watch him ; and you will then see the great 
8263Sperm whale himself in miniature. 
8264
8265BOOK III. (Duodecimo), CHAPTER II. (Algerine Por- 
8266poise). A pirate. Very savage. He is only found, I 
8267think, in the Pacific. He is somewhat larger than the 
8268Huzza porpoise, but much of the same general make. 
8269Provoke him, and he will buckle to a shark. I have 
8270lowered for him many times, but never yet saw him 
8271captured. 
8272
8273BOOK III. (Duodecimo), CHAPTER III. (Mealy-mouthed 
8274Porpoise). The largest kind of porpoise ; and only 
8275found in the Pacific, so far as it is known. The only 
8276English name, by which he has hitherto been designated, 
8277,is that of the fishers Right-whale porpoise, from the 
8278circumstance that he is chiefly found in the vicinity of 
8279that Folio. In shape, he differs in some degree from the 
8280Huzza porpoise, being of a less rotund and jolly girth ; 
8281indeed, he is of quite a neat and gentleman -like figure. 
8282He has no fins on his back (most other porpoises have), 
8283he has a lovely tail, and sentimental Indian eyes of a 
8284hazel hue. But his mealy-mouth spoils all. Though 
8285his entire back down to his side fins is of a deep sable, 
8286yet a boundary line, distinct as the mark in a ship's 
8287hull, called the ' bright waist/ that line streaks him from 
8288stem to stern, with two separate colours, black above and 
8289white below. The white comprises part of his head, and 
8290the whole of his mouth, which makes him look as if he 
8291had just escaped from a felonious visit to a meal -bag. 
8292
8293
8294
8295CETOLOGY 179 
8296
8297A most mean and mealy aspect ! His oil is much like 
8298
8299that of the common porpoise. 
8300
8301******* 
8302
8303Beyond the DUODECIMO, this system does not proceed, 
8304inasmuch as the porpoise is the smallest of the whales. 
8305Above, you have all the leviathans of note. But there 
8306are a rabble of uncertain, fugitive, half-fabulous whales, 
8307which, as an American whaleman, I know by reputation, 
8308but not personally. I shall enumerate them by their 
8309forecastle appellations ; for possibly such a list may be 
8310valuable to future investigators, who may complete what 
8311I have here but begun. If any of the following whales 
8312shall hereafter be caught and marked, then he can readily 
8313be incorporated into this system, according to his Folio, 
8314Octavo, or Duodecimo magnitude : The Bottle-nose 
8315Whale ; the Junk Whale ; the Pudding-headed Whale ; 
8316the Cape Whale ; the Leading Whale ; the Cannon 
8317Whale ; the Scragg Whale ; the Coppered Whale ; the 
8318Elephant Whale ; the Iceberg Whale ; the Quog Whale ; 
8319the Blue Whale, etc. From Icelandic, Dutch, and old 
8320English authorities, there might be quoted other lists of 
8321uncertain whales, blessed with all manner of uncouth 
8322names. But I omit them as altogether obsolete ; and 
8323can hardly help suspecting them for mere sounds, full of 
8324leviathanism, but signifying nothing. 
8325
8326Finally : It was stated at the outset, that this system 
8327would not be here, and at once, perfected. You cannot 
8328but plainly see that I have kept my word. But I now 
8329leave my cetological system standing thus unfinished, even 
8330as the great Cathedral of Cologne was left, with the crane 
8331still standing upon the top of the uncompleted tower. 
8332For small erections may be finished by their first archi- 
8333tects ; grand ones, true ones, ever leave the cope-stone to 
8334posterity. God keep me from ever completing anything. 
8335This whole book is but a draught nay, but the draught 
8336of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience ! 
8337
8338
8339
8340CHAPTER XXXIII 
8341
8342THE SPECKSYNDER 
8343
8344CONCERNING the officers of the whale-craft, this seems 
8345as good a place as any to set down a little domestic 
8346peculiarity on shipboard, arising from the existence of 
8347the harpooneer class of officers, a class unknown of course 
8348in any other marine than the whale-fleet. 
8349
8350The large importance attached to the harpooneer J s 
8351vocation is evinced by the fact, that originally in the old 
8352Dutch Fishery, two centuries and more ago, the command 
8353of a whale -ship was not wholly lodged in the person now 
8354called the captain, but was divided between him and an 
8355officer called the Specksynder. Literally this word 
8356means Fat -Cutter ; usage, however, in time made it 
8357equivalent to Chief Harpooneer. In those days, the 
8358captain's authority was restricted to the navigation and 
8359general management of the vessel : while over the whale- 
8360hunting department and all its concerns, the Specksynder 
8361or Chief Harpooneer reigned supreme. In the British 
8362Greenland Fishery, under the corrupted title of Speck- 
8363sioneer, this old Dutch official is still retained, but his 
8364former dignity is sadly abridged. At present he ranks 
8365simply as senior Harpooneer ; and as such, is but one of 
8366the captain's more inferior subalterns. Nevertheless, as 
8367upon the good conduct of the harpooneers the success of 
8368a whaling voyage largely depends, and since in the Ameri- 
8369can Fishery he is not only an important officer in the boat, 
8370but under certain circumstances (night-watches on a 
8371whaling -ground) the command of the ship's deck is also 
8372
8373180 
8374
8375
8376
8377THE SPECKSYNDER 181 
8378
8379his ; therefore the grand political maxim of the sea 
8380demands, that he should nominally live apart from the 
8381men before the mast, and be in some way distinguished 
8382as their professional superior ; though always, by them, 
8383familiarly regarded as their social equal. 
8384
8385Now, the grand distinction drawn between officer and 
8386man at sea is this the first lives aft, the last forward. 
8387Hence, in whale-ships and merchantmen alike, the mates 
8388have their quarters with the captain ; and so, too, in 
8389most of the American whalers the harpooneers are lodged 
8390in the after part of the ship. That is to say, they take 
8391their meals in the captain's cabin, and sleep in a place 
8392indirectly communicating with it. 
8393
8394Though the long period of a Southern whaling voyage 
8395(by far the longest of all voyages now or ever made by 
8396man), the peculiar perils of it, and the community of 
8397interest prevailing among a company, all of whom, high 
8398or low, depend for their profits, not upon fixed wages, 
8399but upon their common luck, together with their common 
8400vigilance, intrepidity, and hard work ; though all these 
8401things do in some cases tend to beget a less rigorous 
8402discipline than in merchantmen generally ; yet, never 
8403mind how much like an old Mesopotamian family these 
8404whalemen may, in some primitive instances, live together ; 
8405for all that, the punctilious externals, at least, of the 
8406quarter-deck are seldom materially relaxed, and in no 
8407instance done away. Indeed, many are the Nantucket 
8408ships in which you will see the skipper parading his 
8409quarter-deck with an elated grandeur not surpassed in 
8410any military navy ; nay, extorting almost as much out- 
8411ward homage as if he wore the imperial purple, and not 
8412the shabbiest of pilot-cloth. 
8413
8414And though of all men the moody captain of the Pequod 
8415was the least given to that sort of shallowest assumption ; 
8416and though the only homage he ever exacted was im- 
8417
8418
8419
8420182 MOBY-DICK 
8421
8422plicit, instantaneous obedience ; though he required no 
8423man to remove the shoes from his feet ere stepping upon 
8424the quarter-deck ; and though there were times when, 
8425owing to peculiar circumstances connected with events 
8426hereafter to be detailed, he addressed them in unusual 
8427terms, whether of condescension or in terrorem, or other- 
8428wise ; yet even Captain Ahab was by no means unob- 
8429servant of the paramount forms and usages of the sea. 
8430
8431Nor, perhaps, will it fail to be eventually perceived, that 
8432behind those forms and usages, as it were, he sometimes 
8433masked himself ; incidentally making use of them for 
8434other and more private ends than they were legitimately 
8435intended to subserve. That certain sultanism of his 
8436brain, which had otherwise in a good degree remained 
8437unmanifested ; through those forms that same sultanism 
8438/became incarnate in an irresistible dictatorship. For be a 
8439man's intellectual superiority what it will, it can never 
8440assume the practical, available supremacy over other men, 
8441without the aid of some sort of external arts and entrench- 
8442ments, always, in themselves, more or less paltry and base. 
8443This it is, that forever keeps God's true princes of the 
8444Empire from the world's hustings ; and leaves the highest 
8445honours that this air can give, to those men who become 
8446famous more through their infinite inferiority to the choice 
8447hidden handful of the Divine Inert, than through their 
8448undoubted superiority over the dead level of the mass. 
8449Such large virtue lurks in these small things when extreme 
8450political superstitions invest them, that in some royal 
8451instances even to idiot imbecility they have imparted 
8452potency. But when, as in the case of Nicholas the Czar, 
8453the ringed crown of geographical empire encircles an 
8454imperial brain ; then, the plebeian herds crouch abased 
8455before the tremendous centralisation. Nor will the 
8456tragic dramatist who would depict mortal indomitable - 
8457ness in its fullest sweep and direct swing, ever forget a 
8458
8459
8460
8461THE SPECKS YNDER 183 
8462
8463hint, incidentally so important in his art, as the one now 
8464alluded to. 
8465
8466But Ahab, my captain, still moves before me in all 
8467his Nantucket grimness and shagginess ; and in this 
8468episode touching emperors and kings, I must not conceal 
8469that I have only to do with a poor old whale-hunter like 
8470him ; and, therefore, all outward majestical trappings 
8471and housings are denied me. Oh, Ahab ! what shall be 
8472grand in thee, it must needs be plucked at from the skies, 
8473and dived for in the deep, and featured in the unbodied 
8474air ! 
8475
8476
8477
8478CHAPTER XXXIV 
8479
8480THE CABIN-TABLE 
8481
8482IT is noon ; and Dough-Boy, the steward, thrusting his 
8483pale loaf-of-bread face from the cabin-scuttle, announces 
8484dinner to his lord and master ; who, sitting in the lee 
8485quarter-boat, has just been taking an observation of the 
8486sun ; and is now mutely reckoning the latitude on the 
8487smooth, medallion-shaped tablet, reserved for that daily 
8488purpose on the upper part of his ivory leg. From his 
8489complete inattention to the tidings, you would think that 
8490moody Ahab had not heard his menial. But presently, 
8491catching hold of the mizen shrouds, he swings himself 
8492to the deck, and in an even, unexhilarated voice, saying, 
8493'Dinner, Mr. Starbuck,' disappears into the .cabin. 
8494
8495When the last echo of his sultan's step has died away, 
8496and Starbuck, the first Emir, has every reason to suppose 
8497that he is seated, then Starbuck rouses from his quietude, 
8498takes a few turns along the planks, and, after a grave peep 
8499into the binnacle, says, with some touch of pleasantness, 
8500' Dinner, Mr. Stubb,' and descends the scuttle. The 
8501second Emir lounges about the rigging a while, and then 
8502slightly shaking the main-brace, to see whether it be 
8503all right with that important rope, he likewise takes up 
8504the old burden, and with a rapid * Dinner, Mr. Flask,' 
8505follows after his predecessors. 
8506
8507But the third Emir, now seeing himself all alone on the 
8508quarter-deck, seems to feel relieved from some curious 
8509restraint ; for, tipping all sorts of knowing winks in all 
8510sorts of directions, and kicking off his shoes, he strikes 
8511
8512184 
8513
8514
8515
8516THE CABIN-TABLE 185 
8517
8518into a sharp but noiseless squall of a hornpipe right over 
8519the Grand Turk's head ; and then, by a dexterous sleight, 
8520pitching his cap up into the mizen-top for a shelf, he goes 
8521down rollicking, so far at least as he remains visible from 
8522the deck, reversing all other processions by bringing up 
8523the rear with music. But ere stepping into the cabin 
8524doorway below, he pauses, ships a new face altogether, 
8525and then, independent, hilarious little Flask enters King 
8526Ahab's presence, in the character of Abjectus, or the 
8527Slave. 
8528
8529It is not the least among the strange things bred by the 
8530intense artificialness of sea-usages, that while in the open 
8531air of the deck some officers will, upon provocation, bear 
8532themselves boldly and defyingly enough toward their com- 
8533mander ; yet, ten to one, let those very officers the next 
8534moment go down to their customary dinner in that same 
8535commander's cabin, and straightway their inoffensive, 
8536not to say deprecatory and humble air toward him, as 
8537he sits at the head of the table ; this is marvellous, some- 
8538times most comical. Wherefore this difference ? A 
8539problem ? Perhaps not. To have been Belshazzar, 
8540King of Babylon ; and to have been Belshazzar, not 
8541haughtily but courteously, therein certainly must have 
8542been some touch of mundane grandeur. But he who in 
8543the rightly regal and intelligent spirit presides over his 
8544own private dinner-table of invited guests, that man's 
8545unchallenged power and dominion of individual influ- 
8546ence for the time ; that man's royalty of state transcends 
8547Belshazzar 's, for Belshazzar was not the greatest. Who 
8548has but once dined his friends, has tasted what it is to be 
8549Caesar. It is a witchery of social czarship which there 
8550is no withstanding. Now, if to this consideration you 
8551superadd the official supremacy of a shipmaster, then, 
8552by inference, you will derive the cause of that peculiarity 
8553of sea-life just mentioned. 
8554
8555
8556
8557186 MOBY-DICK 
8558
8559Over his ivory-inlaid table, Ahab presided like a mute, 
8560maned sea-lion on the white coral beach, surrounded by 
8561his warlike but still deferential cubs. In his own proper 
8562turn, each officer waited to be served. They were as 
8563little children before Ahab ; and yet, in Ahab, there 
8564seemed not to lurk the smallest social arrogance. With 
8565one mind, their intent eyes all fastened upon the old man's 
8566knife, as he carved the chief dish before him. I do not 
8567suppose that for the world they would have profaned 
8568that moment with the slightest observation, even upon 
8569so neutral a topic as the weather. No ! And when 
8570reaching out his knife and fork, between which the slice 
8571of beef was locked, Ahab thereby motioned Starbuck's 
8572plate toward him, the mate received his meat as though 
8573receiving alms ; and cut it tenderly ; and a little started 
8574if, perchance, the knife grazed against the plate ; and 
8575chewed it noiselessly ; and swallowed it, not without 
8576circumspection. For, like the Coronation banquet at 
8577Frankfort, where the German Emperor profoundly dines 
8578with the seven Imperial Electors, so these cabin meals 
8579were somehow solemn meals, eaten in awful silence ; and 
8580yet at table old Ahab forbade not conversation ; only he 
8581himself was dumb. What a relief it was to choking Stubb, 
8582when a rat made a sudden racket in the hold below. And 
8583poor little Flask, he was the youngest son, and little boy 
8584of this weary family party. His were the shin-bones 
8585of the saline beef ; his would have been the drumsticks. 
8586For Flask to have presumed to help himself, this must 
8587have seemed to him tantamount to larceny in the first 
8588degree. Had he helped himself at that table, doubtless, 
8589never more would he have been able to hold his head up 
8590in this honest world ; nevertheless, strange to say, Ahab 
8591never forbade him. And had Flask helped himself, the 
8592chances were Ahab had never so much as noticed it. 
8593Least of all, did Flask presume to help himself to butter. 
8594
8595
8596
8597THE CABIN-TABLE 187 
8598
8599Whether he thought the owners of the ship denied it to 
8600him, on account of its clotting his clear, sunny com- 
8601plexion ; or whether he deemed that, on so long a voyage 
8602in such marketless waters, butter was at a premium, and 
8603therefore was not for him, a subaltern ; however it was, 
8604Flask, alas ! was a butterless man ! 
8605
8606Another thing. Flask was the last person down at the 
8607dinner, and Flask is the first man up. Consider ! For 
8608hereby Flask's dinner was badly jammed in point of time. 
8609Starbuck and Stubb both had the start of him ; and yet 
8610they also have the privilege of lounging in the rear. If 
8611Stubb even, who is but a peg higher than Flask, happens 
8612to have but a small appetite, and soon shows symptoms 
8613of concluding his repast, then Flask must bestir himself, 
8614he will not get more than three mouthfuls that day ; for 
8615it is against holy usage for Stubb to precede Flask to the 
8616deck. Therefore it was that Flask once admitted in 
8617private, that ever since he had arisen to the dignity of an 
8618officer, from that moment he had never known what it 
8619was to be otherwise than hungry, more or less. For 
8620what he ate did not so much relieve his hunger, as keep 
8621it immortal hi him. Peace and satisfaction, thought 
8622Flask, have forever departed from my stomach. I am 
8623an officer ; but, how I wish I could fist a bit of old- 
8624fashioned beef in the forecastle, as I used to when I was 
8625before the mast. There 's the fruits of promotion now ; 
8626there 's the vanity of glory : there 's the insanity of life ! 
8627Besides, if it were so that any mere sailor of the Pequod 
8628had a grudge against Flask in Flask's official capacity, all 
8629that sailor had to do, in order to obtain ample vengeance, 
8630was to go aft at dinner-time, and get a peep at Flask 
8631through the cabin skylight, sitting silly and dumfoundered 
8632before awful Ahab. 
8633
8634Now, Ahab and his three mates formed what may be 
8635called the first table in the Pequod' s cabin. After their 
8636
8637
8638
8639188 MOBY-DICK 
8640
8641departure, taking place in inverted order to their arrival, 
8642the canvas cloth was cleared, or rather was restored to 
8643some hurried order by the pallid steward. And then the 
8644three harpooneers were bidden to the feast, they being 
8645its residuary legatees. They made a sort of temporary 
8646servants' hall of the high and mighty cabin. 
8647
8648In strange contrast to the hardly tolerable constraint 
8649and nameless invisible domineerings of the captain's table, 
8650was the entire care -free licence and ease, the almost frantic 
8651democracy of those inferior fellows the harpooneers. 
8652While their masters, the mates, seemed afraid of the 
8653sound of the hinges of their own jaws, the harpooneers 
8654chewed their food with such a relish that there was a 
8655report to it. They dined like lords ; they filled their 
8656bellies like Indian ships all day loading with spices. 
8657Such portentous appetites had Queequeg and Tashtego, 
8658that to fill out the vacancies made by the previous repast, 
8659often the pale Dough-Boy was fain to bring on a great 
8660baron of salt-junk, seemingly quarried out of the solid 
8661ox. And if he were not lively about it, if he did not go 
8662with a nimble hop-skip-and-jump, then Tashtego had an 
8663ungeiitlemanly way of accelerating him by darting a fork 
8664at his back, harpoon- wise. And once Daggoo, seized 
8665with a sudden humour, assisted Dough-Boy's memory by 
8666snatching him up bodily, and thrusting his head into a 
8667great empty wooden trencher, while Tashtego, knife in 
8668hand, began laying out the circle preliminary to scalping 
8669him. He was naturally a very nervous, shuddering sort 
8670of little fellow, this broad-faced steward ; the progeny 
8671of a bankrupt baker and a hospital nurse. And what 
8672with the standing spectacle of the black terrific Ahab, 
8673and the periodical tumultuous visitations of these three 
8674savages, Dough-Boy's whole life was one continual lip- 
8675quiver. Commonly, after seeing the harpooneers fur- 
8676nished with all things they demanded, he would escape 
8677
8678
8679
8680THE CABIN-TABLE 189 
8681
8682from their clutches into his little pantry adjoining, and 
8683fearfully peep out at them through the blinds of its door, 
8684till all was over. 
8685
8686It was a sight to see Queequeg seated over against 
8687Tashtego, opposing his filed teeth to the Indian's : cross- 
8688wise to them, Daggoo seated on the floor, for a bench 
8689would have brought his hearse-plumed head to the low 
8690carlines ; at every motion of his colossal limbs, making 
8691the low cabin framework to shake, as when an African 
8692elephant goes passenger in a ship. But for all this, the 
8693great negro was wonderfully abstemious, not to say dainty. 
8694It seemed hardly possible that by such comparatively 
8695small mouthfuls he could keep up the vitality diffused 
8696through so broad, baronial, and superb a person. But, 
8697doubtless, this noble savage fed strong and drank deep 
8698of the abounding element of air ; and through his dilated 
8699nostrils snuffed in the sublime life of the worlds. Not by 
8700beef or by bread are giants made or nourished. But 
8701Queequeg, he had a mortal, barbaric smack of the lip in 
8702eating an ugly sound enough so much so, that the 
8703trembling Dough-Boy almost looked to see whether any 
8704marks of teeth lurked in his own lean arms. And when 
8705he would hear Tashtego singing out for him to produce 
8706himself, that his bones might be picked, the simple -witted 
8707steward all but shattered the crockery hanging round him 
8708in the pantry, by his sudden fits of the palsy. Nor did 
8709the whetstone which the harpooneers carried in their 
8710pockets, for their lances and other weapons ; and with 
8711which whetstones, at dinner, they would ostentatiously 
8712sharpen their knives ; that grating sound did not at all 
8713tend to tranquillise poor Dough-Boy. How could he 
8714forget that in his Island days, Queequeg, for one, must 
8715certainly have been guilty of some murderous, convivial 
8716indiscretions. Alas ! Dough-Boy ! hard fares the white 
8717waiter who waits upon cannibals. Not a napkin should 
8718
8719
8720
8721190 MOBY-DICK 
8722
8723he carry on his arm, but a buckler. In good time, 
8724though, to his great delight, the three salt-sea warriors 
8725would rise and depart ; to his credulous, fable-mongering 
8726ears, all their martial bones jingling in them at every step, 
8727like Moorish scimitars in scabbards. 
8728
8729But, though these barbarians dined in the cabin, and 
8730nominally lived there ; still, being anything but seden- 
8731tary in their habits, they were scarcely ever in it except 
8732at meal-times, and just before sleeping-time, when they 
8733passed through it to their own peculiar quarters. 
8734
8735In this one matter, Ahab seemed no exception to most 
8736American whale-captains, who, as a set, rather incline to 
8737the opinion that by rights the ship's cabin belongs to 
8738them ; and that it is by courtesy alone that anybody else 
8739is, at any time, permitted there. So that, in real truth, 
8740the mates and harpooneers of the Pequod might more 
8741properly be said to have lived out of the cabin than in 
8742it. For when they did enter it, it was something as a 
8743street-door enters a house ; turning inward for a moment, 
8744only to be turned out the next ; and, as a permanent 
8745thing, residing in the open air. Nor did they lose much 
8746hereby ; in the cabin was no companionship ; socially, 
8747Ahab was inaccessible. Though nominally included in 
8748the census of Christendom, he was still an alien to it. 
8749He lived in the world, as the last of the grizzly bears lived 
8750in settled Missouri. And as when spring and summer 
8751had departed, that wild Logan of the woods, burying 
8752himself in the hollow of a tree, lived out the winter there, 
8753sucking his own paws ; so, in his inclement, howling old 
8754age, Ahab's soul, shut up in the caved trunk of his body, 
8755there fed upon the sullen paws of its gloom ! 
8756
8757
8758
8759CHAPTER XXXV 
8760
8761THE MAST-HEAD 
8762
8763IT was during the more pleasant weather, that in due 
8764rotation with the other seamen my first mast-head came 
8765round. 
8766
8767In most American whalemen the mast-heads are 
8768manned almost simultaneously with the vessel's leaving 
8769her port - r even though she may have fifteen thousand 
8770miles, and more, to sail ere reaching her proper cruising- 
8771ground. And if, after a three, four, or five years' voyage 
8772she is drawing nigh home with anything empty in her 
8773say, an empty vial even then her mast-heads are kept 
8774manned to the last ; and not till her skysail-poles sail 
8775in among the spires of the port, does she altogether relin- 
8776quish the hope of capturing one whale more. 
8777
8778Now, as the business of standing mast-heads, ashore or 
8779afloat, is a very ancient and interesting one, let us in some 
8780measure expatiate here. I take it, that the earliest 
8781standers of mast-heads were the old Egyptians ; because, 
8782in all my researches, I find none prior to them. For 
8783though their progenitors, the builders of Babel, must 
8784doubtless, by their tower, have intended to rear the 
8785loftiest mast-head in all Asia, or Africa either ; yet (ere 
8786the final truck was put to it) as that great stone mast of 
8787theirs may be said to have gone by the board, in the dread 
8788gale of God's wrath ; therefore, we cannot give these 
8789Babel builders priority over the Egyptians. And that 
8790the Egyptians were a nation of mast-head standers is 
8791an assertion based upon the general belief among archseo- 
8792
8793191 
8794
8795
8796
8797192 MOBY-DICK 
8798
8799legists, that the first pyramids were founded for astro- 
8800nomical purposes : a theory singularly supported by the 
8801peculiar stair-like formation of all four sides of those 
8802edifices ; whereby, with prodigious long upliftings of their 
8803legs, those old astronomers were wont to mount to the 
8804apex, and sing out for new stars ; even as the look-outs 
8805of a modern ship sing out for a sail, or a whale just bearing 
8806in sight. In Saint Stylites, the famous Christian hermit 
8807of old times, who built him a lofty stone pillar in the 
8808desert and spent the whole latter portion of his life on its 
8809summit, hoisting his food from the ground with a tackle ; 
8810in him we have a remarkable instance of a dauntless 
8811stander of mast-heads ; who was not to be driven from 
8812his place by fogs or frosts, rain, hail, or sleet ; but vali- 
8813antly facing everything out to the last, literally died at 
8814his post. Of modern standers of mast-heads we have 
8815but a lifeless set ; mere stone, iron, and bronze men ; who, 
8816though well capable of facing out a stiff gale, are still 
8817entirely incompetent to the business of singing out upon 
8818discovering any strange sight. There is Napoleon ; who, 
8819upon the top of the column of Vendome, stands with arms 
8820folded, some one hundred and fifty feet in the air ; care- 
8821less, now, who rules the decks below ; whether Louis- 
8822Philippe, Louis Blanc, or Louis the Devil. Great 
8823Washington, too, stands high aloft on his towering main- 
8824mast in Baltimore, and like one of Hercules' pillars, his 
8825column marks that point of human grandeur beyond which 
8826few mortals will go. Admiral Nelson, also, on a capstan 
8827of gun-metal, stands his mast-head in Trafalgar Square ; 
8828and ever when most obscured by that London smoke, 
8829token is yet given that a hidden hero is there ; for where 
8830there is smoke, must be fire. But neither great Washing- 
8831ton, nor Napoleon, nor Nelson, will answer a single hail 
8832from below, however madly invoked to befriend by their 
8833counsels the distracted decks upon which they gaze ; 
8834
8835
8836
8837THE MAST-HEAD 193 
8838
8839however it' may be surmised, that their spirits penetrate 
8840through the thick haze of the future, and descry what 
8841shoals and what rocks must be shunned. 
8842
8843It may seem unwarrantable to couple in any respect 
8844the mast-head standers of the land with those of the sea ; 
8845but that in truth it is not so, is plainly evinced by an item 
8846for which Obed Macy, the sole historian of Nantucket, 
8847stands accountable. The worthy Obed tells us, that in 
8848the early times of the whale-fishery, ere ships were regu- 
8849larly launched in pursuit of the game, the people of that 
8850island erected lofty spars along the sea-coast, to which 
8851the look-outs ascended by means of nailed cleats, some- 
8852thing as fowls go upstairs in a hen-house. A few years 
8853ago this same plan was adopted by the Bay whalemen of 
8854New Zealand, who, upon descrying the game, gave notice 
8855to the ready-manned boats nigh the beach. But this 
8856custom has now become obsolete ; turn we then to the 
8857one proper mast-head, that of a whale-ship at sea. The 
8858three mast-heads are kept manned from sunrise to sunset ; 
8859the seamen taking their regular turns (as at the helm), 
8860and relieving each other every two hours. In the serene 
8861weather of the Tropics it is exceedingly pleasant the mast- 
8862head ; nay, to a dreamy meditative man it is delightful. 
8863There you stand, a hundred feet above the silent decks, 
8864; striding along the deep, as if the masts were gigantic 
8865; stilts, while beneath you and between your legs, as it 
8866were, swim the hugest monsters of the sea, even as ships 
8867once sailed between the boots of the famous Colossus at 
8868old Rhodes. There you stand, lost in the infinite series 
8869of the sea, with nothing ruffled but the waves. The 
8870tranced ship indolently rolls ; the drowsy trade winds 
8871;blow ; everything resolves you into languor. For the 
8872most part, in this tropic whaling life, a sublime unevent- 
8873Mness invests you ; you hear no news ; read no gazettes ; 
8874;)xtras with startling accounts of commonplaces never 
8875VOL. i. N 
8876
8877
8878
8879194 MOBY-DICK 
8880
8881delude you into unnecessary excitements ; you hear of 
8882no domestic afflictions ; bankrupt securities ; fall of 
8883stocks ; are never troubled with the thought of what you 
8884shall have for dinner for all your meals for three years 
8885and more are snugly stowed in casks, and your bill of fare 
8886is immutable. 
8887
8888In one of those Southern whalemen, on a long three or 
8889four years' voyage, as often happens, the sum of the various 
8890hours you spend at the mast-head would amount to several 
8891entire months. And it is much to be deplored that the 
8892place to which you devote so considerable a portion of 
8893the whole term of your natural life, should be so sadly 
8894destitute of anything approaching to a cosy inhabitive- 
8895ness, or adapted to breed a comfortable localness of feel- 
8896ing, such as pertains to a bed, a hammock, a hearse, a 
8897sentry-box, a pulpit, a coach, or any other of those small 
8898and snug contrivances in which men temporarily isolate 
8899themselves. Your most usual point of perch is the head 
8900of the t '-gallant-mast, where you stand upon two thin 
8901parallel sticks (almost peculiar to whalemen) called the 
8902t '-gallant-cross-trees. Here, tossed about by the sea, the 
8903beginner feels about as cosy as he would standing on a 
8904bull's horns. To be sure, in cold weather you may carry 
8905your house aloft with you, in the shape of a watch-coat ; 
8906but properly speaking the thickest watch-coat is no more 
8907of a house than the unclad body ; for as the soul is glued 
8908inside of its fleshly tabernacle, and cannot freely move 
8909about in it, nor even move out of it, without running great 
8910risk of perishing (like an ignorant pilgrim crossing the 
8911snowy Alps in winter) ; so a watch-coat is not so much 
8912of a house as it is a mere envelope, or additional skin 
8913encasing you. You cannot put a shelf or chest of drawers i 
8914in your body, and no more can you make a convenient 
8915closet of your watch-coat. 
8916
8917Concerning all this, it is much to be deplored that the 
8918
8919
8920
8921THE MAST-HEAD 195 
8922
8923mast-heads of a Southern whale -ship are unprovided 
8924with those enviable little tents or pulpits, called crow's- 
8925nests, in which the look-outs of a Greenland whaler are 
8926protected from the inclement weather of the frozen seas. 
8927In the fireside narrative of Captain Sleet, entitled A 
8928Voyage among the Icebergs, in quest of the Greenland Whale, 
8929and incidentally for the re-discovery of the Lost Icelandic 
8930Colonies of Old Greenland ; in this admirable volume, all 
8931standers of mast-heads are furnished with a charmingly 
8932circumstantial account of the then recently invented 
8933crow's-nest of the Glacier, which was the name of Captain 
8934Sleet's good craft. He called it the Sleet's crow's-nest, in 
8935honour of himself ; he being the original inventor and 
8936patentee, and free from all ridiculous false delicacy, and 
8937holding that if we call our own children after our own 
8938names (we fathers being the original inventors and 
8939patentees), so likewise should we denominate after our- 
8940selves any other apparatus we may beget. In shape, 
8941the Sleet's crow's-nest is something like a large tierce or 
8942pipe ; it is open above, however, where it is furnished 
8943with a movable side -screen to keep to windward of your 
8944head in a hard gale. Being fixed on the summit of the 
8945mast, you ascend into it through a little trap-hatch in 
8946the bottom. On the after side, or side next the stern of 
8947the ship, is a comfortable seat, with a locker underneath 
8948for umbrellas, comforters, and coats. In front is a 
8949leather rack, hi which to keep your speaking trumpet, 
8950pipe, telescope, and other nautical conveniences. When 
8951Captain Sleet in person stood his mast-head hi this crow's- 
8952nest of his, he tells us that he always had a rifle with him 
8953(also fixed in the rack), together with a powder-flask and 
8954shot, for the purpose of popping off the stray narwhales, 
8955or vagrant sea-unicorns infesting those waters ; for you 
8956cannot successfully shoot at them from the deck owing to 
8957the resistance of the water, but to shoot down upon them 
8958
8959
8960
8961196 MOBY-DICK 
8962
8963is a very different thing. Now, it was plainly a labour 
8964of love for Captain Sleet to describe, as he does, all the 
8965little detailed conveniences of his crow's-nest ; but though 
8966he so enlarges upon many of these, and though he treats 
8967us to a very scientific account of his experiments in this 
8968crow's-nest, with a small compass he kept there for the 
8969purpose of counteracting the errors resulting from what 
8970is called the ' local attraction ' of all binnacle magnets ; 
8971an error ascribable to the horizontal vicinity of the iron 
8972in the ship's planks, and in the Glacier's case, perhaps, to 
8973there having been so many broken-down blacksmiths 
8974among her crew ; I say, that though the captain is very 
8975discreet and scientific here, yet, for all his learned ' bin- 
8976nacle deviations,' ' azimuth compass observations,' and 
8977' approximate errors,' he knows very well, Captain Sleet, 
8978that he was not so much immersed in those profound 
8979magnetic meditations, as to fail being attracted occasion- 
8980ally toward that well-replenished little case-bottle, so 
8981nicely tucked in on one side of his crow's-nest, within 
8982easy reach of his hand. Though, upon the whole, I 
8983greatly admire and even love the brave, the honest, and 
8984learned captain ; yet I take it very ill of him that he 
8985should so utterly ignore that case-bottle, seeing what a 
8986faithful friend and comforter it must have been, while 
8987with mittened fingers and hooded head he was studying 
8988the mathematics aloft there in that bird's nest within 
8989three or four perches of the pole. 
8990
8991But if we Southern whale -fishers are not so snugly 
8992housed aloft as Captain Sleet and his Greenland men 
8993were ; yet that disadvantage is greatly counterbalanced 
8994by the widely contrasting serenity of those seductive 
8995seas in which we South fishers mostly float. For one, I 
8996used to lounge up the rigging very leisurely, resting hi 
8997the top to have a chat with Queequeg, or anyone else off 
8998duty whom I might find there ; then ascending a littl 
8999
9000
9001
9002THE MAST-HEAD 197 
9003
9004way further, and throwing a lazy leg over the topsail- 
9005yard, take a preliminary view of the watery pastures, 
9006and so at last mount to my ultimate destination. 
9007
9008Let me make a clean breast of it here, and frankly 
9009admit that I kept but sorry guard. With the problem 
9010of the universe revolving in me, how could I being left 
9011completely to myself at such a thought-engendering alti- 
9012tude, how could I but lightly hold my obligations to 
9013observe all whale -ships' standing orders, ' Keep your 
9014weather-eye open, and sing out every time ' ? 
9015
9016And let me in this place movingly admonish you, ye 
9017shipowners of Nantucket ! Beware of enlisting in your 
9018vigilant fisheries any lad with lean brow and hollow eye ; 
9019given to unseasonable meditativeness ; and who offers 
9020to ship with the Phsedon instead of Bowditch in his head. 
9021Beware of such an one, I say : your whales must be seen 
9022before they can be killed ; and this sunken-eyed young 
9023Platonist will tow you ten wakes round the world, and 
9024never make you one pint of sperm the richer. Nor are 
9025these monitions at all unneeded. For nowadays, the 
9026whale-fishery furnishes an asylum for many romantic, 
9027melancholy, and absent-minded young men, disgusted 
9028with the carking cares of earth, and seeking sentiment in 
9029tar and blubber. Childe Harold not unfrequently perches 
9030himself upon the mast-head of some luckless disappointed 
9031whale-ship, and in moody phrase ejaculates : 
9032
90331 Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll ! 
9034Ten thousand blubber-hunters sweep over thee in vain.' 
9035
9036Very often do the captains of such ships take those 
9037absent-minded young philosophers to task, upbraiding 
9038them with not feeling sufficient ' interest ' in the voyage ; 
9039half -hinting that they are so hopelessly lost to all honour- 
9040able ambition, as that in their secret souls they would 
9041rather not see whales than otherwise. But all in vain ; 
9042
9043
9044
9045198 MOBY-DICK 
9046
9047those young Platonists have a notion that their vision 
9048is imperfect ; they are short-sighted ; what use, then, to 
9049strain the visual nerve ? They have left their opera- 
9050glasses at home. 
9051
9052' Why, thou monkey, ' said a harpooneer to one of these 
9053lads, ' we 've been cruising now hard upon three years, 
9054and thou hast not raised a whale yet. Whales are scarce 
9055as hen's teeth whenever thou art up here.' Perhaps they 
9056were ; or perhaps there might have been shoals of them 
9057in the far horizon ; but lulled into such an opium-like 
9058listlessness of vacant, unconscious revery is this absent- 
9059minded youth by the blending cadence of waves with 
9060thoughts, that at last he loses his identity ; takes the 
9061mystic ocean at his feet for the visible image of that deep, 
9062blue, bottomless soul, pervading mankind and nature ; 
9063and every strange, half -seen, gliding, beautiful thing that 
9064eludes him ; every dimly discovered, uprising fin of some 
9065undiscernible form, seems to him the embodiment of 
9066those elusive thoughts that only people the soul by con- 
9067tinually flitting through it. In this enchanted mood, 
9068thy spirit ebbs away to whence it came ; becomes diffused 
9069through time and space ; like Cranmer's sprinkled Pan- 
9070theistic ashes, forming at last a part of every shore the 
9071round globe over. 
9072
9073There is no life in thee, now, except that rocking life 
9074imparted by a gently rolling ship ; by her, borrowed from 
9075the sea ; by the sea, from the inscrutable tides of God. 
9076But while this sleep, this dream is on ye, move your foot 
9077or hand an inch ; slip your hold at all ; and your identity 
9078comes back in horror. Over Descartian vortices you 
9079hover. And perhaps, at mid-day, in the fairest weather, 
9080with one half-throttled shriek you drop through that 
9081transparent air into the summer sea, no more to rise for- 
9082ever. Heed it well, ye Pantheists ! 
9083
9084
9085
9086CHAPTER XXXVI 
9087
9088THE QUARTEK-DECK 
9089
9090(Enter Ahab : Then all.) 
9091
9092IT was not a great while after the affair of the pipe, that 
9093one morning shortly after breakfast, Ahab, as was his 
9094wont, ascended the cabin-gangway to the deck. There 
9095most sea-captains usually walk at that hour, as country 
9096gentlemen, after the same meal, take a few turns in 
9097the garden. 
9098
9099Soon his steady, ivory stride was heard, as to and fro 
9100he paced his old rounds, upon planks so familiar to his 
9101tread, that they were all over dented, like geological 
9102stones, with the peculiar mark of his walk. Did you 
9103fixedly gaze, too, upon that ribbed and dented brow ; 
9104there also, you would see still stranger footprints the 
9105footprints of his one unsleeping, ever-pacing thought. 
9106
9107But on the occasion hi question, those dents looked 
9108deeper, even as his nervous step that morning left a 
9109deeper mark. And, so full of his thought was Ahab, that 
9110at every uniform turn that he made, now at the main- 
9111mast and now at the binnacle, you could almost see 
9112that thought turn in him as he turned, and pace in him 
9113as he paced ; so completely possessing him, indeed, 
9114that it all but seemed the inward mould of every outer 
9115movement. 
9116
9117' D' ye mark him, Flask ? ' whispered Stubb ; * the 
9118chick that 's in him pecks the shell. 'Twill soon be out.' 
9119
9120The hours wore on ; Ahab now shut up within his 
9121
9122199 
9123
9124
9125
9126200 MOBY-DICK 
9127
9128cabin ; anon, pacing the deck, with the same intense 
9129bigotry of purpose in his aspect. 
9130
9131It drew near the close of day. Suddenly he came to a 
9132halt by the bulwarks, and inserting his bone leg into the 
9133auger-hole there, and with one hand grasping a shroud, 
9134he ordered Starbuck to send everybody aft. 
9135
9136' Sir ! ' said the mate, astonished at an order seldom 
9137or never given on shipboard except in some extraordinary 
9138case. 
9139
9140' Send everybody aft,' repeated Ahab. ' Mast-heads, 
9141there ! come down ! ' 
9142
9143When the entire ship's company were assembled, and 
9144with curious and not wholly unapprehensive faces were 
9145eyeing him, for he looked not unlike the weather horizon 
9146when a storm is coming up, Ahab, after rapidly glancing 
9147over the bulwarks, and then darting his eyes among the 
9148crew, started from his standpoint ; and as though not a 
9149soul were nigh him resumed his heavy turns upon the 
9150deck. With bent head and half-slouched hat he con- 
9151tinued to pace, unmindful of the wondering whispering 
9152among the men ; till Stubb cautiously whispered to 
9153Flask, that Ahab must have summoned them there for 
9154the purpose of witnessing a pedestrian feat. But this 
9155did not last long. Vehemently pausing, he cried : 
9156
9157' What do ye do when ye see a whale, men ? ' 
9158
9159' Sing out for him ! ' was the impulsive rejoinder from 
9160a score of clubbed voices. 
9161
91624 Good ! ' cried Ahab, with a wild approval in his tones ; 
9163observing the hearty animation into which his unexpected 
9164question had so magnetically thrown them. 
9165
9166' And what do ye next, men ? ' 
9167
9168' Lower away, and after him ! ' 
9169
9170' And what tune is it ye pull to, men ? ' 
9171
9172' A dead whale or a stove boat ! ' 
9173
9174More and more strangely and fiercely glad and approv- 
9175
9176
9177
9178THE QUARTER-DECK 201 
9179
9180ing grew the countenance of the old man at every 
9181shout ; while the mariners began to gaze curiously at 
9182each other, as if marvelling how it was that they them- 
9183selves became so excited at such seemingly purposeless 
9184questions. 
9185
9186But, they were all eagerness again, as Ahab, now half- 
9187revolving in his pivot -hole, with one hand reaching high 
9188up a shroud, and tightly, almost convulsively grasping 
9189it, addressed them thus : 
9190
9191' All ye mast-headers have before now heard me give 
9192orders about a white whale. Look ye ! d' ye see this 
9193Spanish ounce of gold*? ' holding up a broad bright 
9194coin to the sun ' it is a sixteen-dollar piece, men. D' ye 
9195see it ? Mr. Starbuck, hand me yon top-maul/ 
9196
9197While the mate was getting the hammer, Ahab, without 
9198speaking, was slowly rubbing the gold piece against the 
9199skirts of his jacket, as if to heighten its lustre, and without 
9200using any words was meanwhile lowly humming to him- 
9201self, producing a sound so strangely muffled and inarticu- 
9202late that it seemed the mechanical humming of the wheels 
9203of his vitality in him. 
9204
9205Receiving the top-maul from Starbuck, he advanced 
9206toward the mainmast with the hammer uplifted in one 
9207hand, exhibiting the gold with the other, and with a high 
9208raised voice exclaiming : ' Whosoever of ye raises me a 
9209white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked 
9210jaw ; whosoever of ye raises me that white-headed whale, 
9211with three holes punctured in his starboard fluke look 
9212ye, whosoever of ye raises me that same white whale, 
9213he shall have this gold ounce, my boys ! ' 
9214
9215' Huzza ! huzza ! ' cried the seamen, as with swinging 
9216tarpaulins they hailed the act of nailing the gold to 
9217the mast. 
9218
9219' It 's a white whale, I say,' resumed Ahab, as he threw 
9220down the top-maul ; * a white whale. Skin your eyes 
9221
9222
9223
9224202 MOBY-DICK 
9225
9226for him, men ; look sharp for white water ; if ye see but 
9227a bubble, sing out.' 
9228
9229All this while Tashtego, Daggoo, and Queequeg had 
9230looked on with even more intense interest and surprise 
9231than the rest, and at the mention of the wrinkled brow 
9232and crooked jaw they had started as if each was separately 
9233touched by some specific recollection. 
9234
9235' Captain Ahab,' said Tashtego, ' that white whale must 
9236be the same that some call Moby-Dick.' 
9237
9238' Moby-Dick ? ' shouted Ahab. ' Do ye know the white 
9239whale then, Tash ? ' 
9240
9241' Does he fan-tail a little curious, sir, before he goes 
9242down ? ' said the Gay-Header deliberately. 
9243
9244' And has he a curious spout, too,' said Daggoo, ' very 
9245bushy, even for a parmacetty, and mighty quick, Captain 
9246Ahab ? ' 
9247
92481 And he have one, two, tree oh ! good many iron 
9249in him hide, too, captain,' cried Queequeg disjointedly, 
9250
92514 all twiske-tee be-twisk, like him him ' faltering 
9252
9253hard for a word, and screwing his hand round and round 
9254as though uncorking a bottle ' like him him ' 
9255
9256' Cork-screw ! ' cried Ahab, ' ay, Queequeg, the har- 
9257poons lie all twisted and wrenched in him ; ay, Daggoo, 
9258his spout is a big one, like a whole shock of wheat, and 
9259white as a pile of our Nantucket wool after the great 
9260annual sheep-shearing ; ay, Tashtego, and he fan-tails 
9261like a split jib in a squall. Death and devils ! men, it is 
9262Moby-Dick ye have seen Moby-Dick Moby-Dick ! ' 
9263
9264' Captain Ahab,' said Starbuck, who, with Stubb and 
9265Flask, had thus far been eyeing his superior with increasing 
9266surprise, but at last seemed struck with a thought which 
9267somewhat explained all the wonder. ' Captain Ahab, 
9268I have heard of Moby-Dick but it was not Moby-Dick 
9269that took off thy leg ? ' 
9270
9271' Who told thee that ? ' cried Ahab ; then pausing, 
9272
9273
9274
9275THE QUARTER-DECK 203 
9276
9277' Ay, Starbuck ; ay, my hearties all round ; it was 
9278Moby-Dick that dismasted me ; Moby-Dick that brought 
9279me to this dead stump I stand on now. Ay, ay,' he 
9280shouted, with a terrific, loud, animal sob, like that of a 
9281heart -stricken moose ; ' Ay, ay ! it was that accursed 
9282white whale that razeed me ; made a poor pegging lubber 
9283of me for ever and a day ! ' Then tossing both arms, 
9284with measureless imprecations he shouted out : ' Ay, 
9285ay ! and I '11 chase him round Good Hope, and round 
9286the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round 
9287perdition's flames before I give him up. And this is what 
9288ye have shipped for, men ! to chase that white whale on 
9289both sides of land, and over all sides of earth, till he spouts 
9290black blood and rolls fin out. What say ye, men, will ye 
9291splice hands on it, now ? I think ye do look brave/ 
9292
9293* Ay, ay ! ' shouted the harpooneers and seamen, 
9294running closer to the excited old man : ' a sharp eye for 
9295the White Whale ; a sharp lance for Moby-Dick ! ' 
9296
9297' God bless ye,' he seemed to half sob and half shout. 
9298' God bless ye, men. Steward ! go draw the great 
9299measure of grog. But what 's this long face about, Mr. 
9300Starbuck ; wilt thou not chase the White Whale ? art not 
9301game for Moby-Dick ? ' 
9302
9303' I am game for his crooked jaw, and for the jaws of 
9304Death too, Captain Ahab, if it fairly comes in the way of 
9305the business we follow ; but I came here to hunt whales, 
9306not my commander's vengeance. How many barrels 
9307will thy vengeance yield thee even if thou gettest it, 
9308Captain Ahab ? it will not fetch thee much in our Nan- 
9309tucket market.' 
9310
9311' Nantucket market ! Hoot ! But come closer, Star- 
9312buck ; thou requirest a little lower layer. If money 's 
9313to be the measurer, man, and the accountants have com- 
9314puted their great counting-house the globe, by girdling 
9315it with guineas, one to every three parts of an inch ; then, 
9316
9317
9318
9319204 MOBY-DICK 
9320
9321let me tell thee, that my vengeance will fetch a great 
9322premium here ! ' 
9323
9324' He smites his chest/ whispered Stubb, ' what 's that 
9325for ? methinks it rings most vast, but hollow.' 
9326
9327' Vengeance on a dumb brute ! ' cried Starbuck, ' that 
9328simply smote thee from blindest instinct ! Madness ! 
9329To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems 
9330\ blapkemous.' 
9331
9332' Hark ye yet again, the little lower layer. All visible 
9333objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each 
9334event in the living act, the undoubted deed there, some 
9335unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings 
9336of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man 
9337will strike, strike through the mask ! How can the prisoner 
9338reach outside except by thrusting through the wall ? To 
9339me, the White Whale is that wall, shoved near to me. 
9340Sometimes I think there 's naught beyond. But 'tis 
9341enough. He tasks me ; he heaps me ; I see in him out- 
9342rageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it. 
9343That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate ; and be the 
9344White Whale agent, or be the White Whale principal, I will 
9345wreak that hate upon him. Talk not to me of blasphemy, 
9346man ; I 'd strike the sun if it insulted me. For could the 
9347sun do that, then could I do the other ; since there is ever 
9348a sort of fair play herein, jealousy presiding over all 
9349creations. But not my master, man, is even that fair 
9350play. Who 's over me ? Truth hath no confines. Take 
9351off thine eye ! more intolerable than fiends' glarings is a 
9352doltish stare ! So, so ; thou reddenest and palest ; my 
9353heat has melted thee to anger-glow. But look ye, Star- 
9354buck, what is said in heat, that thing unsays itself. There 
9355are men from whom warm words are small indignity. I 
9356meant not to incense thee. Let it go. Look ! see yonder 
9357Turkish cheeks of spotted tawn living, breathing pictures 
9358painted by the sun. The pagan leopards the unrecking 
9359
9360
9361
9362
9363
9364
9365THE QUARTER-DECK 205 
9366
9367and un worshipping things, that live ; and seek, and give 
9368no reasons for the torrid life they feel ! The crew, man, 
9369the crew ! Are they not one and all with Ahab, in this 
9370matter of the whale ? See Stubb ! he laughs ! See 
9371yonder Chilian ! he snorts to think of it. Stand up amid 
9372the general hurricane, thy one tost sapling cannot, Star- 
9373buck ! And what is it ? Reckon it. 'Tis but to help 
9374strike a fin ; no wondrous feat for Starbuck. What is it 
9375more ? From this one poor hunt, then, the best lance 
9376out of all Nantucket, surely he will not hang back, when 
9377every foremast -hand has clutched a whetstone ? Ah ! 
9378constrainings seize thee ; I see ! the billow lifts thee ! 
9379Speak, but speak ! Ay, ay ! thy silence, then, that 
9380voices thee. (Aside) Something shot from my dilated 
9381nostrils, he has inhaled it in his lungs. Starbuck now is 
9382mine ; cannot oppose me now, without rebellion.' 
9383
93844 God keep me ! keep us all ! ' murmured Starbuck 
9385lowly. 
9386
9387But in his joy at the enchanted, tacit acquiescence of the 
9388mate, Ahab did not hear his foreboding invocation ; nor 
9389yet the low laugh from the hold ; nor yet the presaging 
9390vibrations of the winds in the cordage ; nor yet the hollow 
9391flap of the sails against the masts, as for a moment their 
9392hearts sank in. For again Starbuck's downcast eyes 
9393lighted up with the stubbornness of life ; the subterranean 
9394laugh died away ; the winds blew on ; the sails filled out ; 
9395the ship heaved and rolled as before. Ah, ye admoni- 
9396tions and warnings ! why stay ye not when ye come ? 
9397But rather are ye predictions than warnings, ye shadows ! 
9398Yet not so much predictions from without, as verifications 
9399of the foregoing things within. For with little external 
9400to constrain us, the innermost necessities in our being, 
9401these still drive us on. 
9402
9403' The measure ! the measure ! ' cried Ahab. 
9404
9405Receiving the brimming pewter, and turning to the 
9406
9407
9408
9409206 MOBY-DICK 
9410
9411harpooneers, he ordered them to produce their weapons. 
9412Then ranging them before him near the capstan, with 
9413their harpoons in their hands, while his three mates stood 
9414at his side with their lances, and the rest of the ship's 
9415company formed a circle round the group ; he stood for 
9416an instant searchingly eyeing every man of his crew. 
9417But those wild eyes met his, as the bloodshot eyes of the 
9418prairie wolves meet the eye of their leader, ere he rushes 
9419on at their head in the trail of the bison ; but, alas ! only 
9420to fall into the hidden snare of the Indian. 
9421
9422* Drink and pass ! ' he cried, handing the heavy charged 
9423
9424flagon to the nearest seaman. ' The crew alone now 
9425
9426drink. Round with it, round ! Short draughts long 
9427
9428swallows, men ; 'tis hot as Satan's hoof. So, so ; it goes 
9429
9430round excellently. It spiralises in ye ; forks out at the 
9431
9432serpent -snapping eye. Well done ; almost drained. 
9433
9434That way it went, this way it comes. Hand it me 
9435
9436j here 's a hollow ! Men, ye seem the years ; so brimming 
9437
9438! life is gulped and gone. Steward, refill ! 
9439
9440' Attend now, my braves. I have mustered ye all 
9441round this capstan ; and ye, mates, flank me with your 
9442lances ; and ye, harpooneers, stand there with your irons ; 
9443and ye, stout mariners, ring me in, that I may in some 
9444sort revive a noble custom of my fisherman fathers before 
9445
9446me. men, you will yet see that Ha ! boy, come 
9447
9448back ? bad pennies come not sooner. Hand it me. Why, 
9449now, this pewter had run brimming again, wert not thou 
9450St. Vitus' imp away, thou ague ! 
9451
9452' Advance, ye mates ! Cross your lances full before me. 
9453Well done ! Let me touch the axis.' So saying, with 
9454extended arm, he grasped the three level, radiating lances 
9455at their crossed centre ; while so doing, suddenly and 
9456nervously twitched them ; meanwhile, glancing intently 
9457from Starbuck to Stubb, from Stubb to Flask. It 
9458seemed as though, by some nameless, interior volition, 
9459
9460
9461
9462THE QUARTER-DECK 207 
9463
9464he would fain have shocked into them the same fiery 
9465emotion accumulated within the Leyden jar of his own 
9466magnetic life. The three mates quailed before his strong, 
9467sustained, and mystic aspect. Stubb and Flask looked 
9468sideways from him ; the honest eye of Starbuck fell 
9469downright. 
9470
9471' In vain ! ' cried Ahab ; ' but, maybe, 'tis well. For 
9472did ye three but once take the full-forced shock, then 
9473mine own electric thing, that had perhaps expired from 
9474out me. Perchance, too, it would have dropped ye dead. 
9475Perchance ye need it not. Down lances ! And now, ye 
9476mates, I do appoint ye three cup-bearers to my three 
9477pagan kinsmen there yon three most honourable gentle- 
9478men and noblemen, my valiant harpooneers. Disdain 
9479the task ? What, when the great Pope washes the feet 
9480of beggars, using his tiara for ewer ? Oh, my sweet 
9481cardinals ! your own condescension, that shall bend ye 
9482to it. I do not order ye ; ye will it. Cut your seizings 
9483and draw the poles, ye harpooneers ! ' 
9484
9485Silently obeying the order, the three harpooneers now 
9486stood with the detached iron part of their harpoons, some 
9487three feet long, held, barbs up, before him. 
9488
9489' Stab me not with that keen steel ! Cant them ; 
9490cant them over ! know ye not the goblet end ? Turn 
9491up the socket ! So, so ; now, ye cup-bearers, advance. 
9492The irons ! take them ; hold them while I fill ! ' Forth- 
9493with, slowly going from one officer to the other, he 
9494brimmed the harpoon sockets with the fiery waters from 
9495the pewter. 
9496
9497' Now, three to three, ye stand. Commend the murder- 
9498ous chalices ! Bestow them, ye who are now made 
9499parties to this indissoluble league. Ha ! Starbuck ! but 
9500the deed is done ! Yon ratifying sun now waits to sit 
9501upon it. Drink, ye harpooneers ! drink and swear, ye 
9502men that man the deathful whale-boat's bow Death to 1 
9503
9504
9505
9506208 MOBY-DICK 
9507
9508Moby-Dick ! God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby- 
9509Dick to his death ! ' The long, barbed steel goblets were 
9510lifted ; and to cries and maledictions against the White 
9511Whale, the spirits were simultaneously quaffed down with 
9512a hiss. Starbuck paled, and turned, and shivered. Once 
9513more, and finally, the replenished pewter went the rounds 
9514among the frantic crew ; when, waving his free hand to 
9515them, they all dispersed ; and Ahab retired within his 
9516cabin. 
9517
9518
9519
9520CHAPTER XXXVII 
9521
9522SUNSET 
9523
9524(The cabin ; by the stern windows ; Ahab sitting alone, 
9525and gazing out.) 
9526
9527I LEAVE a white and turbid wake ; pale waters, paler 
9528cheeks, where'er I sail. The envious billows sidelong swell 
9529to whelm my track ; let them ; but first I pass. 
9530
9531Yonder, by the ever-brimming goblet's rim, the warm 
9532waves blush like wine. The gold brow plumbs the blue. 
9533The diver sun slow dived from noon, goes down ; my 
9534soul mounts up ! she wearies with her endless hill. Is, 
9535then, the crown too heavy that I wear ? this Iron Crown 
9536of Lombardy. Yet is it bright with many a gem ; I, the 
9537wearer, see not its far flashings ; but darkly feel that I 
9538wear that, that dazzlingly confounds. 'Tis iron that 
9539I know not gold. 'Tis split, too that I feel ; the 
9540jagged edge galls me so, my brain seems to beat against 
9541the solid metal ; ay, steel skull, mine ; the sort that 
9542needs no helmet in the most brain-battering fight ! 
9543
9544Dry heat upon my brow ? Oh ! time was, when as 
9545the sunrise nobly spurred me, so the sunset soothed. No 
9546more. This lovely light, it lights not me ; all loveliness 
9547is anguish to me, since I can ne'er enjoy. Gifted with the 
9548
9549
9550
9551high perception, I lack the low, enjoying power ; damned, 
9552most subtly ana most malignantly ! damned in the midst , 
9553of Paradise ! Good night good night ! (Waving his ' 
9554hand, he moves from the window.) 
9555
9556'Twas not so hard a task. I thought to find one stub- 
9557
9558VOL. I. O 
9559
9560
9561
9562
9563
9564
9565210 MOBY-DICK 
9566
9567born, at the least ; but my one cogged circle fits into all 
9568their various wheels, and they revolve. Or, if you will, 
9569like so many ant-hills of powder, they all stand before me ; 
9570and I their match. Oh, hard ! that to fire others, the 
9571match itself must needs be wasting ! What I Ve dared, 
9572I Ve willed ; and what I Ve willed, I '11 do ! They think 
9573me mad Starbuck does ; but I 'm demoniac, I am mad- 
9574ness maddened ! That wild madness that 's only calm 
9575to comprehend itself ! The prophecy was that I should 
9576be dismembered ; and Ay ! I lost this leg. I now 
9577prophesy that I will dismember my dismemberer. JJow* 
9578then, be the prophet and the fulfiUer one. That 's more 
9579than ye, ye great gods, ever were. I laugh and hoot at 
9580ye, ye cricket -players, ye pugilists, ye deaf Burkes and 
9581blinded Bendigoes ! I will not say as schoolboys do to 
9582bullies, Take some one of your own size ; don't pommel 
9583me \ No, ye Ve knocked me down, and I am up again ; 
9584but ye have run and hidden. Come forth from behind 
9585your cotton bags ! I have no long gun to reach ye. 
9586Come, Ahab's compliments to ye ; come and see if ye can 
9587swerve me. Swerve me ? ye cannot swerve me, else ye 
9588swerve yourselves ! man has ye there. Swerve me ? 
9589The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, where - 
9590on" my soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, 
9591through the rifled hearts of mountains, under torrents' 
9592beds, unerringly I rush ! Naught J s an obstacle, naught 's 
9593an angle to the iron way ! 
9594
9595
9596
9597CHAPTER XXXVIII 
9598
9599DUSK 
9600
9601(By the mainmast ; Starbuck leaning against it.) 
9602
9603MY soul is* more than matched ; she 's overmanned ; 
9604and by a madman ! Insufferable sting, that sanity should 
9605ground arms on such a field ! But he drilled deep down, 
9606and blasted all my reason out of me ! I think I see his 
9607impious end ; but feel that I must help him to it. Will I, 
9608nill I, the ineffable thing has tied me to him ; tows me 
9609with a cable I have no knife to cut. Horrible old man ! 
9610Who 's over him, he cries ; ay, he would be a democrat \^ 
9611to all above ; look, how he lords it over all below ! Oh ! 
9612I plainly see my miserable office, to obey, rebelling ; and 
9613worse yet, to hate with touch of pity ! For in his eyes I 
9614read some lurid woe would shrivel me up, had I it. Yet 
9615is there hope. Time and tide flow wide. The hated 
9616whale has the round watery world to swim in, as the small 
9617gold-fish has its glassy globe. His heaven-insulting pur- 
9618pose, God may wedge aside. I would up heart, were it 
9619not like lead. But my whole clock 's run down ; my 
9620heart the all-controlling weight, I have no key to lift 
9621again. 
9622
9623(A burst of revelry from the forecastle.) 
9624
9625Oh, God ! to sail with such a heathen crew that have 
9626small touch of human mothers in them ! Whelped some- 
9627where by the sharkish sea. The White Whale is their 
9628demigorgon. Hark ! the infernal orgies ! that revelry 
9629is forward ! mark the unfaltering silence aft ! Methinks 
9630
9631211 
9632
9633
9634
9635212 
9636
9637
9638
9639MOBY-DICK 
9640
9641
9642
9643it pictures life. Foremost through the sparkling sea 
9644shoots on the gay, embattled, bantering bow, but only to 
9645drag dark Ahab after it, where he broods within his stern- 
9646ward cabin, builded over the dead water of the wake, 
9647and further on, hunted by its wolfish gurglings. The long 
9648howl thrills me through ! Peace ! ye revellers, and set 
9649the watch ! Oh, life ! 'tis in an hour like this, with soul 
9650beat down and held to knowledge, as wild, untutored 
9651things are forced to feed Oh, life ! 'tis now that I do feel 
9652the latent horror in thee ! but 'tis not me ! that horror 's 
9653
9654
9655
9656out of me ! and with the soft feeling of ^ejiuman in me, 
9657yet ^will I try to fight ye, "ye grim, phantom futures ! 
9658Stand by me, hold me, bind me, ye blessed influences ! 
9659
9660
9661
9662CHAPTER XXXIX 
9663
9664FIRST NIGHT-WATCH 
9665FORE-TOP 
9666
9667(Stubb solus, and mending a brace.) 
9668
9669HA ! ha ! ha ! ha ! hem ! clear my throat ! I Ve been 
9670thinking over it ever since, and that ha, ha 3 s the final 
9671consequence. Why so ? Because a laugh 's the wisest, 
9672easiest answer to all that 's queer ; and come what will, 
9673one comfort 's always left that unfailing comfort is, it 's 
9674all predestinated. I heard not all his talk with Starbuck ; 
9675but to my poor eye Starbuck then looked something as I 
9676the other evening felt. Be sure the old Mogul has fixed 
9677him, too. I twigged it, knew it ; had had the gift, might 
9678readily have prophesied it for when I clapped my eye 
9679upon his skull I saw it. Well, Stubb, wise Stubb that 's 
9680my title well, Stubb, what of it, Stubb ? Here 's a 
9681carcase. I know not all that may be coming, but be it 
9682what it will, I '11 go to it laughing. Such a waggish 
9683leering as lurks in all your horribles ! I feel funny. Fa, 
9684la ! lirra, skirra ! What 's my juicy little pear at home 
9685doing now ? Crying its eyes out ? Giving a party to the 
9686last arrived harpooneers, I dare say, gay as a frigate's 
9687pennant, and so am I fa, la ! lirra, skirra ! Oh 
9688
9689We '11 drink to-night with hearts as light, 
9690
9691To love, as gay and fleeting 
9692As bubbles that swim, on the beaker's brim, 
9693
9694And break on the lips while meeting. 
9695
9696A brave stave that who calls ? Mr. Starbuck ? 
9697Ay, ay, sir (Aside) he 's my superior, he has his too, 
9698if I 'm not mistaken. Ay, ay, sir, just through with this 
9699job coming. 
9700
9701213 
9702
9703
9704
9705CHAPTER XL 
9706
9707MIDNIGHT, FORECASTLE 
9708HABPOONEERS AND SAILORS 
9709
9710(Foresail rises and discovers the match standing, lounging, 
9711leaning, and lying in various attitudes, all singing in chorus.) 
9712
9713Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish ladies ! 
9714Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain ! 
9715Our captain's commanded. 
9716
97171ST NANTUCKET SAILOE. 
9718
9719Oh, boys, don't be sentimental ; it 's bad for the 
9720digestion ! Take a tonic, follow me ! 
9721
9722(Sings, and all follow.) 
9723
9724Our captain stood upon the deck, 
9725
9726A spy-glass in his hand, 
9727A-viewing of those gallant whales 
9728
9729That blew at every strand. 
9730Oh, your tubs in your boats, my boys, 
9731
9732And by your braces stand, 
9733And we '11 have one of those fine whales, 
9734
9735Hand, boys, over hand ! 
9736
9737So, be cheery, my lads ! may your hearts never fail ! 
9738While the bold harpooneer is striking the whale ! 
9739
9740MATE'S VOICE FROM THE QUARTER-DECK. 
9741Eight bells there, forward ! 
9742
9743214 
9744
9745
9746
9747MIDNIGHT, FORECASTLE 215 
9748
97492ND NANTUCKET SAILOR. 
9750
9751Avast the chorus ! Eight bells there ! <T ye hear, 
9752bell-boy ? Strike the bell eight, thou Pip ! thou black- 
9753ling ! and let me call the watch. I 've the sort of mouth 
9754for that the hogshead mouth. So, so, (thrusts his head 
9755down the scuttle) Star bo-1-e-e-n-s, a-h-o-y ! Eight 
9756bells there below ! Tumble up ! 
9757
9758DUTCH SAILOR. 
9759
9760Grand snoozing to-night, maty ; fat night for that. 
9761I mark this in our old Mogul's wine ; it 's quite as deaden- 
9762ing to some as filliping to others. We sing ; they sleep- 
9763ay, lie down there, like ground-tier butts. At 'em again ! 
9764There, take this copper-pump, and hail 'em through it. 
9765Tell 'em to avast dreaming of their lasses. Tell 'em it 's 
9766the resurrection ; they must kiss their last, and come to 
9767judgment. That 's the way that 's it ; thy throat ain't 
9768spoiled with eating Amsterdam butter. 
9769
9770FRENCH SAILOR. 
9771
9772Hist, boys ! let 's have a jig or two before we ride to 
9773anchor in Blanket Bay. What say ye ? There comes 
9774the other watch. Stand by, all legs ! Pip ! little Pip ! 
9775hurrah with your tambourine ! 
9776
9777PIP. 
9778
9779(Sulky and sleepy.) 
9780Don't know where it is. 
9781
9782FRENCH SAILOR. 
9783
9784Beat thy belly, then, and wag thy ears. Jig it, men, 
9785I say ; merry 's the word ; hurrah ! Damn me, won't 
9786you dance ? Form, now, Indian-file, and gallop into the 
9787double-shuffle ! Throw yourselves ! Legs ! legs ! 
9788
9789
9790
9791216 MOBY-DICK 
9792
9793ICELAND SAILOE. 
9794
9795I don't like your floor, maty ; it 's too springy to my 
9796taste. I 'm used to ice-floors. I 'm sorry to throw cold 
9797water on the subject ; but excuse me. 
9798
9799MALTESE SAILOR. 
9800
9801Me too ; where 's your girls ? Who but a fool would 
9802take his left hand by his right, and say to himself, how 
9803d' ye do ? Partners ! I must have partners ! 
9804
9805SICILIAN SAILOR. 
9806
9807Ay ; girls and a green ! then I '11 hop with ye ; yea, 
9808turn grasshopper ! 
9809
9810LONG-ISLAND SAILOR. 
9811
9812Well, well, ye sulkies, there 's plenty more of us. Hoe 
9813corn when you may, say I. All legs go to harvest soon. 
9814Ah ! here comes the music ; now for it ! 
9815
9816AZORE SAILOR. 
9817
9818(Ascending, and pitching the tambourine up the scuttle.) 
9819
9820Here you are, Pip ; and there J s the windlass-bitts ; 
9821up you mount ! Now, boys ! 
9822
9823(The half of them dance to the tambourine ; some go 
9824below ; some sleep or lie among the coils of rigging. Oaths 
9825a-plenty.) 
9826
9827AZORE SAILOR. 
9828
9829(Dancing.) 
9830
9831Go it, Pip ! Bang it, bell-boy ! Rig, it, dig it, stig it, 
9832quig it, bell-boy ! Make fire-flies ; break the jinglers ! 
9833
9834PIP. 
9835
9836Jinglers, you say ? there goes another, dropped off ; 
9837I pound it so. 
9838
9839
9840
9841MIDNIGHT, FORECASTLE 217 
9842
9843
9844
9845CHINA SAILOR. 
9846
9847
9848
9849Rattle thy teeth, then, and pound away ; make a 
9850pagoda of thyself. 
9851
9852FRENCH SAILOR. 
9853
9854Merry-mad ! Hold up thy hoop, Pip, till I jump 
9855through it ! Split jibs ! tear yourselves ! 
9856
9857TASHTEGO. 
9858
9859(Quietly smoking.) 
9860
9861That 's a white man ; he calls that fun : humph ! I j 
9862save my sweat. 
9863
9864OLD MANX SAILOR. 
9865
9866I wonder whether those jolly lads bethink them of what 
9867they are dancing over. I '11 dance over your grave, I will 
9868that 's the bitterest threat of your night-women, that 
9869beat head- winds round corners. O Christ ! to think of 
9870the green navies and the green-skulled crews ! Well, 
9871well ; belike the whole world 's a ball, as you scholars 
9872have it ; and so 'tis right to make one ball-room of it. 
9873Dance on, lads, you 're young ; I was once. 
9874
98753RD NANTUCKET SAILOR. 
9876
9877Spell oh ! whew ! this is worse than pulling after 
9878whales in a calm give us a whiff, Tash. 
9879
9880(They cease dancing, and gather in clusters. Meantime 
9881the sky darkens the wind rises.) 
9882
9883LASCAR SAILOR. 
9884
9885By Brahma ! boys, it '11 be douse sail soon. The 
9886sky-born, high -tide Ganges turned to wind ! Thou 
9887showest thy black brow, Seeva ! 
9888
9889
9890
9891218 MOBY-DICK 
9892
9893MALTESE SAILOR. 
9894
9895(Reclining and shaking his cap.) 
9896
9897It 's the waves the snow's caps turn to jig it now. 
9898They '11 shake their tassels soon. Now would all the 
9899waves were women, then I 'd go drown, and chassee with 
9900them evermore ! There 's naught so sweet on earth 
9901heaven may not match it ! as those swift glances of 
9902warm, wild bosoms in the dance, when the over-arbour- 
9903ing arms hide such ripe, bursting grapes. 
9904
9905SICILIAN SAILOE. 
9906
9907(Reclining.) 
9908
9909Tell me not of it ! Hark ye, lad fleet interfacings of 
9910the limbs lithe swayings covings flutterings ! lip ! 
9911heart ! hip ! all graze : unceasing touch and go ! not 
9912taste, observe ye, else come satiety. Eh, Pagan ? 
9913(Nudging.) 
9914
9915TAHITIAN SAILOR. 
9916
9917(Reclining on a mat.) 
9918
9919Hail, holy nakedness of our dancing girls ! the Heeva- 
9920Heeva ! Ah ! low-veiled, high-palmed Tahiti ! I still 
9921rest me on thy mat, but the soft soil has slid ! I saw 
9922thee woven in the wood, my mat ! green the first day I 
9923brought ye thence ; now worn and wilted quite. Ah me ! 
9924not thou nor I can bear the change ! How then, if so 
9925be transplanted to yon sky ? Hear I the roaring streams 
9926from Pirohitee's peak of spears, when they leap down the 
9927crags and drown the villages ? The blast ! the blast ! 
9928Up, spine, and meet it ! (Leaps to his feet.) 
9929
9930
9931
9932
9933
9934
9935MIDNIGHT, FORECASTLE 219 
9936
9937PORTUGUESE SAILOR. 
9938
9939How the sea rolls swashing 'gainst the side ! Stand 
9940by for reefing, hearties ! the winds are just crossing 
9941swords, pell-mell they '11 go lunging presently. 
9942
9943DANISH SAILOR. 
9944
9945Crack, crack, old ship ! so long as thou crackest, thou 
9946boldest ! Well done ! The mate there holds ye to it 
9947stiffly. He 's no more afraid than the isle fort at Cattegat, 
9948put there to fight the Baltic with storm-lashed guns, on 
9949which the sea-salt cakes ! 
9950
99514TH NANTUCKET SAILOR. 
9952
9953He has his orders, mind ye that. I heard old Ahab 
9954tell him he must always kill a squall, something as they 
9955burst a waterspout with a pistol fire your ship right 
9956into it ! 
9957
9958ENGLISH SAILOR. 
9959
9960Blood ! but that old man 's a grand old cove ! We are 
9961the lads to hunt him up his whale ! 
9962
9963ALL. 
9964Ay ! ay ! 
9965
9966OLD MANX SAILOR. 
9967
9968How the three pines shake ! Pines are the hardest sort 
9969of tree to live when shifted to any other soil, and here 
9970there 's none but the crew's cursed clay. Steady, helms- 
9971man ! steady. This is the sort of weather when brave 
9972hearts snap ashore, and keeled hulls split at sea. Our 
9973captain has his birth-mark ; look yonder, boys, there 's 
9974another in the sky lurid-like, ye see, all else pitch black. 
9975
9976DAGGOO. 
9977
9978What of that ? Who 's afraid of black 's afraid of me ! 
9979I 'm quarried out of it ! 
9980
9981
9982
9983220 MOBY-DICK 
9984
9985SPANISH SAILOR. 
9986
9987(Aside.) He wants to bully, ah ! the old grudge 
9988makes me touchy. (Advancing.) Ay, harpooneer, thy 
9989race is the undeniable dark side of mankind devilish 
9990dark at that. No offence. 
9991
9992DAGGOO (grimly). 
9993None. 
9994
9995ST. JAGO'S SAILOR. 
9996
9997That Spaniard 's mad or drunk. But that can't be, 
9998or else in his one case our old Mogul's fire-waters are 
9999somewhat long in working. 
10000
100015TH NANTUCKET SAILOR. 
10002
10003What 's that I saw lightning ? Yes. 
10004
10005SPANISH SAILOR. 
10006
10007No ; Daggoo showing his teeth. 
10008
10009DAGGOO (springing). 
10010Swallow thine, manikin ! White skin, white liver ! 
10011
10012SPANISH SAILOR (meeting him). 
10013Knife thee heartily ! big frame, small spirit ! 
10014
10015ALL. 
10016A row ! a row ! a row ! 
10017
10018TASHTEGO (with a whiff). 
10019
10020A row alow, and a row aloft Gods and men both 
10021brawlers ! Humph ! 
10022
10023BELFAST SAILOR. 
10024
10025A row ! arrah a row ! The Virgin be blessed, a row ! 
10026Plunge in with ye ! 
10027
10028
10029
10030MIDNIGHT, FORECASTLE 221 
10031
10032
10033
10034ENGLISH SAILOR. 
10035
10036
10037
10038Fair play ! Snatch the Spaniard's knife ! A ring, a 
10039
10040
10041
10042ring ! 
10043
10044
10045
10046OLD MANX SAILOR. 
10047
10048
10049
10050Ready formed. There ! the ringed horizon. In that 
10051ring Cain struck Abel. Sweet work, right work ! No ? 
10052Why then, God, mad'st thou the ring ? 
10053
10054MATE'S VOICE FROM THE QUARTER-DECK. 
10055
10056Hands by the halyards ! in top-gallant-sails ! Stand 
10057by to reef topsails ! 
10058
10059ALL. 
10060
10061The squall ! the squall ! jump, my jollies ! (They 
10062scatter.) 
10063
10064PIP (shrinking under the windlass). 
10065
10066Jollies ? Lord help such jollies ! Crish, crash ! there 
10067goes the jib-stay ! Blang-whang ! God ! Duck lower, 
10068Pip, here comes the royal yard ! It 's worse than being 
10069in the whirled woods, the last day of the year ! Who 'd 
10070go climbing after chestnuts now ? But there they go, 
10071all cursing, and here I don't. Fine prospects to 'em ; 
10072they 're on the road to heaven. Hold on hard ! Jimmini, 
10073what a squall ! But those chaps there are worse yet 
10074they are your white squalls, they. White squalls ? white 
10075whale, shirr ! shirr ! Here have I heard all their chat 
10076just now, and the White Whale shirr ! shirr ! but 
10077spoken of once ! and only this evening it makes me 
10078jingle all over like my tambourine that anaconda of 
10079an old man swore 'em in to hunt him ! Oh, thou big 
10080white God aloft there somewhere in yon darkness, have 
10081mercy on this small black boy down here ; preserve him 
10082
10083from all men that have no bowels to feel fear ! 
10084
10085******* 
10086
10087
10088
10089CHAPTER XLI 
10090
10091MOBY-DICK 
10092
10093I, ISHMAEL, was one of that crew ; my shouts had gone 
10094up with the rest ; my oath had been welded with theirs ; 
10095and stronger I shouted, and more did I hammer and clinch 
10096my oath, because of the dread in my soul. A wild, 
10097mystical, sympathetical feeling was in me ; Ahab's 
10098quenchless feud seemed mine. With greedy ears I 
10099learned the history of that murderous monster against 
10100whom I and all the others had taken our oaths of violence 
10101and revenge. 
10102
10103For some time past, though at intervals only, the un- 
10104accompanied, secluded White Whale had haunted those 
10105uncivilised seas mostly frequented by the sperm whale 
10106fishermen. But not all of them knew of his existence ; 
10107only a few of them, comparatively, had knowingly seen 
10108him ; while the number who as yet had actually and 
10109knowingly given battle to him, was small indeed. For, 
10110owing to the large number of whale-cruisers ; the dis- 
10111orderly way they were sprinkled over the entire watery 
10112circumference, many of them adventurously pushing 
10113their quest along solitary latitudes, so as seldom or never 
10114for a whole twelvemonth or more on a stretch, to en- 
10115counter a single news-telling sail of any sort ; the inordin- 
10116ate length of each separate voyage ; the irregularity of the 
10117times of sailing from home ; all these, with other circum- 
10118stances, direct and indirect, long obstructed the spread 
10119through the whole world- wide whaling-fleet of the special 
10120individualising tidings concerning Moby-Dick. It was 
10121
10122222 
10123
10124
10125
10126MOBY-DICK 223 
10127
10128hardly to be doubted, that several vessels reported to have 
10129encountered, at such or such a time, or on such or such a 
10130meridian, a sperm whale of uncommon magnitude and 
10131malignity, which whale, after doing great mischief to his 
10132assailants, had completely escaped them ; to some minds 
10133it was not an* unfair presumption, I say, that the whale 
10134in question must have been no other than Moby-Dick. 
10135Yet as of late the sperm whale fishery had been marked 
10136by various and not unfrequent instances of great ferocity, 
10137cunning, and malice in the monster attacked ; therefore 
10138it was, that those who by accident ignorantly gave battle 
10139to Moby-Dick ; such hunters, perhaps, for the most part, 
10140were content to ascribe the peculiar terror he bred, more, 
10141as it were, to the perils of the sperm whale fishery at 
10142large, than to the individual cause. In that way, mostly, 
10143the disastrous encounter between Ahab and the whale 
10144had hitherto been popularly regarded. 
10145
10146And as for those who, previously hearing of the White 
10147Whale, by chance caught sight of him ; in the beginning 
10148of the thing they had every one of them, almost, as boldly 
10149and fearlessly lowered for him, as for any other whale of 
10150that species. But at length, such calamities did ensue 
10151in these assaults not restricted to sprained wrists and 
10152ankles, broken limbs, or devouring amputations but 
10153fatal to the last degree of fatality ; those repeated disas- 
10154trous repulses, all accumulating and piling their terrors 
10155upon Moby -Dick ; those things had gone far to shake the 
10156fortitude of many brave hunters, to whom the story of 
10157the White Whale had eventually come. 
10158
10159Nor did wild rumours of all sorts fail to exaggerate, and 
10160still the more horrify the true histories of these deadly 
10161encounters. For not only do fabulous rumours naturally 
10162grow out of the very body of all surprising terrible events, 
10163as the smitten tree gives birth to its fungi ; but, in 
10164maritime life, far more than in that of terra-firma, wild 
10165
10166
10167
10168224 MOBY-DICK 
10169
10170rumours abound, wherever there is any adequate reality 
10171for them to cling to. And as the sea surpasses the land 
10172in this matter, so the whale-fishery surpasses every other 
10173sort of maritime life, in the wonderfulness and fearful- 
10174ness of the rumours which sometimes circulate there. 
10175For not only are whalemen as a body unexempt from that 
10176ignorance and superstitiousness hereditary to all sailors ; 
10177but of all sailors, they are by all odds the most directly 
10178brought into contact with whatever is appallingly astonish- 
10179ing in the sea ; face to face they not only eye its greatest 
10180marvels, but, hand to jaw, give battle to them. Alone, 
10181in such remotest waters, that though you sailed a thousand 
10182miles, and passed a thousand shores, you would not come 
10183to any chiselled hearthstone, or aught hospitable beneath 
10184that part of the sun ; in such latitudes and longitudes, 
10185pursuing too such a calling as he does, the whaleman is 
10186wrapped by influences all tending to make his fancy 
10187pregnant with many a mighty birth. 
10188
10189No wonder, then, that ever gathering volume from the 
10190mere transit over the wildest watery spaces, the outblown 
10191rumours of the White Whale did in the end incorporate 
10192with themselves all manner of morbid hints, and half- 
10193formed foetal suggestions of supernatural agencies, which 
10194eventually invested Moby-Dick with new terrors un- 
10195borrowed from anything that visibly appears. So that in 
10196many cases such a panic did he finally strike, that few 
10197who by those rumours, at least, had heard of the White 
10198Whale, few of those hunters were willing to encounter the 
10199perils of his jaw. 
10200
10201But there were still other and more vital practical 
10202influences at work. Not even at the present day has the 
10203original prestige of the sperm whale, as fearfully dis- 
10204tinguished from all other species of the leviathan, died out 
10205of the minds of the whalemen as a body. There are those 
10206this day among them, who, though intelligent and cour- 
10207
10208
10209
10210MOBY-DICK 225 
10211
10212ageous enough in offering battle to the Greenland or right 
10213whale, would perhaps, either from professional inexperi- 
10214ence, or incompetency, or timidity, decline a contest with 
10215the sperm whale ; at any rate, there are plenty of whale- 
10216men, especially among those whaling nations not sailing 
10217under the American flag, who have never hostilely en- 
10218countered the sperm whale, but whose sole knowledge 
10219of the leviathan is restricted to the ignoble monster 
10220primitively pursued in the North ; seated on their 
10221hatches, these men will hearken with a childish fireside 
10222interest and awe, to the wild, strange tales of Southern 
10223whaling. Nor is the pre-eminent tremendousness of the 
10224great sperm whale anywhere more feelingly compre- 
10225hended, than on board of those prows which stem him. 
10226
10227And as if the now tested reality of his might had in 
10228former legendary times thrown its shadow before it ; we 
10229find some book naturalists Olassen and Povelson 
10230declaring the sperm whale not only to be a consternation 
10231to every other creature in the sea, but also to be so in- 
10232credibly ferocious as continually to be athirst for human \ 
10233blood. Nor even down to so late a time as Cuvier's, were 
10234these or almost similar impressions effaced. For in his 
10235Natural History, the Baron himself affirms that at 
10236sight of the sperm whale, all fish (sharks included) are 
10237'struck with the most lively terrors,' and 'often in the 
10238precipitancy of their flight dash themselves against the 
10239rocks with such violence as to cause instantaneous death.' 
10240And however the general experiences in the fishery may 
10241amend such reports as these ; yet in their full terribleness, 
10242even to the bloodthirsty item of Povelson, the super- 
10243stitious belief in them is, in some vicissitudes of their 
10244vocation, revived in the minds of the hunters. 
10245
10246So that overawed by the rumours and portents concern- 
10247ing him, not a few of the fishermen recalled, in reference 
10248to Moby-Dick, the earlier days of the sperm whale fishery, 
10249
10250VOL. i. p 
10251
10252
10253
10254226 MOBY-DICK 
10255
10256when it was oftentimes hard to induce long -practised right 
10257whalemen to embark in the perils of this new and daring 
10258warfare ; such men protesting that although other 
10259leviathans might be hopefully pursued, yet to chase and 
10260point lance at such an apparition as the sperm whale was 
10261not for mortal man. That to attempt it, would be inevit- 
10262ably to be torn into a quick eternity. On this head, 
10263there are some remarkable documents that may be 
10264consulted. 
10265
10266Nevertheless, some there were, who even in the face of 
10267these things were ready to give chase to Moby-Dick ; and 
10268a still greater number who, chancing only to hear of him 
10269distantly and vaguely, without the specific details of any 
10270certain calamity, and without superstitious accompani- 
10271ments, were sufficiently hardy not to flee from the battle 
10272if offered. 
10273
10274One of the wild suggestings referred to, as at last coming 
10275to be linked with the White Whale in the minds of the 
10276superstitiously inclined, was the unearthly conceit that 
10277Moby-Dick was ubiquitous ; that he had actually been 
10278encountered in opposite latitudes at one and the same 
10279instant of time. 
10280
10281Nor, credulous as such minds must have been, was 
10282this conceit altogether without some faint show of super- 
10283stitious probability. For as the secrets of the currents 
10284in the seas have never yet been divulged, even to the 
10285most erudite research ; so the hidden ways of the sperm 
10286whale when beneath the surface remain, in great part, 
10287unaccountable to his pursuers ; and from time to time 
10288have originated the most curious and contradictory specu- 
10289lations regarding them, especially concerning the mystic 
10290modes whereby, after sounding to a great depth, he trans- 
10291ports himself with such vast swiftness to the most widely 
10292distant points. 
10293
10294It is a thing well known to both American and English 
10295
10296
10297
10298MOBY-DICK 227 
10299
10300whale-ships, and as well a thing placed upon authoritative 
10301record years ago by Scoresby, that some whales have been 
10302captured far north in the Pacific, in whose bodies have been 
10303found the barbs of harpoons darted in the Greenland seas. 
10304Nor is it to be gainsaid, that in some of these instances it 
10305has been declared that the interval of time between the 
10306two assaults could not have exceeded very many days. 
10307Hence, by inference, it has been believed by some whale- 
10308men, that the Nor'- West Passage, so long a problem to 
10309man, was never a problem to the whale. So that here, 
10310in the real living experience of living men, the prodigies 
10311related in old times of the inland Strello mountain in 
10312Portugal (near whose top there was said to be a lake in 
10313which the wrecks of ships floated up to the surface) ; 
10314and that still more wonderful story of the Arethusa 
10315fountain near Syracuse (whose waters were believed to 
10316have come from the Holy Land by an underground 
10317passage) ; these fabulous narrations are almost fully 
10318equalled by the realities of the whaleman. 
10319
10320Forced into familiarity, then, with such prodigies as 
10321these ; and knowing that after repeated, intrepid assaults, 
10322the White Whale had escaped alive ; it cannot be much 
10323matter of surprise that some whalemen should go still 
10324further in their superstitions ; declaring Moby-Dick not 
10325only ubiquitous, but immortal (for immortality is but 
10326ubiquity in time) ; that though groves of spears should 
10327be planted in his flanks, he would still swim away un- 
10328harmed ; or if indeed he should ever be made to spout 
10329thick blood, such a sight would be but a ghastly decep- 
10330tion ; for again in unensanguined billows hundreds of 
10331leagues away, his unsullied jet would once more be seen. 
10332
10333But even stripped of these supernatural surmisings, 
10334there was enough in the earthly make and incontestable 
10335character of the monster to strike the imagination with 
10336unwonted power. For, it was not so much his uncommon 
10337
10338
10339
10340228 MOBY-DICK 
10341
10342bulk that so much distinguished him from other sperm 
10343whales, but, as was elsewhere thrown out a peculiar 
10344snow-white wrinkled forehead, and a high, pyramidical 
10345white hump. These were his prominent features ; the 
10346tokens whereby, even hi the limitless, uncharted seas, 
10347he revealed his identity, at a long distance, to those who 
10348knew him. 
10349
10350The rest of his body was so streaked, and spotted, and 
10351marbled with the same shrouded hue, that, in the end, 
10352he had gained his distinctive appellation of the White 
10353Whale ; a name, indeed, literally justified by his vivid 
10354aspect, when seen gliding at high noon through a dark 
10355blue sea, leaving a milky-way wake of creamy foam, all 
10356spangled with golden gleamings. 
10357
10358Nor was it his unwonted magnitude, nor his remarkable 
10359hue, nor yet his deformed lower jaw, that so much in- 
10360vested the whale with natural terror, as that unexampled, 
10361intelligent malignity which, according to specific accounts, 
10362he had over and over again evinced in his assaults. More 
10363than all, his treacherous retreats struck more of dismay 
10364than perhaps aught else. For, when swimming before 
10365his exulting pursuers, with every apparent symptom of 
10366alarm, he had several times been known to turn round 
10367suddenly, and, bearing down upon them, either stave 
10368their boats to splinters, or drive them back in consterna- 
10369tion to their ship. 
10370
10371Already several fatalities had attended his chase. 
10372But though similar disasters, however little bruited 
10373ashore, were by no means unusual in the fishery ; yet, in 
10374most instances, such seemed the White Whale's infernal 
10375aforethought of ferocity, that every dismembering or 
10376death that he caused, was not wholly regarded as having 
10377been inflicted by an unintelligent agent. 
10378
10379Judge, then, to what pitches of inflamed, distracted 
10380fury the minds of his more desperate hunters were im- 
10381
10382
10383
10384MOBY-DICK 229 
10385
10386pelled, when amid the chips of chewed boats, and the 
10387sinking limbs of torn comrades, they swam out of the 
10388white curds of the whale's direful wrath into the serene, 
10389exasperating sunlight, that smiled on, as if at a birth or 
10390a bridal. 
10391
10392His three boats stove around him, and oars and men 
10393both whirling in the eddies, one captain, seizing the line- 
10394knife from his broken prow, had dashed at the whale, 
10395as an Arkansas duellist at his foe, blindly seeking with a 
10396six-inch blade to reach the fathom-deep life of the whale. 
10397That captain was Ahab. And then it was, that suddenly 
10398sweeping his sickle -shaped lower jaw beneath him, Moby- 
10399Dick had reaped away Ahab's leg, as a mower a blade of 
10400grass in the field. No turbaned Turk, no hired Venetian 
10401or Malay, could have smote him with more seeming 
10402malice. Small reason was there to doubt, then, that ever 
10403since that almost fatal encounter, Ahab had cherished a 
10404wild vindictiveness against the whale, all the more fell 
10405for that in his frantic morbidness he at last came to 
10406identify with him, not only all his bodily woes, but all 
10407his intellectual and spiritual exasperations. The White 
10408Whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation 
10409of all those malicious agencies which some deep men 
10410feel eating in them, till they are left living on with half 
10411a heart and half a lung. That intangible malignity which 
10412has been from the beginning ; to whose dominion even 
10413the modern Christians ascribe one-half of the worlds ; 
10414which the ancient Ophites of the East reverenced in their 
10415statue devil ; Ahab did not fall down and worship it 
10416like them ; but deliriously transferring its idea to the 
10417abhorred White Whale, he pitted himself, all mutilated, 
10418against it. All that most maddens and torments ; all 
10419that stirs up the lees of things ; all truth with malice in 
10420it ; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain ; all 
10421the subtle demonisms of life and thought ; all evil, to 
10422
10423
10424
10425230 MOBY-DICK 
10426
10427crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically 
10428assailable in Moby-Dick. He piled upon the whale's 
10429white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt 
10430by his whole race from Adam down ; and then, as if his 
10431chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell 
10432upon it. 
10433
10434It is not probable that this monomania in him took its 
10435instant rise at the precise time of his bodily dismember- 
10436ment. Then, in darting at the monster, knife in hand, 
10437he had but given loose to a sudden, passionate, corporal 
10438animosity ; and when he received the stroke that tore 
10439him, he probably but felt the agonising bodily laceration, 
10440but nothing more. Yet, when by this collision forced to 
10441turn toward home, and for long months of days and weeks, 
10442Ahab and anguish lay stretched together in one ham- 
10443mock, rounding in mid- winter that dreary, howling Pata- 
10444gonian Cape ; then it was, that his torn body and gashed 
10445soul bled into one another ; and so interfusing, made him 
10446mad. That it was only then, on the homeward voyage, 
10447after the encounter, that the final monomania seized him, 
10448seems all but certain from the fact that, at intervals during 
10449the passage, he was a raving lunatic ; and, though un- 
10450limbed of a leg, yet such vital strength yet lurked in his 
10451Egyptian chest, and was moreover intensified by his 
10452delirium, that his mates were forced to lace him fast, 
10453even there, as he sailed, raving in his hammock. In a 
10454strait -jacket, he swung to the mad rockings of the gales. 
10455And, when running into more sufferable latitudes, the 
10456ship, with mild stun '-sails spread, floated across the 
10457tranquil tropics, and, to all appearances, the old man's 
10458delirium seemed left behind him with the Cape Horn 
10459swells, and he came forth from his dark den into the blessed 
10460light and air ; even then, when he bore that firm, collected 
10461front, however pale, and issued his calm orders once again ; 
10462and his mates thanked God the direful madness was now 
10463
10464
10465
10466MOBY-DICK 231 
10467
10468gone ; even then, Ahab, in his hidden self, raved on. 
10469Human madness is oftentimes a cunning and most feline 
10470thing. When you think it fled, it may have but become 
10471transfigured into some still subtler form. Ahab's full 
10472lunacy subsided not, but deepeningly contracted ; like 
10473the unabated Hudson, when that noble Northman flows 
10474narrowly, but unfathomably through the Highland gorge. 
10475But, as in his narrow-flowing monomania, not one jot 
10476of Ahab's broad madness had been left behind ; so in 
10477that broad madness, not one jot of his great natural 
10478intellect had perished. That before living agent, now 
10479became the living instrument. If such a furious trope 
10480may stand, his special lunacy stormed his general sanity, 
10481and carried it, and turned all its concentrated cannon 
10482upon its own mad mark ; so that far from having lost 
10483his strength, Ahab, to that one end, did now possess a 
10484thousand-fold more potency than ever he had sanely 
10485brought to bear upon any one reasonable object. 
10486
10487This is much ; yet Ahab's larger, darker, deeper part 
10488remains unhinted. But vain to popularise profundities, 
10489and all truth is profound. Winding far down from within 
10490the very heart of this spiked Hotel de Cluny where we 
10491here stand however grand and wonderful, now quit it ; 
10492and take your way, ye nobler, sadder souls, to those vast 
10493Roman halls of Thermes ; where far beneath the fantastic 
10494towers of man's upper earth, his root of grandeur, his 
10495whole awful essence sits in bearded state ; an antique 
10496buried beneath antiquities, and throned on torsoes ! 
10497So with a broken throne, the great gods mock that captive 
10498king ; so like a Caryatid, he patient sits, upholding on 
10499his frozen brow the piled entablatures of ages. Wind ye 
10500down there, ye prouder, sadder souls ! question that 
10501proud, sad king ! A family likeness ! ay, he did beget 
10502ye> ye young exiled royalties ; and from your grim sire 
10503only will the old State -secret come. 
10504
10505
10506
10507232 MOBY-DICK 
10508
10509Now, in his heart, Ahab had some glimpse of this, 
10510namely : all my means are sane, my motive and my object 
10511mad. Yet without power to kill, or change, or shun the 
10512fact, he likewise knew that to mankind he did long dis- 
10513. semble ; in some sort, did still. But that thing of his 
10514dissembling was only subject to his perceptibility, not 
10515to his will determinate. Nevertheless, so well did he 
10516succeed in that dissembling, that when with ivory leg 
10517he stepped ashore at last, no Nantucketer thought him 
10518otherwise than but naturally grieved, and that to the 
10519quick, with the terrible casualty which had overtaken 
10520him. 
10521
10522The report of his undeniable delirium at sea was like- 
10523wise popularly ascribed to a kindred cause. And so too, 
10524all the added moodiness which always afterward, to the 
10525very day of sailing in the Pequod on the present voyage, 
10526sat brooding on his brow. Nor is it so very unlikely, 
10527that far from distrusting his fitness for another whaling 
10528voyage, on account of such dark symptoms, the calculating 
10529people of that prudent isle were inclined to harbour the 
10530conceit, that for those very reasons he was all the better 
10531qualified and set on edge, for a pursuit so full of rage and 
10532wildness as the bloody hunt of whales. Gnawed within 
10533and scorched without, with the unfixed, unrelenting fangs 
10534of some incurable idea ; such an one, could he be found, 
10535would seem the very man to dart his iron and lift his 
10536lance against the most appalling of all brutes. Or, if for 
10537any reason thought to be corporeally incapacitated for 
10538that, yet such an one would seem superlatively competent 
10539to cheer and howl on his underlings to the attack. But 
10540be all this as it may, certain it is, that with the mad 
10541secret of his unabated rage bolted up and keyed in him, 
10542Ahab had purposely sailed upon the present voyage with 
10543the one only and all-engrossing object of hunting the White 
10544Whale. Had any one of his old acquaintances on shore 
10545
10546
10547
10548MOBY-DICK 233 
10549
10550but half dreamed of what was lurking in him then, how 
10551soon would their aghast and righteous souls have wrenched 
10552the ship from such a fiendish man ! They were bent 
10553on profitable cruises, the profit to be counted down in 
10554dollars from the mint. He was intent on an audacious, 
10555immitigable, and supernatural revenge. 
10556
10557Here, then, was this gray-headed, ungodly old man, 
10558chasing with curses a Job's whale round the world, at the 
10559head of a crew, too, chiefly made up of mongrel renegades, 
10560and castaways, and cannibals morally enfeebled, also, 
10561by the incompetence of mere unaided virtue or right- 
10562mindedness mStarbuck, the invulnerable jollity of indiffer- 
10563ence and recklessness in Stubb, and the pervading medioc- 
10564rity in Flask. Such a crew, so officered, seemed specially 
10565picked and packed by some infernal fatality to help Mm 
10566to his monomaniac revenge. How it was that they so 
10567aboundingly responded to the old man's ire by what 
10568evil magic their souls were possessed, that at times his 
10569hate seemed almost theirs ; the White Whale as much 
10570their insufferable foe as his ; how all this came to be- 
10571what the White Whale was to them, or how to their 
10572unconscious understandings, also, in some dim, unsus- 
10573pected way, he might have seemed the gliding great demon 
10574of the seas of life, all this to explain, would be to dive 
10575deeper than Ishmael can go. The subterranean miner 
10576that works in us all, how can one tell whither leads his 
10577shaft by the ever shifting, muffled sound of his pick ? 
10578Who does not feel the irresistible arm drag ? What skiff 
10579in tow of a seventy-four can stand still ? For one, I gave 
10580myself up to the abandonment of the time and the place ; 
10581but while yet all a-rush to encounter the whale, could see 
10582naught in that brute but the deadliest ill. 
10583
10584
10585
10586CHAPTER XLII 
10587
10588THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE 
10589
10590WHAT the White Whale was to Ahab has been hinted ; 
10591what, at times, he was to me, as yet remains unsaid. 
10592
10593Aside from those more obvious considerations touching 
10594Moby-Dick, which could not but occasionally awaken in 
10595any man's soul some alarm, there was another thought, 
10596or rather vague, nameless horror concerning him, which 
10597at times by its intensity completely overpowered all the 
10598rest ; and yet so mystical and well-nigh ineffable was it, 
10599that I almost despair of putting it in a comprehensible 
10600form. It was the whiteness of the whale that above all 
10601things appalled me. But how can I hope to explain 
10602myself here ; and yet, in some dim, random way, explain 
10603myself I must, else all these chapters might be naught. 
10604
10605Though in many natural objects, whiteness refiningly 
10606enhances beauty, as if imparting some special virtue of 
10607its own, as in marbles, japonicas, and pearls ; and though 
10608various nations have in some way recognised a certain 
10609royal pre-eminence in this hue ; even the barbaric, grand 
10610old kings of Pegu placing the title ' Lord of the White 
10611Elephants ' above all their other magniloquent ascrip- 
10612tions of dominion ; and the modern kings of Siam un- 
10613furling the same snow-white quadruped in the royal 
10614standard ; and the Hanoverian flag bearing the one figure 
10615of a snow-white charger ; and the great Austrian Empire, 
10616Caesarian, heir to overlording Rome, having for the 
10617imperial colour the same imperial hue ; and though this 
10618pre-eminence in it applies to the human race itself, giving 
10619
10620234 
10621
10622
10623
10624THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE 235 
10625
10626the white man ideal mastership over every dusky tribe ; 
10627and though, besides all this, whiteness has been even 
10628made significant of gladness, for among the Romans a 
10629white stone marked a joyful day ; and though in other 
10630mortal sympathies and symbolisings, this same hue is 
10631made the emblem of many touching, noble things the 
10632innocence of brides, the benignity of age ; though among 
10633the Bed Men of America the giving of the white belt of 
10634wampum was the deepest pledge of honour ; though in 
10635many climes, whiteness typifies the majesty of Justice 
10636in the ermine of the Judge, and contributes to the daily 
10637state of kings and queens drawn by milk-white steeds ; 
10638though even in the higher mysteries of the most august 
10639religions it has been made the symbol of the divine spot- 
10640lessness and power ; by the Persian fire -worshippers, the 
10641white forked flame being held the holiest on the altar ; 
10642and in the Greek mythologies, Great Jove himself being 
10643made incarnate in a snow-white bull ; and though to the 
10644noble Iroquois, the mid-winter sacrifice of the sacred 
10645White Dog was by far the holiest festival of their theology, 
10646that spotless, faithful creature being held the purest 
10647envoy they could send to the Great Spirit with the annual 
10648tidings of their own fidelity ; and though directly from 
10649the Latin word for white, all Christian priests derive the 
10650name of one part of their sacred vesture, the alb or tunic, 
10651worn beneath the cassock ; and though among the holy 
10652pomps of the Romish faith, white is specially employed 
10653in the celebration of the Passion of our Lord ; though 
10654in the Vision of St. John, white robes are given to the 
10655redeemed, and the four-and-twenty elders stand clothed 
10656in white before the great white throne, and the Holy 
10657One that sitteth there white like wool ; yet for all these 
10658accumulated associations, with whatever is sweet, and 
10659honourable, and sublime, there yet lurks an elusive some- 
10660thing in the innermost idea of this hue, which strikes more 
10661
10662
10663
10664~ 
10665
10666
10667
10668236 MOBY-DICK 
10669
10670of panic to the soul than that redness which affrights in 
10671blood. 
10672
10673This elusive quality it is, which causes the thought of 
10674whiteness, when divorced from more kindly associations, 
10675and coupled with any object terrible in itself, to heighten 
10676that terror to the furthest bounds. Witness the white 
10677bear of the Poles, and the white shark of the Tropics ; 
10678what but their smooth, flaky whiteness makes them the 
10679transcendent horrors they are ? That ghastly whiteness 
10680it is which imparts such an abhorrent mildness, even more 
10681loathsome than terrific, to the dumb gloating of their 
10682aspect. So that not the fierce-fanged tiger in his heraldic 
10683coat can so stagger courage as the white-shrouded bear 
10684or shark. 1 
10685
10686Bethink thee of the albatross, whence come those 
10687clouds of spiritual wonderment and pale dread, in which 
10688that white phantom sails in all imaginations ? Not 
10689Coleridge first threw that spell ; but God's great, unflatter- 
10690ing laureate, Nature. 2 
10691
106921 With reference to the Polar bear, it may possibly be urged by him 
10693who would fain go still deeper into this matter, that it is not the white- 
10694ness, separately regarded, which heightens the intolerable hideousness of 
10695that brute ; for, analysed, that heightened hideousness, it might be said, 
10696only arises from the circumstance, that the irresponsible ferociousness of 
10697the creature stands invested in the fleece of celestial innocence and love : 
10698and hence, by bringing together two such opposite emotions in our minds, 
10699the Polar bear frightens us with so unnatural a contrast. But even 
10700assuming all this to be true ; yet, were it not for the whiteness, you 
10701would not have that intensified terror. 
10702
10703As for the white shark, the white gliding ghostliness of repose in that 
10704creature, when beheld in his ordinary moods, strangely tallies with the 
10705same quality in the Polar quadruped. This peculiarity is most vividly 
10706hit by the French in the name they bestow upon that fish. The Romish 
10707mass for the dead begins with * Requiem eternam ' (eternal rest), whence 
10708Requiem denominating the mass itself, and any other funereal music. 
10709Now, in allusion to the white, silent stillness of death in this shark, and 
10710the mild deadliness of his habits, the French call him Requin. 
10711
107122 I remember the first albatross I ever saw. It was during a prolonged 
10713gale, in waters hard upon the Antarctic seas. From my forenoon watch 
10714below, I ascended to the overclouded deck ; and there, dashed upon the 
10715main hatches, I saw a regal, feathery thing of unspotted whiteness, and 
10716with a hooked, Roman bill sublime. At intervals, it arched forth its vast 
10717
10718
10719
10720THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE 237 
10721
10722Most famous in our Western annals and Indian tradi- 
10723tions is that of the White Steed of the Prairies ; a 
10724magnificent milk-white charger, large -eyed, small-headed, 
10725bluff-chested, and with the dignity of a thousand monarchs 
10726in his lofty, over-scorning carriage. He was the elected 
10727Xerxes of vast herds of wild horses, whose pastures in 
10728those days were only fenced by the Rocky Mountains 
10729and the Alleghanies. At their flaming head he westward 
10730trooped it like that chosen star which every evening leads 
10731on the hosts of light. The flashing cascade of his mane, 
10732the curving comet of his tail, invested him with housings 
10733more resplendent than gold and silver beaters could have 
10734furnished him. A most imperial and archangelical appari- 
10735tion of that unf alien, Western world, which to the eyes of 
10736
10737
10738
10739archangel wings, as if to embrace some holy ark. Wondrous flutterings 
10740and throbbings shook it. Though bodily unharmed, it uttered cries, as 
10741some king's ghost in supernatural distress. Through its inexpressible, 
10742strange eyes, methought I peeped to secrets which took hold of God. As 
10743
10744
10745
10746strange eyes, metnougnt l peeped to secrets wnicn toofc hold 01 l*od. As I 
10747Abraham before the angels, I bowed myself ; the white thing was so white, 1 
10748its wings so wide, and in those forever exiled waters, I had lost the * 
10749miserable warping memories of traditions and of towns. Long I gazed at 
10750that prodigy of plumage. I cannot tell, can only hint, the things that 
10751darted through me then. But at last I awoke ; and turning, asked a 
10752sailor what bird was this. A goney, he replied. Goney ! I never had 
10753heard that name before ; is it conceivable that this glorious thing ia 
10754utterly unknown to men ashore ! never ! But some time after, I learned 
10755that goney was some seaman's name for albatross. So that by no possi- 
10756bility could Coleridge's wild Rhyme have had aught to do with those 
10757mystical impressions which were mine, when I saw that bird upon our 
10758deck. For neither had I then read the Rhyme, nor knew the bird to be 
10759an albatross. Yet, in saying this, I do but indirectly burnish a little 
10760brighter the noble merit of the poem and the poet. 
10761
10762I assert, then, that in the wondrous bodily whiteness of the bird chiefly 
10763lurks the secret of the spell ; a truth the more evinced in this, that by a 
10764solecism of terms there are birds called gray albatrosses ; and these I have 
10765frequently seen, but never with such emotions as when I beheld the 
10766Antarctic fowl. 
10767
10768But how had the mystic thing been caught? Whisper it not, and I 
10769will tell ; with a treacherous hook and line, as the fowl floated on the sea. 
10770At last the captain made a postman of it ; tying a lettered, leathern tally 
10771round its neck, with the ship's time and place ; and then letting it 
10772escape. But I doubt not, that leathern tally, meant for man, was taken 
10773off in Heaven, when the white fowl flew to join the wing-folding, the 
10774invoking, and adoring cherubim ! 
10775
10776
10777
10778238 MOBY-DICK 
10779
10780the old trappers and hunters revived the glories of those 
10781primeval times when Adam walked majestic as a god, 
10782bluff -bo wed and fearless as this mighty steed. Whether 
10783marching amid his aides and marshals in the van of 
10784countless cohorts that endlessly streamed it over the 
10785plains, like an Ohio ; or whether with his circumambient 
10786subjects browsing all around at the horizon, the White 
10787Steed gallopingly reviewed them with warm nostrils 
10788reddening through his cool milkiness ; in whatever aspect 
10789he presented himself, always to the bravest Indians he 
10790was the object of trembling reverence and awe. Nor can 
10791it be questioned from what stands on legendary record 
10792of this noble horse, that it was his spiritual whiteness 
10793chiefly, which so clothed him with divineness ; and that 
10794this divineness had that in it which, though commanding 
10795worship, at the same time enforced a certain nameless 
10796terror. 
10797
10798But there are other instances where this whiteness loses 
10799all that accessory and strange glory which invests it in 
10800the White Steed and Albatross. 
10801
10802What is it that in the Albino man so peculiarly repels 
10803and often shocks the eye, as that sometimes he is loathed 
10804by his own kith and kin ! It is that whiteness which 
10805invests him, a thing expressed by the name he bears. 
10806The Albino is as well made as other men has no sub- 
10807stantive deformity and yet this mere aspect of all- 
10808pervading whiteness makes him more strangely hideous 
10809than the ugliest abortion. Why should this be so ? 
10810
10811Nor, in quite other aspects, does Nature in her least 
10812palpable but not the less malicious agencies, fail to enlist 
10813among her forces this crowning attribute of the terrible. 
10814From its snowy aspect, the gauntleted ghost of the 
10815Southern seas has been denominated the White Squall. 
10816Nor, in some historic instances, has the art of human 
10817malice omitted so potent an auxiliary. How wildly it 
10818
10819
10820
10821THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE 239 
10822
10823heightens the effect of that passage in Froissart, when, 
10824masked in the snowy symbol of their faction, the desper- 
10825ate White Hoods of Ghent murder their bailiff in the 
10826market-place ! 
10827
10828Nor, in some things, does the common, hereditary 
10829experience of all mankind fail to bear witness to the 
10830supernaturalism of this hue. It cannot well be doubted, 
10831that the one visible quality in the aspect of the dead which 
10832most appals the gazer, is the marble pallor lingering there ; 
10833as if indeed that pallor were as much like the badge of 
10834consternation in the other world, as of mortal trepidation 
10835here. And from that pallor of the dead, we borrow the 
10836expressive hue of the shroud in which we wrap them. 
10837Nor even in our superstitions do we fail to throw the same 
10838snowy mantle round our phantoms ; all ghosts rising in 
10839a milk-white fog Yea, while these terrors seize us, let 
10840us add, that even the king of terrors, when personified by 
10841the evangelist, rides on his pallid horse. 
10842
10843Therefore, in his other moods, symbolise whatever 
10844grand or gracious thing he will by whiteness, no man can 
10845deny that in its profoundest idealised significance it calls 
10846up a peculiar apparition to the soul. 
10847
10848But though without dissent this point be fixed, how is 
10849mortal man to account for it ? To analyse it would 
10850seem impossible. Can we, then, by the citation of some 
10851of those instances wherein this thing of whiteness 
10852though for the time either wholly or in great part stripped 
10853of all direct associations calculated to impart to it aught 
10854fearful, but, nevertheless, is found to exert over us the 
10855same sorcery, however modified ; can we thus hope to 
10856light upon some chance clue to conduct us to the hidden 
10857cause we seek ? 
10858
10859Let us try. But in a matter like this, subtlety appeals 
10860to subtlety, and without imagination no man can follow 
10861another into these halls. And though, doubtless, some at 
10862
10863
10864
10865240 MOBY-DICK 
10866
10867least of the imaginative impressions about to be presented 
10868may have been shared by most men, yet few perhaps were 
10869entirely conscious of them at the time, and therefore may 
10870not be able to recall them now. 
10871
10872Why to the man of untutored ideality, who happens to 
10873be but loosely acquainted with the peculiar character of 
10874the day, does the bare mention of Whitsuntide marshal 
10875in the fancy such long, dreary, speechless processions of 
10876slow-pacing pilgrims downcast and hooded with new- 
10877fallen snow ? Or, to the unread, unsophisticated Protes- 
10878tant of the Middle American States, why does the passing 
10879mention of a White Friar or a White Nun, evoke such an 
10880eyeless statue in the soul ? 
10881
10882Or what is there apart from the traditions of dungeoned 
10883warriors and kings (which will not wholly account for it) 
10884that makes the White Tower of London tell so much more 
10885strongly on the imagination of an untravelled American 
10886than those other storied structures, its neighbours the 
10887Byward Tower, or even the Bloody ? And those sub- 
10888limer towers, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, 
10889whence, in peculiar moods, comes that gigantic ghostli- 
10890ness over the soul at the bare mention of that name, while 
10891the thought of Virginia's Blue Ridge is full of a soft, dewy, 
10892distant dreaminess ? Or *why, irrespective of all latitudes 
10893and longitudes, does thg name of the White Sea exert 
10894such a spectralness over the fancy, while that of the 
10895Yellow Sea lulls us with mortal thoughts of long lacquered 
10896mild afternoons on the waves, followed by the gaudiest 
10897and yet sleepiest of sunsets ? Or, to choose a wholly un- 
10898substantial instance, purely addressed to the fancy, why, 
10899in reading the old fairy tales of Central Europe, does ' the 
10900tall pale man ' of the Hartz forests, whose changeless 
10901pallor unrustlingly glides through the green of the groves 
10902why is this phantom more terrible than all the whooping 
10903imps of the Blocksburg ? 
10904
10905
10906
10907THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE 241 
10908
10909Nor is it, altogether, the remembrance of her cathedral- 
10910toppling earthquakes ; nor the stampedoes of her frantic 
10911seas ; nor the tearlessness of arid skies that never rain ; 
10912nor the sight of her wide field of leaning spires, wrenched 
10913cope-stones, and crosses all adroop (like canted yards of 
10914anchored fleets) ; and her suburban avenues of house- 
10915walls lying over upon each other, as a tossed pack of 
10916cards ; it is not these things alone which make tearless 
10917Lima the strangest, saddest city thou canst see. For 
10918Lima has taken the white veil ; and there is a higher 
10919horror in this whiteness of her woe. Old as Pizarro, 
10920this whiteness keeps her ruins forever new ; admits not 
10921the cheerful greenness of complete decay ; spreads over 
10922her broken ramparts the rigid pallor of an apoplexy that 
10923fixes its own distortions. 
10924
10925I know that, to the common apprehension, this phe- 
10926nomenon of whiteness is not confessed to be the prime 
10927agent in exaggerating the terror of objects otherwise 
10928terrible ; nor to the unimaginative mind is there aught 
10929of terror in those appearances whose awfulness to another 
10930mind almost solely consists in this one phenomenon, 
10931especially when exhibited under any form at all approach- 
10932ing to muteness or universality. What I mean by these 
10933two statements may perhaps be respectively elucidated 
10934by the following examples. 
10935
10936First : The mariner, when drawing nigh the coasts of 
10937foreign lands, if by night he hear the roar of breakers, 
10938starts to vigilance, and feels just enough of trepidation to 
10939sharpen all his faculties ; but under precisely similar 
10940circumstances, let him be called from his hammock to 
10941view his ship sailing through a midnight sea of milky 
10942whiteness as if from encircling headlands shoals of 
10943combed white bears were swimming round him then he 
10944feels a silent, superstitious dread ; the shrouded phantom 
10945of the whitened waters is horrible to him as a real ghost ; 
10946
10947VOL. I. Q 
10948
10949
10950
10951242 MOBY-DICK 
10952
10953in vain the lead assures him he is still off soundings ; heart 
10954and helm they both go down ; he never rests till blue 
10955water is under him again. Yet where is the mariner who 
10956will tell thee, ' Sir, it was not so much the fear of striking 
10957hidden rocks, as the fear of that hideous whiteness that 
10958so stirred me ' ? 
10959
10960Second : To the native Indian of Peru, the continual 
10961sight of the snow-howdahed Andes conveys naught of 
10962dread, except, perhaps, in the mere fancying of the eternal 
10963frosted desolateness reigning at such vast altitudes, and 
10964the natural conceit of what a fearfulness it would be to 
10965lose oneself in such inhuman solitudes. Much the same 
10966is it with the backwoodsman of the West, who with com- 
10967parative indifference views an unbounded prairie sheeted 
10968with driven snow, no shadow of tree or twig to break the 
10969fixed trance of whiteness. Not so the sailor, beholding 
10970the scenery of the Antarctic seas ; where at times, by 
10971some infernal trick of legerdemain in the powers of frost 
10972and air, he, shivering and half shipwrecked, instead of 
10973rainbows speaking hope and solace to his misery, views 
10974what seems a boundless churchyard grinning upon him 
10975with its lean ice monuments and splintered crosses. 
10976
10977But thou sayest, methinks this white -lead chapter 
10978about whiteness is but a white flag hung out from a craven 
10979soul ; thou surrenderest to a hypo, Ishmael. 
10980
10981Tell me, why this strong young colt, foaled in some 
10982peaceful valley of Vermont, far removed from all beasts 
10983of prey why is it that upon the sunniest day, if you but 
10984shake a fresh buffalo robe behind him, so that he cannot 
10985even see it, but only smells its wild animal muskiness 
10986why will he start, snort, and with bursting eyes paw the 
10987ground in frenzies of affright ? There is no remem- 
10988brance in him of any gorings of wild creatures in his green 
10989northern home, so that the strange muskiness he smells 
10990cannot recall to him anything associated with the experi- 
10991
10992
10993
10994
10995
10996
10997THE WHITENESS OP THE WHALE 243 
10998
10999ence of former perils ; for what knows he, this New 
11000England colt, of the black bisons of distant Oregon ? 
11001
11002No : but here thou beholdest even in a dumb brute, I.J^A 
11003the instinct of the knowledge of the demonismjin the /* / 
11004world. Though thousands of miles from Oregon, still 
11005when he smells that savage musk, the rending, goring 
11006bison herds are as present as to the deserted wild foal of 
11007the prairies, which this instant they may be trampling 
11008into dust. 
11009
11010Thus, then, the muffled rollings of a milky sea ; the 
11011bleak rustlings of the festooned frosts of mountains ; the 
11012desolate shiftings of the windrowed snows of prairies ; 
11013all these, to Ishmael, are as the shaking of that buffalo 
11014robe to the frightened colt ! 
11015
11016Though neither knows where lie the nameless things of 
11017which the mystic sign gives forth such hints ; yet with s 
11018me, as with the colt, somewhere those things must exist. 
11019Though in many of its aspects this visible world seems 
11020formed in love, the invisible spheres were formed in fright. 
11021
11022But not yet have we solved the incantation of this 
11023whiteness, and learned why it appeals with such power to 
11024the soul ; and more strange and far more portentous 
11025why, as we have seen, it is at once the most meaning 
11026symbol of spiritual things, nay, the very veil of the 
11027Christian's Deity ; and yet should be as it is, the intensi- 
11028fying agent in things the most appalling to mankind. 
11029
11030Is it that by its indefiniteness it shadows forth the 
11031heartless voids and immensities of the universe, and thus 
11032stabs us from behind with the thought of annihilation, 
11033when beholding the white depths of the Milky Way ? Or 
11034is it, that as in essence whiteness is not so much a colour 
11035as the visible ^ absence^J_c^laar^ and at the same time the 
11036concrete of all colours ; is it for these reasons that there 
11037is such a dumb blankness, full of meaning, in a wide 
11038landscape of snows a colourless, all-colour of atheism 
11039
11040
11041
11042244 MOBY-DICK 
11043
11044from which we shrink ? And when we consider that other 
11045theory of the natural philosophers, that all other earthly 
11046hues every stately or lovely emblazoning the sweet 
11047tinges of sunset skies and woods ; yea, and the gilded 
11048velvets of butterflies, and the butterfly cheeks of young 
11049girls ; all these are but subtle deceits, not actually in- 
11050herent in substances, but only laid on from without ; so 
11051that all deified Nature absolutely paints like the harlot, 
11052whose allurements cover nothing but the charnel-house 
11053within ; and when we proceed further, and consider 
11054that the mystical cosmetic which produces every one of 
11055her hues, the great principle of light, forever remains 
11056white or colourless in itself, and if operating without 
11057medium upon matter, would touch all objects, even 
11058tulips and roses, with its own blank tinge pondering all 
11059this, the palsied universe lies before us a leper ; and like 
11060wilful travellers in Lapland, who refuse to wear coloured 
11061and colouring glasses upon their eyes, so the wretched 
11062infidel gazes himself blind at the monumental white 
11063shroud that wraps all the prospect around him. And of 
11064all these things the Albino whale was the symbol. Wonder 
11065ye then at the fiery hunt ? 
11066
11067
11068
11069
11070
11071
11072CHAPTER XLIII 
11073
11074HARK ! 
11075
11076' HIST ! Did you hear that noise, Cabaco ? ' 
11077
11078It was the middle -watch : a fair moonlight ; the 
11079seamen were standing in a cordon, extending from one 
11080of the fresh-water butts in the waist, to the scuttle-butt 
11081near the taffrail. In this manner, they passed the 
11082buckets to fill the scuttle-butt. Standing, for the most 
11083part, on the hallowed precincts of the quarter-deck, they 
11084were careful not to speak or rustle their feet. From hand 
11085to hand, the buckets went in the deepest silence, only 
11086broken by the occasional flap of a sail, and the steady hum 
11087of the unceasingly advancing keel. 
11088
11089It was in the midst of this repose, that Archy, one of 
11090the cordon, whose post was near the after-hatches, 
11091whispered to his neighbour, a Cholo, the words above. 
11092' Hist ! did you hear that noise, Cabaco ? ' 
11093' Take the bucket, will ye, Archy ? what noise d' ye 
11094mean ? ' 
11095
11096' There it is again under the hatches don't you hear 
11097it ? a cough it sounded like a cough.' 
11098
11099' Cough be damned ! Pass along that return bucket.' 
11100' There again there it is ! it sounds like two or three 
11101sleepers turning over, now ! ' 
11102
11103' Caramba ! have done, shipmate, will ye ? It 's the 
11104three soaked biscuits ye eat for supper turning over inside 
11105of ye -nothing else. Look to the bucket ! ' 
11106
111074 Say what ye will, shipmate ; I 've sharp ears.' 
11108
11109' Ay, you are the chap, ain't ye, that heard the hum 
11110
11111245 
11112
11113
11114
11115246 MOBY-DICK 
11116
11117of the old Quakeress's knitting-needles fifty miles at sea 
11118from Nantucket ; you 're the chap.' 
11119
11120' Grin away ; we '11 see what turns up. Hark ye, 
11121Cabaco, there is somebody down in the after-hold that 
11122has not yet been seen on deck ; and I suspect our old 
11123Mogul knows something of it too. I heard Stubb tell 
11124Flask, one morning-watch, that there was something of 
11125that sort in the wind.' 
11126
11127' Tish ! the bucket ! ' 
11128
11129
11130
11131
11132
11133
11134CHAPTER XLIV 
11135
11136THE CHART 
11137
11138HAD you followed Captain Ahab down into his cabin 
11139after the squall that took place on the night succeeding 
11140that wild ratification of his purpose with his crew, you 
11141would have seen him go to a locker in the transom, and 
11142bringing out a large wrinkled roll of yellowish sea-charts, 
11143spread them before him on his screwed-down table. Then 
11144seating himself before it, you would have seen him intently 
11145study the various lines and shadings which there met his 
11146eye ; and with slow but steady pencil trace additional 
11147courses over spaces that before were blank. At intervals, 
11148he would refer to piles of old log-books beside him, wherein 
11149were set down the seasons and places in which, on various 
11150former voyages of various ships, sperm whales had been 
11151captured or seen. 
11152
11153While thus employed, the heavy pewter lamp suspended 
11154foi chains over his head, continually rocked with the motion 
11155of the ship, and forever threw shifting gleams and shadows 
11156of lines upon his wrinkled brow, till it almost seemed that 
11157while he himself was marking out lines and courses on the 
11158wrinkled charts, some invisible pencil was also tracing 
11159lines and courses upon the deeply marked chart of his 
11160forehead. 
11161
11162But it was not this night in particular that, in the 
11163solitude of his cabin, Ahab thus pondered over his charts. 
11164Almost every night they were brought out ; almost every 
11165night some pencil marks were effaced, and others were 
11166substituted. For with the charts of all four oceans before 
11167
11168247 
11169
11170
11171
11172248 
11173
11174
11175
11176MOBY-DICK 
11177
11178
11179
11180him, Ahab was threading a maze of currents and eddies, 
11181with a view to the more certain accomplishment of that 
11182monomaniac thought of his soul. 
11183
11184Now, to anyone not fully acquainted with the ways of 
11185the leviathans, it might seem an absurdly hopeless task 
11186thus to seek out one solitary creature in the unhooped 
11187oceans of this planet. But not so did it seem to Ahab, 
11188who knew the sets of all tides and currents ; and thereby 
11189calculating the drif tings of the sperm whale's food ; and, 
11190also, calling to mind the regular, ascertained seasons for 
11191hunting him in particular latitudes ; could arrive at 
11192reasonable surmises, almost approaching to certainties, 
11193concerning the timeliest day to be upon this or that 
11194ground in search of his prey. 
11195
11196So assured, indeed, is the fact concerning the periodical- 
11197ness of the sperm whale's resorting to given waters, that 
11198many hunters believe that, could he be closely observed 
11199and studied throughout the world ; were the logs for one 
11200voyage of the entire whale -fleet carefully collated, then 
11201the migrations of the sperm whale would be found to 
11202correspond in invariability to those of the herring -shoals 
11203or the flights of swallows. On this hint, attempts have 
11204been made to construct elaborate migratory charts of the 
11205sperm whale. 1 
11206
11207Besides, when making a passage from one feeding- 
11208ground to another, the sperm whales, guided by some 
11209infallible instinct say, rather, secret intelligence from 
11210
112111 Since the above was written, the statement is happily borne out by an 
11212official circular, issued by Lieutenant Maury, of the National Observatory, 
11213Washington, April 16th, 1851. By that circular, it appears that precisely 
11214such a chart is in course of completion ; and portions of it are presented 
11215in the circular. ' This chart divides the ocean into districts of five degrees 
11216of latitude by five degrees of longitude ; perpendicularly through each 
11217of which districts are twelve columns for the twelve months ; and hori- 
11218zontally through each of which districts are three lines ; one to show the 
11219number of days that have been spent in each month in every district, and 
11220the two others to show the number of days in which whales, sperm or 
11221right, have been seen.' 
11222
11223
11224
11225THE CHART 249 
11226
11227the Deity mostly swim in veins, as they are called ; con- 
11228tinuing their way along a given ocean-line with such 
11229undeviating exactitude, that no ship ever sailed her 
11230course, by any chart, with one tithe of such marvellous 
11231precision. Though, in these cases, the direction taken 
11232by any one whale be straight as a surveyor's parallel, and 
11233though the line of advance be strictly confined to its 
11234own unavoidable, straight wake, yet the arbitrary vein 
11235in which at these times he is said to swim, generally 
11236embraces some few miles in width (more or less, as the 
11237vein is presumed to expand or contract) ; but never 
11238exceeds the visual sweep from the whale-ship's mast- 
11239heads, when circumspectly gliding along this magic zone. 
11240The sum is, that at particular seasons within that breadth 
11241and along that path, migrating whales may with great 
11242confidence be looked for. 
11243
11244And hence not only at substantiated times, upon well- 
11245known separate feeding-grounds, could Ahab hope to 
11246encounter his prey ; but in crossing the widest expanses 
11247of water between those grounds he could, by his art, so 
11248place and time himself on his way, as even then not to be 
11249wholly without prospect of a meeting. 
11250
11251There was a circumstance which at first sight seemed to 
11252entangle his delirious but still methodical scheme. But 
11253not so in reality, perhaps. Though the gregarious sperm 
11254whales have their regular seasons for particular grounds, 
11255yet in general you cannot conclude that the herds which 
11256haunted such and such a latitude or longitude this year, 
11257say, will turn out to be identically the same with those 
11258that were found there the preceding season ; though 
11259there are peculiar and unquestionable instances where 
11260the contrary of this has proved true. In general, the same 
11261remark, only within a less wide limit, applies to the soli- 
11262taries and hermits among the matured, aged sperm whales. 
11263So that though Moby-Dick had in a former year been seen, 
11264
11265
11266
11267250 MOBY-DICK 
11268
11269for example, on what is called the Seychelle ground in the 
11270Indian Ocean, or Volcano Bay on the Japanese coast ; 
11271yet it did not follow, that were the Pequod to visit either 
11272of those spots at any subsequent corresponding season, 
11273she would infallibly encounter him there. So, too, with 
11274some other feeding -grounds, where he had at times 
11275revealed himself. But all these seemed only his casual 
11276stopping-places and ocean-inns, so to speak, not his places 
11277of prolonged abode. And where Ahab's chances of 
11278accomplishing his object have hitherto been spoken of, 
11279allusion has only been made to whatever wayside, ante- 
11280cedent, extra prospects were his, ere a particular set time 
11281or place were attained, when all possibilities would become 
11282probabilities, and, as Ahab fondly thought, every possi- 
11283bility the next thing to a certainty. That particular set 
11284time and place were conjoined in the one technical phrase 
11285the Season-on-the-Line. For there and then, for 
11286several consecutive years, Moby-Dick had been periodic- 
11287ally descried, lingering in those waters for a while, as the 
11288sun, in its annual round, loiters for a predicted interval 
11289in any one sign of the Zodiac. There it was, too, that 
11290most of the deadly encounters with the White Whale had 
11291taken place ; there the waves were storied with his deeds ; 
11292there also was that tragic spot where the monomaniac old 
11293man had found the awful motive to his vengeance. But 
11294in the cautious comprehensiveness and unloitering vigi- 
11295lance with which Ahab threw his brooding soul into this 
11296unfaltering hunt, he would not permit himself to rest all 
11297his hopes upon the one crowning fact above mentioned, 
11298however flattering it might be to those hopes ; nor in the 
11299sleeplessness of his vow could he so tranquillise his unquiet 
11300heart as to postpone all intervening quest. 
11301
11302Now, the Pequod had sailed from Nantucket at the very 
11303beginning of the Season-on-the-Line. No possible en- 
11304deavour then could enable her commander to make the 
11305
11306
11307
11308THE CHART 251 
11309
11310great passage southward, double Cape Horn, and then 
11311running down sixty degrees of latitude arrive in the 
11312equatorial Pacific in time to cruise there. Therefore, he 
11313must wait for the next ensuing season. Yet the prema- 
11314ture hour of the Pequod's sailing had, perhaps, been 
11315correctly selected by Ahab, with a view to this very com- 
11316plexion of things. Because, an interval of three hundred 
11317and sixty-five days and nights was before him ; an inter- 
11318val which, instead of impatiently enduring ashore, he 
11319would spend in a miscellaneous hunt ; if by chance the 
11320White Whale, spending his vacation in seas far remote 
11321from his periodical feeding-grounds, should turn up his 
11322wrinkled brow off the Persian Gulf, or in the Bengal Bay, 
11323or China Seas, or in any other waters haunted by his race. 
11324So that Monsoons, Pampas, Nor'-Westers, Harmattans, 
11325Trades ; any wind but the Levanter and Simoom, might 
11326blow Moby-Dick into the devious zig-zag world-circle of 
11327the Pequod's circumnavigating wake. 
11328
11329But granting all this ; yet, regarded discreetly and 
11330coolly, seems it not but a mad idea, this ; that in the broad 
11331boundless ocean, one solitary whale, even if encountered, 
11332should be thought capable of individual recognition from 
11333his hunter, even as a white-bearded Mufti in the thronged 
11334thoroughfares of Constantinople ? Yes. For the peculiar 
11335snow-white brow of Moby-Dick, and his snow-white hump, 
11336could not but be unmistakable. And have I not tallied 
11337the whale, Ahab would mutter to himself, as after poring 
11338over his charts till long after midnight he would throw 
11339himself back in reveries tallied him, and shall he escape ? 
11340His broad fins are bored, and scalloped out like a lost 
11341sheep's ear ! And here, his mad mind would run on in a 
11342breathless race ; till a weariness and faintness of ponder- 
11343ing came over him ; and in the open air of the deck he 
11344would seek to recover his strength. Ah, God ! what 
11345trances of torments does that man endure who is consumed 
11346
11347
11348
11349252 MOBY-DICK 
11350
11351with one unachieved revengeful desire. He sleeps with 
11352clenched hands ; and wakes with his own bloody nails in 
11353his palms. 
11354
11355Often, when forced from his hammock by exhausting 
11356and intolerably vivid dreams of the night, which, resuming 
11357his own intense thoughts through the day, carried them 
11358on amid a clashing of frenzies, and whirled them round 
11359and round in his blazing brain, till the very throbbing 
11360of his life-spot became insufferable anguish ; and when, 
11361
11362was sometimes the case, these spiritual throes in him 
11363heaved his being up from its base, and a chasm seemed 
11364opening in him, from which forked flames and lightnings 
11365shot up, and accursed fiends beckoned him to leap down 
11366among them ; when this hell in himself yawned beneath 
11367him, a wild cry would be heard through the ship ; and 
11368with glaring eyes Ahab would burst from his state-room, 
11369as though escaping from a bed that was on fire. Yet 
11370these, perhaps, instead of being the unsuppressible 
11371symptoms of some latent weakness, or fright at his own 
11372resolve, were but the plainest tokens of its intensity. For, 
11373at such times, crazy Ahab, the scheming, unappeasedly 
11374steadfast hunter of the White Whale ; this Ahab that had 
11375gone to his hammock, was not the agent that so caused 
11376him to burst from it in horror again. The latter was the 
11377eternal, living principle or soul in him ; and in sleep, being 
11378for the time dissociated from the characterising mind, 
11379which at other times employed it for its outer vehicle or 
11380agent, it spontaneously sought escape from the scorching 
11381contiguity of the frantic thing, of which, for the time, it 
11382was no longer an integral. But as the mind does not 
11383exist unless leagued with the soul, therefore it must have 
11384been that, in Ahab's case, yielding up all his thoughts and 
11385fancies to his one supreme purpose ; that purpose, by its 
11386own sheer inveteracy of will, forced itself against gods 
11387and devils into a kind of self-assumed, independent being 
11388
11389
11390
11391THE CHART 253 
11392
11393of its own. Nay, could grimly live and burn, while the 
11394common vitality to which it was conjoined, fled horror- 
11395stricken from the unbidden and unfathered birth. There- 
11396fore, the tormented spirit that glared out of bodily eyes, 
11397when what seemed Ahab rushed from his room, was for 
11398the time but a vacated thing, a formless somnambulistic 
11399being, a ray of living light, to be sure, but without an 
11400object to colour, and therefore a blankness in itself. God 
11401help thee, old man, thy thoughts have created a creature 
11402in thee ; and he whose intense thinking thus makes him 
11403a Prometheus ; a vulture feeds upon that heart forever ; 
11404that vulture the very creature he creates. 
11405
11406
11407
11408CHAPTER XLV 
11409
11410THE AFFIDAVIT 
11411
11412So far as what there may be of a narrative in this book ; 
11413and, indeed, as indirectly touching one or two very inter- 
11414esting and curious particulars in the habits of sperm 
11415whales, the foregoing chapter, in its earlier part, is as 
11416important a one as will be found in this volume ; but 
11417the leading matter of it requires to be still further and 
11418more familiarly enlarged upon, in order to be adequately 
11419understood, and moreover to take away any incredulity 
11420which a profound ignorance of the entire subject may 
11421induce in some minds, as to the natural verity of the main 
11422points of this affair. 
11423
11424I care not to perform this part of my task methodically ; 
11425but shall be content to produce the desired impression by 
11426separate citations of items, practically or reliably known 
11427to me as a whaleman ; and from these citations, I take 
11428it, the conclusion aimed at will naturally follow of itself. 
11429
11430First : I have personally known three instances where 
11431a whale, after receiving a harpoon, has effected a complete 
11432escape ; and, after an interval (in one instance of three 
11433years), has been again struck by the same hand, and slain ; 
11434when the two irons, both marked by the same private 
11435cipher, have been taken from the body. In the instance 
11436where three years intervened between the flinging of the 
11437two harpoons ; and I think it may have been something 
11438more than that ; the man who darted them happening, 
11439in the interval, to go in a trading-ship on a voyage to 
11440Africa, went ashore there, joined a discovery party, and 
11441
11442254 
11443
11444
11445
11446THE AFFIDAVIT 255 
11447
11448penetrated far into the interior, where he travelled for a 
11449period of nearly two years, often endangered by serpents, 
11450savages, tigers, poisonous miasmas, with all the other 
11451common perils incident to wandering in the heart of un- 
11452known regions. Meanwhile, the whale he had struck 
11453must also have been on its travels ; no doubt it had thrice 
11454circumnavigated the globe, brushing with its flanks all 
11455the coasts of Africa ; but to no purpose. This man and 
11456this whale again came together, and the one vanquished 
11457the other. I say I, myself, have known three instances 
11458similar to this ; that is in two of them I saw the whales 
11459struck ; and, upon the second attack, saw the two irons 
11460with the respective marks cut in them, afterward taken 
11461from the dead fish. In the three-year instance, it so fell 
11462out that I was in the boat both times, first and last, and 
11463the last time distinctly recognised a peculiar sort of huge 
11464mole under the whale's eye, which I had observed there 
11465three years previous. I say three years, but I am pretty 
11466sure it was more than that. Here are three instances, 
11467then, which I personally know the truth of ; but I have 
11468heard of many other instances from persons whose veracity 
11469in the matter there is no good ground to impeach. 
11470
11471Secondly : It is well known in the sperm whale fishery, 
11472however ignorant the world ashore maybe of it, that there 
11473have been several memorable historical instances where a 
11474particular whale in the ocean has been at distant times 
11475and places popularly cognisable. Why such a whale 
11476became thus marked was not altogether arid originally 
11477owing to his bodily peculiarities as distinguished from 
11478other whales ; for however peculiar in that respect any 
11479chance whale may be, they soon put an end to his peculi- 
11480arities by killing him, and boiling him down into a peculi- 
11481arly valuable oil. No : the reason was this : that from 
11482the fatal experiences of the fishery there hung a terrible 
11483prestige of perilousness about such a whale as there did 
11484
11485
11486
11487256 MOBY-DICK 
11488
11489about Rinaldo Rinaldini, insomuch that most fishermen 
11490were content to recognise him by merely touching their 
11491tarpaulins when he would be discovered lounging by them 
11492on the sea, without seeking to cultivate a more intimate 
11493acquaintance. Like some poor devils ashore that happen 
11494to know an irascible great man, they make distant unob- 
11495trusive salutations to him in the street, lest if they pursued 
11496the acquaintance further, they might receive a summary 
11497thump for their presumption. 
11498
11499But not only did each of these famous whales enjoy 
11500great individual celebrity nay, you may call it an ocean- 
11501wide renown ; not only was he famous in life and now is 
11502immortal in forecastle stories after death, but he was 
11503admitted into all the rights, privileges, and distinctions 
11504of a name ; had as much a name indeed as Cambyses or 
11505Caesar. Was it not so, O Timor Tom ! thou famed 
11506leviathan, scarred like an iceberg, who so long didst lurk 
11507in the oriental straits of that name, whose spout was oft 
11508seen from the palmy beach of Ombay ? Was it not so, 
11509New Zealand Jack ! thou terror of all cruisers that 
11510crossed their wakes in the vicinity of the Tattoo Land? 
11511Was it not so, Morquan ! King of Japan, whose lofty 
11512jet they say at times assumed the semblance of a snow- 
11513white cross against the sky ? Was it not so, Don 
11514Miguel ! thou Chilian whale, marked like an old tortoise 
11515with mystic hieroglyphics upon the back I In plain prose, 
11516here are four whales as well known to the students of 
11517Cetacean History as Marius or Sylla to the classic scholar. 
11518
11519But this is not all. New Zealand Tom and Don Miguel, 
11520after at various times creating great havoc among the 
11521boats of different vessels, were finally gone in quest of, 
11522systematically hunted out, chased and killed by valiant 
11523whaling-captains, who heaved up their anchors with that 
11524express object as much in view, as in setting out through 
11525the Narragansett Woods, Captain Butler of old had it 
11526
11527
11528
11529THE AFFIDAVIT 257 
11530
11531in his mind to capture that notorious murderous savage 
11532Annawon, the headmost warrior of the Indian King 
11533Philip. 
11534
11535I do not know where I can find a better place than just 
11536here, to make mention of one or two other things, which 
11537to me seem important, as in printed form establishing 
11538in all respects the reasonableness of the whole story of 
11539the White Whale, more especially the catastrophe. For 
11540this is one of those disheartening instances where truth 
11541requires full as much bolstering as error. So ignorant 
11542are most landsmen of some of the plainest and most 
11543palpable wonders of the world, that without some hints 
11544touching the plain facts, historical and otherwise, of the 
11545fishery, they might scout at Moby-Dick as a monstrous 
11546fable, or still worse and more detestable, a hideous and 
11547intolerable allegory. 
11548
11549First : Though most men have some vague flitting ideas 
11550of the general perils of the grand fishery, yet they have 
11551nothing like a fixed, vivid conception of those perils, 
11552and the frequency with which they recur. One reason 
11553perhaps is, that not one in fifty of the actual disasters and 
11554deaths by casualties in the fishery, ever finds a public 
11555record at home, however transient and immediately 
11556forgotten that record. Do you suppose that that poor 
11557fellow there, who this moment perhaps caught by the 
11558whale-line off the coast of New Guinea, is being carried 
11559down to the bottom of the sea by the sounding leviathan 
11560do you suppose that that poor fellow's name will appear 
11561in the newspaper obituary you will read to-morrow at 
11562your breakfast ? No : because the mails are very 
11563irregular between here and New Guinea. In fact, did 
11564you ever hear what might be called regular news direct 
11565or indirect from New Guinea ? Yet I tell you that 
11566upon one particular voyage which I made to the Pacific, 
11567among many others we spoke thirty different ships, every 
11568
11569VOL. j. B 
11570
11571
11572
11573258 MOBY-DICK 
11574
11575one of which had had a death by a whale, some of them 
11576more than one, and three that had each lost a boat's crew. 
11577For God's sake, be economical with your lamps and 
11578candles ! not a gallon you burn, but at least one drop of 
11579man's blood was spilled for it. 
11580
11581Secondly : People ashore have indeed some indefinite 
11582idea that a whale is an enormous creature of enormous 
11583power ; but I have ever found that when narrating to 
11584them some specific example of this twofold enormousness, 
11585they have significantly complimented me upon my 
11586facetiousness ; when, I declare upon my soul, I had no 
11587more idea of being facetious than Moses, when he wrote 
11588the history of the plagues of Egypt. 
11589
11590But fortunately the special point I here seek can be 
11591established upon testimony entirely independent of my 
11592own. That point is this : The sperm whale is in some 
11593cases sufficiently powerful, knowing, and judiciously 
11594malicious, as with direct aforethought to stave in, utterly 
11595destroy, and sink a large ship ; and what is more, the 
11596sperm whale has done it. 
11597
11598First : In the year 1820 the ship Essex, Captain 
11599Pollard, of Nantucket, was cruising in the Pacific Ocean. 
11600One day she saw spouts, lowered her boats, and gave chase 
11601to a shoal of sperm whales. Ere long, several of the 
11602whales were wounded ; when, suddenly, a very large 
11603whale escaping from the boats, issued from the shoal, 
11604and bore directly down upon the ship. Dashing his 
11605forehead against her hull, he so stove her in, that in less 
11606than ' ten minutes ' she settled down and fell over. Not 
11607a surviving plank of her has been seen since. After the 
11608severest exposure, part of the crew reached the land in 
11609their boats. Being returned home at last, Captain 
11610Pollard once more sailed for the Pacific in command of 
11611another ship, but the gods shipwrecked him again upon 
11612unknown rocks and breakers ; for the second time his 
11613
11614
11615
11616THE AFFIDAVIT 259 
11617
11618ship was utterly lost, and forthwith forswearing the sea, 
11619he has never tempted it since. At this day Captain Pollard 
11620is a resident of Nantucket. I have seen Owen Chace, 
11621who was chief mate of the Essex at the time of the tragedy ; 
11622I have read his plain and faithful narrative ; I have 
11623conversed with his son ; and all this within a few miles 
11624of the scene of the catastrophe. 1 
11625
11626Secondly : The ship Union, also of Nantucket, was in 
11627the year 1 807 totally lost off the Azores by a similar onset, 
11628but the authentic particulars of this catastrophe I have 
11629never chanced to encounter, though from the whale- 
11630hunters I have now and then heard casual allusions to it. 
11631
11632Thirdly : Some eighteen or twenty years ago Commo- 
11633dore J , then commanding an American sloop -of -war 
11634
11635of the first class, happened to be dining with a party of 
11636whaling-captains, on board a Nantucket ship in the 
11637
116381 The following are extracts from Chace's narrative : ' Every fact 
11639seemed to warrant me in concluding that it was anything but chance 
11640which directed his operations ; he made two several attacks upon the ship, 
11641at a short interval between them, both of which, according to their 
11642direction, were calculated to do us the most injury, by being made ahead, 
11643and thereby combining the speed of the two objects for the shook ; to 
11644effect which, the exact manoeuvres which he made were necessary. His 
11645aspect was most horrible, and such as indicated resentment and fury. He 
11646came directly from the shoal which we had just before entered, and in 
11647which we had struck three of his companions, as if fired with revenge for 
11648their sufferings.' Again : ' At all events, the whole circumstances taken 
11649together, all happening before my own eyes, and producing, at the time, 
11650impressions in my mind of decided, calculating mischief, on the part of 
11651the whale (many of which impressions I cannot now recall), induce me to 
11652be satisfied that I am correct in my opinion.' 
11653
11654Here are his reflections some time after quitting the ship, during a 
11655black night in an open boat, when almost despairing of reaching any 
11656hospitable shore. ' The dark ocean and swelling waters were nothing ; 
11657the fears of being swallowed up by some dreadful tempest, or dashed 
11658upon hidden rocks, with all the other ordinary subjects of fearful con- 
11659templation, seemed scarcely entitled to a moment's thought ; the dismal- 
11660looking wreck, and the horrid aspect and revenge of the whale, wholly 
11661engrossed my reflections until day again made its appearance.' 
11662
11663In another place p. 45, he speaks of ' the mysterious and mortal 
11664attack of the animal.' 
11665
11666
11667
11668260 MOBY-DICK 
11669
11670harbour of Oahu, Sandwich Islands. Conversation turn- 
11671ing upon whales, the commodore was pleased to be scepti- 
11672cal touching the amazing strength ascribed to them by the 
11673professional gentlemen present. He peremptorily denied, 
11674for example, that any whale could so smite his stout sloop- 
11675of-war as to cause her to leak so much as a thimbleful. 
11676Very good ; but there is more coming. Some weeks after, 
11677the commodore set sail in this impregnable craft for 
11678Valparaiso. But he was stopped on the way by a portly 
11679sperm whale, that begged a few moments' confidential 
11680business with him. That business consisted in fetching 
11681the commodore's craft such a thwack, that with all his 
11682pumps going he made straight for the nearest port to 
11683heave down and repair. I am not superstitious, but I 
11684consider the commodore's interview with that whale as 
11685providential. Was not Saul of Tarsus converted from 
11686unbelief by a similar fright ? I tell you, the sperm whale 
11687will stand no nonsense. 
11688
11689I will now refer you to Langsdorff 's Voyages for a little 
11690circumstance in point, peculiarly interesting to the writer 
11691hereof. Langsdorff, you must know by the way, was 
11692attached to the Russian Admiral Krusenstern's famous Dis- 
11693co very Expedition in the beginning of the present century. 
11694Captain Langsdorff thus begins his seventeenth chapter. 
11695
116964 By the thirteenth of May our ship was ready to sail, 
11697and the next day we were out in the open sea, on our way 
11698to Ochotsh. The weather was very clear and fine, but 
11699so intolerably cold that we were obliged to keep on our 
11700fur clothing. For some days we had very little wind ; 
11701it was not till the nineteenth that a brisk gale from the 
11702north-west sprang up. An uncommon large whale, the 
11703body of which was larger than the ship itself, lay almost 
11704at the surface of the water, but was not perceived by any- 
11705one on board till the moment when the ship, which was 
11706in full sail, was almost upon him, so that it was impossible 
11707
11708
11709
11710THE AFFIDAVIT 261 
11711
11712to prevent its striking against him. We were thus placed 
11713in the most imminent danger, as this gigantic creature, 
11714setting up its back, raised the ship three feet at least out 
11715of the water. The masts reeled, and the sails fell alto- 
11716gether, while we who were below all sprang instantly 
11717upon the deck, concluding that we had struck upon some 
11718rock ; instead of this we saw the monster sailing off with 
11719the utmost gravity and solemnity. Captain D'Wolf 
11720applied immediately to the pumps to examine whether 
11721or not the vessel had received any damage from the 
11722shock, but we found that very happily it had escaped 
11723entirely uninjured.' 
11724
11725Now, the Captain D'Wolf here alluded to as command- 
11726ing the ship in question, is a New Englander, who, after 
11727a long life of unusual adventures as a sea-captain, this 
11728day resides in the village of Dorchester near Boston. I 
11729have the honour of being a nephew of his. I have par- 
11730ticularly questioned him concerning this passage in Langs- 
11731dorfL He substantiates every word. The ship, however, 
11732was by no means a large one : a Russian craft built on 
11733the Siberian coast, and purchased by my uncle after 
11734bartering away the vessel in which he sailed from home. 
11735
11736In that up and down manly book of old-fashioned 
11737adventure, so full, too, of honest wonders the voyage 
11738of Lionel Wafer, one of ancient Dampier's old chums 
11739I found a little matter set down so like that just quoted 
11740from Langsdorff, that I cannot forbear inserting it here 
11741for a corroborative example, if such be needed. 
11742
11743Lionel, it seems, was on his way to ' John Ferdi- 
11744nando,' as he calls the modern Juan Fernandez. ' In 
11745our way thither,' he says, 'about four o'clock in the 
11746morning, when we were about one hundred and fifty 
11747leagues from the Main of America, our ship felt a terrible 
11748shock, which put our men in such consternation that they 
11749could hardly tell where they were or what to think ; but 
11750
11751
11752
11753262 MOBY-DICK 
11754
11755everyone began to prepare for death. And, indeed, the 
11756shock was so sudden and violent, that we took it for granted 
11757the ship had struck against a rock ; but when the amaze- 
11758ment was a little over, we cast the lead, and sounded, but 
11759found no ground. * * * The suddenness of the 
11760shock made the guns leap in their carriages, and several of 
11761the men were shaken out of their hammocks. Captain 
11762Davis, who lay with his head on a gun, was thrown out 
11763of his cabin ! ' Lionel then goes on to impute the shock 
11764to an earthquake, and seems to substantiate the imputa- 
11765tion by stating that a great earthquake, somewhere about 
11766that time,, did actually do great mischief along the Spanish 
11767land. But I should not much wonder if, in the darkness 
11768of that early hour of the morning, the shock was after all 
11769caused by an unseen whale vertically bumping the hull 
11770from beneath. 
11771
11772I might proceed with several more examples, one way 
11773or another known to me, of the great power and malice 
11774at times of the sperm whale. In more than one instance, 
11775he has been known, not only to chase the assailing boats 
11776back to their ships, but to pursue the ship itself, and long 
11777withstand all the lances hurled at him from its decks. 
11778The English ship Pusie Hall can tell a story on that head ; 
11779and, as for his strength, let me say, that there have been 
11780examples where the lines attached to a running sperm 
11781whale have, in a calm, been transferred to the ship, and 
11782secured there ; the whale towing her great hull through 
11783the water, as a horse walks off with a cart. Again, it is 
11784very often observed that, if the sperm whale, once struck, 
11785is allowed time to rally, he then acts, not so often with 
11786blind rage, as with wilful, deliberate designs of destruction 
11787to his pursuers ; nor is it without conveying some elo- 
11788quent indication of his character, that upon being attacked 
11789he will frequently open his mouth, and retain it in that 
11790dread expansion for several consecutive minutes. But I 
11791
11792
11793
11794THE AFFIDAVIT 263 
11795
11796must be content with only one more and a concluding 
11797illustration ; a remarkable and most significant one, by 
11798which you will not fail to see, that not only is the most 
11799marvellous event in this book corroborated by plain 
11800facts of the present day, but that these marvels (like all 
11801marvels) are mere repetitions of the ages ; so that for 
11802the millionth time we say amen with Solomon Verily 
11803there is nothing new under the sun. 
11804
11805In the sixth Christian century lived Procopius, a Chris- 
11806tian magistrate of Constantinople, in the days when 
11807Justinian was Emperor and Belisarius general. As many 
11808know, he wrote the history of his own times, a work every 
11809way of uncommon value. By the best authorities, he 
11810has always been considered a most trustworthy and un- 
11811exaggerating historian, except in some one or two par- 
11812ticulars, not at all affecting the matter presently to be 
11813mentioned. 
11814
11815Now, in this history of his, Procopius mentions that, 
11816during the term of his prefecture at Constantinople, a 
11817great sea-monster was captured in the neighbouring 
11818Propontis, or Sea of Marmora, after having destroyed 
11819vessels at intervals in those waters for a period of more 
11820than fifty years. A fact thus set down in substantial 
11821history cannot easily be gainsaid. Nor is there any 
11822reason it should be. Of what precise species this sea- 
11823monster was, is not mentioned. But as he destroyed 
11824ships, as well as for other reasons, he must have been a 
11825whale ; and I am strongly inclined to think a sperm whale. 
11826And I will tell you why. For a long time I fancied that 
11827the sperm whale had been always unknown in the Medi- 
11828terranean and the deep waters connecting with it. Even 
11829now I am certain that those seas are not, and perhaps 
11830never can be, in the present constitution of things, a place 
11831for his habitual gregarious resort. But further investi- 
11832gations have recently proved to me, that in modern times 
11833
11834
11835
11836264 MOBY-DICK 
11837
11838there have been isolated instances of the presence of the 
11839sperm whale in the Mediterranean. I am told, on good 
11840authority, that on the Barbary coast, a Commodore 
11841Davis of the British navy found the skeleton of a sperm 
11842whale. Now, as a vessel of war readily passes through 
11843the Dardanelles, hence a sperm whale could, by the same 
11844route, pass out of the Mediterranean into the Propontis. 
11845In the Propontis, as far as I can learn, none of that 
11846peculiar substance called brit is to be found, the aliment 
11847of the right whale. But I have every reason to believe 
11848that the food of the sperm whale squid or cuttle-fish 
11849lurks at the bottom of that sea, because large creatures, 
11850but by no means the largest of that sort, have been found 
11851at its surface. If, then, you properly put these statements 
11852together, and reason upon them a bit, you will clearly 
11853perceive that, according to all human reasoning, Pro- 
11854copius's sea-monster, that for half a century stove the 
11855ships of a Roman Emperor, must in all probability have 
11856been a sperm whale. 
11857
11858
11859
11860CHAPTER XLVI 
11861
11862SURMISES 
11863
11864THOUGH, consumed with the hot fire of his purpose, 
11865Ahab in all his thoughts and actions ever had in view the 
11866ultimate capture of Moby-Dick ; though he seemed ready 
11867to sacrifice all mortal interests to that one passion ; never- 
11868theless it may have been that he was by nature and long 
11869habituation far too wedded to a fiery whaleman's ways, 
11870altogether to abandon the collateral prosecution of the 
11871voyage. Or at least if this were otherwise, there were 
11872not wanting other motives much more influential with 
11873him. It would be refining too much, perhaps, even con- 
11874sidering his monomania, to hint that his vindictiveness 
11875toward the White Whale might have possibly extended 
11876itself in some degree to all sperm whales, and that the 
11877more monsters he slew, by so much the more he multiplied 
11878the chances that each subsequently encountered whale 
11879would prove to be the hated one he hunted. But if such 
11880an hypothesis be indeed exceptionable, there were still 
11881additional considerations which, though not so strictly 
11882according with the wildness of his ruling passion, yet were 
11883by no means incapable of swaying him. 
11884
11885To accomplish his object Ahab must use tools ; and 
11886of all tools used in the shadow of the moon, men are most 
11887apt to get out of order. He knew, for example, that 
11888however magnetic his ascendency in some respects was 
11889over Starbuck, yet that ascendency did not cover the 
11890complete spiritual man any more than mere corporeal 
11891superiority involves intellectual mastership ; for to the 
11892
11893265 
11894
11895
11896
11897266 MOBY-DICK 
11898
11899purely spiritual, the intellectual but stand in a sort of 
11900corporeal relation. Starbuck's body and Starbuck's 
11901coerced will were Ahab's, so long as Ahab kept his magnet 
11902at Starbuck's brain ; still he knew that for all this the 
11903chief mate, in his soul, abhorred his captain's quest, and 
11904could he, would joyfully disintegrate himself from it, 
11905or even frustrate it. It might be that a long interval 
11906would elapse ere the White Whale was seen. During that 
11907long interval Starbuck would ever be apt to fall into open 
11908relapses of rebellion against his captain's leadership, 
11909unless some ordinary, prudential, circumstantial influ- 
11910ences were brought to bear upon him. Not only that, 
11911but the subtle insanity of Ahab respecting Moby-Dick 
11912was no ways more significantly manifested than in his 
11913superlative sense and shrewdness in foreseeing that, for 
11914the present, the hunt should in some way be stripped of 
11915that strange imaginative impiousness which naturally 
11916invested it ; that the full terror of the voyage must be 
11917kept withdrawn into the obscure background (for few 
11918men's courage is proof against protracted meditation 
11919unrelieved by action) ; that when they stood their long 
11920night-watches, his officers and men must have some nearer 
11921things to think of than Moby-Dick. For however eagerly 
11922and impetuously the savage crew had hailed the announce- 
11923ment of his quest ; yet all sailors of all sorts are more or 
11924less capricious and unreliable they live in the varying 
11925outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness and when 
11926retained for any object remote and blank in the pursuit, 
11927however promissory of life and passion in the end, it is 
11928above all things requisite that temporary interests and 
11929employments should intervene and hold them healthily 
11930suspended for the final dash. 
11931
11932Nor was Ahab unmindful of another thing. In times of 
11933strong emotion mankind disdain all base considerations ; 
11934but such times are evanescent. The permanent con- 
11935
11936
11937
11938SURMISES 267 
11939
11940stitutional condition of the manufactured man, thought 
11941Ahab, is sordidness. Granting that the White Whale 
11942fully incites the hearts of this my savage crew, and playing 
11943round their savageness even breeds a certain generous 
11944knight -errant ism in them, still, while for the love of it 
11945they give chase to Moby-Dick, they must also have food 
11946for their more common, daily appetites. For even the 
11947high lifted and chivalric Crusaders of old times were not 
11948content to traverse two thousand miles of land to fight 
11949for their holy sepulchre, without committing burglaries, 
11950picking pockets, and gaining other pious perquisites by 
11951the way. Had they been strictly held to their one final 
11952and romantic object that final and romantic object, 
11953too many would have turned from in disgust. I will not 
11954strip these men, thought Ahab, of all hopes of cash ay, 
11955cash. They may scorn cash now ; but let some months 
11956go by, and no perspective promise of it to them, and then \ 
11957this same quiescent cash all at once mutinying in them, 
11958this same cash would soon cashier Ahab. 
11959
11960Nor was there wanting still another precautionary 
11961motive more related to Ahab personally. Having im- 
11962pulsively, it is probable, and perhaps somewhat pre- 
11963maturely revealed the prime but private purpose of the 
11964Pequod's voyage, Ahab was now entirely conscious that, 
11965in so doing, he had indirectly laid himself open to the 
11966unanswerable charge of usurpation ; and with perfect 
11967impunity, both moral and legal, his crew if so disposed, 
11968and to that end competent, could refuse all further 
11969obedience to him, and even violently wrest from him the 
11970command. From even the barely hinted imputation 
11971of usurpation, and the possible consequences of such 
11972a suppressed impression gaining ground, Ahab must of 
11973course have been most anxious to protect himself. That 
11974protection could only consist in his own predominating 
11975brain and heart and hand, backed by a heedful, closely 
11976
11977
11978
11979268 MOBY-DICK 
11980
11981calculating attention to every minute atmospheric influ- 
11982ence which it was possible for his crew to be subjected to. 
11983
11984For all these reasons then, and others perhaps too 
11985analytic to be verbally developed here, Ahab plainly saw 
11986that he must still in a good degree continue true to the 
11987natural, nominal purpose of the Pequod's voyage ; observe 
11988all customary usages ; and not only that, but force 
11989himself to evince all his well-known passionate interest 
11990in the general pursuit of his profession. 
11991
11992Be all this as it may, his voice was now often heard 
11993hailing the three mast-heads and admonishing them to 
11994keep a bright look-out, and not omit reporting even a 
11995porpoise. This vigilance was not long without reward. 
11996
11997
11998
11999CHAPTER XLVII 
12000
12001THE MAT-MAKER 
12002
12003IT was a cloudy, sultry afternoon ; the seamen were 
12004lazily lounging about the decks, or vacantly gazing over 
12005into the lead-coloured waters. Queequeg and I were 
12006mildly employed weaving what is called a sword-mat, 
12007for an additional lashing to our boat. So still and 
12008subdued and yet somehow preluding was all the scene, 
12009and such an incantation of revelry lurked in the air, 
12010that each silent sailor seemed resolved into his own 
12011invisible self. 
12012
12013I was the attendant or page of Queequeg, while busy 
12014at the mat. As I kept passing and repassing the filling 
12015or woof of marline between the long yarns of the warp, 
12016using my own hand for the shuttle, and as Queequeg, 
12017standing sideways, ever and anon slid his heavy oaken 
12018sword between the threads, and idly looking off upon 
12019the water, carelessly and unthinkingly drove home every 
12020yarn : I say so strange a dreaminess did there then reign 
12021all over the ship and all over the sea, only broken by the 
12022intermitting dull sound of the sword, that it seemed as 
12023if this were the Loom of Time, and I myself were a shuttle 
12024mechanically weaving and weaving away at the Fates. 
12025There lay the fixed threads of the warp subject to but one 
12026single, ever returning, unchanging vibration, and that 
12027vibration merely enough to admit of the crosswise inter- 
12028blending of other threads with its own. This warp 
12029seemed necessity ; and here, thought I, with my own hand 
12030I ply my own shuttle and weave my own destiny into these 
12031
12032269 
12033
12034
12035
12036270 MOBY-DICK 
12037
12038unalterable threads. Meantime, Queequeg's impulsive, 
12039indifferent sword, sometimes hitting the woof slantingly, 
12040or crookedly, or strongly, or weakly, as the case might 
12041be ; and by this difference in the concluding blow pro- 
12042ducing a corresponding contrast in the final aspect of the 
12043completed fabric ; this savage's sword, thought I, which 
12044thus finally shapes and fashions both warp and woof ; this 
12045easy, indifferent sword must be chance ay, chance, free 
12046will, and necessity no wise incompatible all inter- 
12047weavingly working together. The straight warp of neces- 
12048sity, not to be swerved from its ultimate course its every 
12049/ alternating vibration, indeed, only tending to that ; free 
12050will still free to ply her shuttle between given threads ; 
12051and chance, though restrained in its play within the right 
12052lines of necessity, and sideways in its motions directed 
12053by free will, though thus prescribed to by both, chance 
12054by turns rules either, and has the last featuring blow at 
12055
12056events. 
12057
12058******* 
12059
12060Thus we were weaving and weaving away when I 
12061I started at a soundjgq strange, long drawn, and musically 
12062I wild and unearthly, that the ball of free will dropped from 
12063my hand, and I stood gazing up at the clouds whence that 
12064voice dropped like a wing. High aloft in the cross-trees 
12065was that mad Gay-Header, Tashtego. His body was 
12066reaching eagerly forward, his hand stretched out like a 
12067wand, and at brief sudden intervals he continued his cries. 
12068To be sure, the same sound was that very moment perhaps 
12069being heard all over the seas, from hundreds of whale- 
12070men's look-outs perched as high in the air ; but from 
12071few of those lungs could that accustomed old cry have 
12072derived such a marvellous cadence as from Tashtego the 
12073Indian's. 
12074
12075As he stood hovering over you half suspended in air, 
12076so wildly and eagerly peering toward the horizon, you 
12077
12078
12079
12080THE MAT-MAKER 271 
12081
12082would have thought him some prophet or seer beholding 
12083the shadows of Fate, and by those wild cries announcing 
12084their coming. 
12085
12086' There she blows ! there ! there ! there ! she blows ! 
12087she blows ! ' 
12088
120894 Where away ? ' 
12090
12091' On the lee-beam, about two miles off ! a school of 
12092them ! ' 
12093
12094Instantly all was commotion. 
12095
12096The sperm whale blows as a clock ticks, with the 
12097same undeviating and reliable uniformity. And thereby 
12098whalemen distinguish this fish from other tribes of 
12099his genus. 
12100
12101' There go flukes ! ' was now the cry from Tashtego ; 
12102and the whales disappeared. 
12103
121044 Quick, steward ! ' cried Ahab. ' Time ! time ! ' 
12105
12106Dough-Boy hurried below, glanced at the watch, and 
12107reported the exact minute to Ahab. 
12108
12109The ship was now kept away from the wind, and she 
12110went gently rolling before it. Tashtego reporting that 
12111the whales had gone down heading to leeward, we con- 
12112fidently looked to see them again directly in advance of 
12113our bows. For that singular craft at times evinced by 
12114the sperm whale when, sounding with his head in one 
12115direction, he nevertheless, while concealed beneath the 
12116surface, mills round, and swiftly swims off in the opposite 
12117quarter this deceitfulness of his could not now be in 
12118action ; for there was no reason to suppose that the fish 
12119seen by Tashtego had been in any way alarmed, or indeed 
12120knew at all of our vicinity. One of the men selected for 
12121ship-keepers that is, those not appointed to the boats 
12122by this time relieved the Indian at the mainmast-head. 
12123The sailors at the fore and mizen had come down ; the 
12124line-tubs were fixed in their places ; the cranes were 
12125thrust out ; the main-yard was backed, and the three 
12126
12127
12128
12129272 MOBY-DICK 
12130
12131boats swung over the sea like three samphire baskets over 
12132high cliffs. Outside of the bulwarks their eager crews with 
12133one hand clung to the rail, while one foot was expectantly 
12134poised on the gunwale. So look the long line of man-of- 
12135war's men about to throw themselves on board an enemy's 
12136ship. 
12137
12138But at this critical instant a sudden exclamation was 
12139heard that took every eye from the whale. With a start 
12140all glared at dark Ahab, who was surrounded by five dusky 
12141phantoms that seemed fresh formed out of air. 
12142
12143
12144
12145CHAPTER XLVIII 
12146
12147THE FIRST LOWERING 
12148
12149THE phantoms, for so they then seemed, were flitting on 
12150the other side of the deck, and, with a noiseless celerity, 
12151were casting loose the tackles and bands of the boat which 
12152swung there. This boat had always been deemed one 
12153of the spare boats, though technically called the captain's, 
12154on account of its hanging from the starboard quarter. 
12155The figure that now stood by its bows was tall and swart, 
12156with one white tooth evilly protruding from its steel-like 
12157lips. A rumpled Chinese jacket of black cotton funereally 
12158invested him, with wide black trowsers of the same dark 
12159stuff. But strangely crowning this ebonness was a 
12160glistening white plaited turban, the living hair braided 
12161and coiled round and round upon his head. Less swart 
12162in aspect, the companions of this figure were of that vivid, 
12163tiger-yellow complexion peculiar to some of the aboriginal 
12164natives of the Manillas ; a race notorious for a certain 
12165diabolism of subtlety, and by some honest white mariners 
12166supposed to be the paid spies and secret confidential 
12167agents on the water of the devil, their lord, whose counting- 
12168room they suppose to be elsewhere. 
12169
12170While yet the wondering ship's company were gazing 
12171upon these strangers, Ahab cried out to the white-turbaned 
12172old man at their head, ' All ready there, Fedallah ? ' 
12173
12174' Ready,' was the half -hissed reply. 
12175
121764 Lower away then ; d' ye hear ? ' shouting across the 
12177deck. ' Lower away there, I say.' 
12178
12179Such was the thunder of his voice, that spite of their 
12180
12181VOL. i. s 
12182
12183
12184
12185274 MOBY-DICK 
12186
12187amazement the men sprang over the rail ; the sheaves 
12188whirled round in the blocks ; with a wallow, the three 
12189boats dropped into the sea ; while, with a dexterous, off- 
12190handed daring, unknown in any other vocation, the sailors, 
12191goat-like, leaped down the rolling ship's side into the 
12192tossed boats below. 
12193
12194Hardly had they pulled out from under the ship's lee, 
12195when a fourth keel, coming from the windward side, 
12196pulled round under the stern, and showed the five strangers 
12197rowing Ahab, who, standing erect in the stern, loudly 
12198hailed Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask, to spread themselves 
12199widely, so as to cover a large expanse of water. But with 
12200all their eyes again riveted upon the swart Fedallah and 
12201his crew, the inmates of the other boats obeyed not the 
12202command. 
12203
12204' Captain Ahab ? ' said Starbuck. 
12205
12206' Spread yourselves,' cried Ahab ; ' give way, all four 
12207boats. Thou, Flask, pull out more to leeward ! ' 
12208
12209' Ay, ay, sir,' cheerily cried little King-Post, sweeping 
12210round his great steering -oar. ' Lay back ! ' addressing 
12211his crew. ' There ! there ! there again ! There she 
12212blows right ahead, boys ! lay back ! ' 
12213
12214' Never heed yonder yellow boys, Archy.' 
12215
12216' Oh, I don't mind 'em, sir,' said Archy ; ' I knew it all 
12217before now. Didn't I hear 'em in the hold ? And didn't 
12218I tell Cabaco here of it ? What say ye, Cabaco ? They 
12219are stowaways, Mr. Flask.' 
12220
12221' Pull, pull, my fine hearts-alive ; pull, my children ; 
12222pull, my little ones,' drawlingly and soothingly sighed 
12223Stubb to his crew, some of whom still showed signs of 
12224uneasiness. ' Why don't you break your backbones, my 
12225boys ? What is it you stare at ? Those chaps in yonder 
12226boat ? Tut ! They are only five more hands come to 
12227help us never mind from where the more the merrier. 
12228Pull, then, do pull ; never mind the brimstone devils 
12229
12230
12231
12232THE FIRST LOWERING 275 
12233
12234are good fellows enough. So, so ; there you are now ; 
12235that 's the stroke for a thousand pounds ; that 's the 
12236stroke to sweep the stakes ! Hurrah for the gold cup 
12237of sperm oil, my heroes ! Three cheers, men all hearts- 
12238alive ! Easy, easy ; don't be in a hurry don't be in a 
12239hurry. Why don't you snap your oars, you rascals ? 
12240Bite something, you dogs ! So, so, so, then ; softly, 
12241softly ! That 's it that 's it ! long and strong. Give 
12242way there, give way ! The devil fetch ye, ye ragamuffin 
12243rapscallions ; ye are all asleep. Stop snoring, ye sleepers, 
12244and pull. Pull, will ye ? pull, can't ye ? pull, won't ye ? 
12245Why in the name of gudgeons and ginger-cakes don't ye 
12246pull ? pull and break something ! pull, and start your 
12247eyes out ! Here ! ' whipping out the sharp knife from his 
12248girdle ; ' every mother's son of ye draw his knife, and pull 
12249with the blade between his teeth. That J s it that 's it. 
12250Now ye do something ; that looks like it, my steel-bits. 
12251Start her start her, my silver-spoons ! Start her, 
12252marling-spikes ! ' 
12253
12254Stubb's exordium to his crew is given here at large, 
12255because he had rather a peculiar way of talking to them 
12256in general, and especially in inculcating the religion of 
12257rowing. But you must not suppose from this specimen 
12258of his sermonisings that he ever flew into downright 
12259passions with his congregation. Not at all ; and therein 
12260consisted his chief peculiarity. He would say the most 
12261terrific things to his crew, in a tone so strangely com- 
12262pounded of fun and fury, and the fury seemed so calcu- 
12263lated merely as a spice to the fun, that no oarsman could 
12264hear such queer invocations without pulling for dear 
12265life, and yet pulling for the mere joke of the thing. Be- 
12266sides he all the time looked so easy and indolent himself, 
12267so loungingly managed his steering-oar, and so broadly 
12268gaped open-mouthed at times that the mere sight of 
12269such a yawning commander, by sheer force of contrast, 
12270
12271
12272
12273276 MOBY-DICK 
12274
12275acted like a charm upon the crew. Then again, Stubb 
12276was one of those odd sort of humorists, whose jollity 
12277is sometimes so curiously ambiguous, as to put all in- 
12278feriors on their guard in the matter of obeying them. 
12279
12280In obedience to a sign from Ahab, Starbuck was now 
12281pulling obliquely across Stubb 's bow ; and when for a 
12282minute or so the two boats were pretty near to each other, 
12283Stubb hailed the mate. 
12284
122854 Mr. Starbuck ! larboard boat there, ahoy ! a word 
12286with ye, sir, if ye please ! ' 
12287
12288' Halloa ! ' returned Starbuck, turning round not a 
12289single inch as he spoke ; still earnestly but whisperingly 
12290urging his crew ; his face set like a flint from Stubb 's. 
12291
12292' What think ye of those yellow boys, sir ? ' 
12293
12294' Smuggled on board, somehow, before the ship sailed. 
12295(Strong, strong, boys ! ') in a whisper to his crew, then 
12296speaking out loud again : ' A sad business, Mr. Stubb ! 
12297(Seethe her, seethe her, my lads !) but never mind, Mr. 
12298Stubb, all for the best. Let all your crew pull strong, 
12299come what will. (Spring, my men, spring !) There 's 
12300hogsheads of sperm ahead, Mr. Stubb, and that 's what 
12301ye came for. (Pull, my boys !) Sperm, sperm 's the 
12302play ! This at least is duty ; duty and profit hand in 
12303hand ! ' 
12304
12305' Ay, ay, I thought as much,' soliloquised Stubb, 
12306when the boats diverged, c as soon as I clapt eye on 'em, 
12307I thought so. Ay, and that 's what he went into the 
12308after-hold for, so often, as Dough -Boy long suspected. 
12309They were hidden down there. The White Whale 's at 
12310the bottom of it. Well, well, so be it ! Can't be helped ! 
12311All right ! Give way, men ! It ain't the White Whale 
12312to-day ! Give way ! ' 
12313
12314Now the advent of these outlandish strangers at such 
12315a critical instant as the lowering of the boats from the 
12316deck, this had not unreasonably awakened a sort of 
12317
12318
12319
12320THE FIRST LOWERING 277 
12321
12322superstitious amazement in some of the ship's company ; 
12323but Archy's fancied discovery having some time previous 
12324got abroad among them, though indeed not credited then, 
12325this had in some small measure prepared them for the 
12326event. It took off the extreme edge of their wonder ; 
12327and so what with all this and Stubb's confident way of 
12328accounting for their appearance, they were for the time 
12329freed from superstitious surmisings ; though the affair 
12330still left abundant room for all manner of wild conjectures 
12331as to dark Ahab's precise agency in the matter from the 
12332beginning. For me, I silently recalled the mysterious 
12333shadows I had seen creeping on board the Pequod during 
12334the dim Nantucket dawn, as well as the enigmatical 
12335hintings of the unaccountable Elijah. 
12336
12337Meantime, Ahab, out of hearing of his officers, having 
12338sided the furthest to windward, was still ranging ahead 
12339of the other boats ; a circumstance bespeaking how potent 
12340a crew was pulling him. Those tiger-yellow creatures of 
12341his seemed all steel and whalebone ; like five trip-hammers 
12342they rose and fell with regular strokes of strength, which 
12343periodically started the boat along the water like a hori- 
12344zontal burst boiler out of a Mississippi steamer. As for 
12345Fedallah, who was seen pulling the harpooneer-oar, he 
12346had thrown aside his black jacket, and displayed his 
12347naked chest with the whole part of his body above the 
12348gunwale, clearly cut against the alternating depressions 
12349of the watery horizon ; while at the other end of the boat 
12350Ahab, with one arm, like a fencer's, thrown half backward 
12351into the air, as if to counterbalance any tendency to trip ; 
12352Ahab was seen steadily managing his steering -oar as in a j 
12353thousand boat lowerings ere the White Whale had torn( 
12354him. All at once the outstretched arm gave a peculiar 
12355motion and then remained fixed, while the boat's five oars 
12356were seen simultaneously peaked. Boat and crew sat 
12357motionless on the sea. Instantly the three spread boats 
12358
12359
12360
12361278 MOBY-DICK 
12362
12363in the rear paused on their way. The whales had irregu- 
12364larly settled bodily down into the blue, thus giving no 
12365distantly discernible token of the movement, though 
12366from his closer vicinity Ahab had observed it. 
12367
123684 Every man look out along his oars ! ' cried Starbuck. 
12369' Thou, Queequeg, stand up ! ' 
12370
12371Nimbly springing up on the triangular raised box in 
12372the bow, the savage stood erect there, and with intensely 
12373eager eyes gazed off toward the spot where the chase 
12374had last been descried. Likewise upon the extreme stern 
12375of the boat where it was also triangularly platformed level 
12376with the gunwale, Starbuck himself was seen coolly and 
12377adroitly balancing himself to the jerking tossings of his 
12378chip of a craft, and silently eyeing the vast blue eye of 
12379the sea. 
12380
12381Not very far distant Flask's boat was also lying breath- 
12382lessly still ; its commander recklessly standing upon the 
12383top of the logger-head, a stout sort of post rooted in the 
12384keel, and rising some two feet above the level of the stern 
12385platform. It is used for catching turns with the whale - 
12386line. Its top is not more spacious than the palm of a 
12387man's hand, and standing upon such a base as that, Flask 
12388seemed perched at the mast-head of some ship which had 
12389sunk to all but her trucks. But little King-Post was small 
12390and short, and at the same time little King-Post was full 
12391of a large and tall ambition, so that this logger-head stand- 
12392point of his did by no means satisfy King-Post. 
12393
12394c I can't see three seas off ; tip us up an oar there, and 
12395let me on to that.' 
12396
12397Upon this, Daggoo, with either hand upon the gunwale ' 
12398to steady his way, swiftly slid aft, and then erecting him- 
12399self volunteered his lofty shoulders for a pedestal. 
12400
12401' Good a mast-head as any, sir. Will you mount ? ' 
12402
12403' That I will, and thank ye very much, my fine fellow ; 
12404only I wish you fifty feet taller.' 
12405
12406
12407
12408THE FIRST LOWERING 279 
12409
12410Whereupon planting his feet firmly against two opposite 
12411planks of the boat, the gigantic negro, stooping a little, 
12412presented his flat palm to Flask's foot, and then 
12413putting Flask's hand on his hearse-plumed head and 
12414bidding him spring as he himself should toss, with one 
12415dexterous fling landed the little man high and dry on 
12416his shoulders. And here was Flask now standing, 
12417Daggoo with one lifted arm furnishing him with a breast- 
12418band to lean against and steady himself by. 
12419
12420At any time it is a strange sight to the tyro to see with 
12421what wondrous habitude of unconscious skill the whale- 
12422man will maintain an erect posture in his boat, even when 
12423pitched about by the most riotously perverse and cross- 
12424running seas. Still more strange to see him giddily 
12425perched upon the logger-head itself, under such circum- 
12426stances. But the sight of little Flask mounted upon 
12427gigantic Daggoo was yet more curious ; for sustaining 
12428himself with a cool, indifferent, easy, unthought-of, 
12429barbaric majesty, the noble negro to every roll of the sea 
12430harmoniously rolled his fine form. On his broad back, 
12431flaxen-haired Flask seemed a snow-flake. The bearer 
12432looked nobler than the rider. Though truly vivacious, 
12433tumultuous, ostentatious little Flask would now and then 
12434stamp with impatience ; but not one added heave did he 
12435thereby give to the negro's lordly chest. So have I seen 
12436Passion and Vanity stamping the living magnanimous' 
12437earth, but the earth did not alter her tides and her seasons 
12438for that. 
12439
12440Meanwhile Stubb, the third mate, betrayed no such 
12441far-gazing solicitudes. The whales might have made 
12442one of their regular soundings, not a temporary dive from 
12443mere fright ; and if that were the case, Stubb, as his 
12444wont in such cases, it seems, was resolved to solace the 
12445languishing interval with his pipe. He withdrew it from 
12446his hat-band, where he always wore it aslant like a feather. 
12447
12448
12449
12450280 MOBY-DICK 
12451
12452He loaded it, and rammed home the loading with his 
12453thumb-end ; but hardly had he ignited his match across 
12454the rough sandpaper of his hand, when Tashtego, his 
12455harpooneer, whose eyes had been setting to windward like 
12456two fixed stars, suddenly dropped like light from his erect 
12457attitude to his seat, crying out in a quick frenzy of 
12458hurry, ' Down, down all, and give way ! there they are ! ' 
12459
12460To a landsman, no whale, nor any sign of a herring, 
12461would have been visible at that moment ; nothing but a 
12462troubled bit of greenish-white water, and thin scattered 
12463puffs of vapour hovering over it, and suffusingly blowing 
12464off to leeward, like the confused scud from white rolling 
12465billows. The air around suddenly vibrated and tingled, 
12466as it were, like the air over intensely heated plates of 
12467iron. Beneath this atmospheric waving and curling, and 
12468partially beneath a thin layer of water, also, the whales 
12469were swimming. Seen in advance of all the other indi- 
12470cations, the puffs of vapour they spouted, seemed their 
12471forerunning couriers and detached flying outriders. 
12472
12473All four bojits were now in keen pursuit of that one spot 
12474of troubled water and air. But it bade far to outstrip 
12475them ; it flew on and on, as a mass of interblending 
12476bubbles borne down a rapid stream from the hills. 
12477
12478' Pull, pull, my good boys,' said Starbuck, in the lowest 
12479possible but intensest concentrated whisper to his men ; 
12480while the sharp fixed glance from his eyes darted straight 
12481ahead of the bow, almost seemed as two visible needles 
12482in two unerring binnacle compasses. He did not say much 
12483to his crew, though, nor did his crew say anything to him. 
12484Only the silence of the boat was at intervals startlingly 
12485pierced by one of his peculiar whispers, now harsh with 
12486command, now soft with entreaty. 
12487
12488How different the loud little King-Post. ' Sing out 
12489and say something, my hearties. Roar and pull, my 
12490thunderbolts ! Beach me, beach me on their black backs, 
12491
12492
12493
12494THE FIRST LOWERING 281 
12495
12496boys ; only do that for me, and 1 11 sign over to you my 
12497Martha's Vineyard plantation, boys ; including wife and 
12498children, boys. Lay me on lay me on ! Lord, Lord ! 
12499but I shall go stark, staring mad ! See ! see that white 
12500water ! ' And so shouting, he pulled his hat from his 
12501head, and stamped up and down on it ; then picking it 
12502up, flirted it far off upon the sea ; and finally fell to 
12503rearing and plunging in the boat's stern like a crazed 
12504colt from the prairie. 
12505
12506' Look at that chap now,' philosophically drawled 
12507Stubb, who, with his unlighted short pipe, mechanically 
12508retained between his teeth, at a short distance, followed 
12509after ' He 's got fits, that Flask has. Fits ? yes, give 
12510him fits that 's the very word pitch fits into 'em. 
12511Merrily, merrily, hearts -alive. Pudding for supper, you 
12512know ; merry 's the word. Pull, babes pull, sucklings 
12513pull, all. But what the devil are you hurrying about ? 
12514Softly, softly, and steadily, my men. Only pull, and keep 
12515pulling ; nothing more. Crack all your backbones, and 
12516bite your knives hi two that 's all. Take it easy why 
12517don't ye take it easy, I say, and burst all your livers and 
12518lungs ! ' 
12519
12520But what it was that inscrutable Ahab said to that 
12521tiger-yellow crew of his these were words best omitted 
12522here ; for you live under the blessed light of the evangelical 
12523land. Only the infidel sharks in the audacious seas may 
12524give ear to such words, when, with tornado brow, and 
12525eyes of red murder, and foam-glued lips, Ahab leaped 
12526after his prey. 
12527
12528Meanwhile, all the boats tore on. The repeated specific 
12529allusions of Flask to ' that whale,' as he called the fictitious 
12530monster which he declared to be incessantly tantalising 
12531his boat's bow with his tail these allusions of his were at 
12532times so vivid and lifelike, that they would cause some 
12533one or two of his men to snatch a fearful look over the 
12534
12535
12536
12537
12538
12539
12540282 MOBY-DICK 
12541
12542shoulder. But this was against all rule ; for the oarsmen 
12543must put out their eyes, and ram a skewer through their 
12544necks ; usage pronouncing that they must have no 
12545organs but ears, and no limbs but arms, in these critical 
12546moments. 
12547
12548It was a sight full of quick wonder and awe ! The vast 
12549swells of the omnipotent sea ; the surging, hollow roar 
12550they made, as they rolled along the eight gunwales, like 
12551gigantic bowls in a boundless bowling-green ; the brief 
12552suspended agony of the boat, as it would tip for an 
12553instant on the knife-like edge of the sharper waves, that 
12554almost seemed threatening to cut it in two ; the sudden 
12555profound dip into the watery glens and hollows ; the 
12556keen spurrings and goadings to gain the top of the opposite 
12557hill ; the headlong, sled-like slide down its other side ; 
12558all these, with the cries of the headsmen and harpooneers, 
12559and the shuddering gasps of the oarsmen, with the won- 
12560drous sight of the ivory Pequod bearing down upon her 
12561boats with outstretched sails, like a wild hen after her 
12562screaming brood ; all this was thrilling. Not the raw 
12563recruit, marching from the bosom of his wife into the fever- 
12564heat of his first battle ; not the dead man's ghost en- 
12565countering the first unknown phantom in the other world ; 
12566neither of these can feel stranger and stronger emotions 
12567than that man does, who for the first time finds himself 
12568pulling into the charmed, churned circle of the hunted 
12569sperm whale. 
12570
12571The dancing white water made by the chase was now 
12572becoming more and more visible, owing to the increasing 
12573darkness of the dun cloud-shadows flung upon the sea. 
12574The jets of vapour no longer blended, but tilted every- 
12575where to right and left ; the whales seemed separating 
12576their wakes. The boats were pulled more apart ; Star- 
12577buck giving chase to three whales running dead to lee- 
12578ward. Our sail was now set, and, with the still rising 
12579
12580
12581
12582THE FIRST LOWERING 283 
12583
12584wind, we rushed along ; the boat going with such madness 
12585through the water, that the lee -oars could scarcely be 
12586worked rapidly enough to escape being torn from the 
12587rowlocks. 
12588
12589Soon we were running through a suffusing wide veil of 
12590mist ; neither ship nor boat to be seen. 
12591
125924 Give way, men,' whispered Starbuck, drawing still 
12593further aft the sheet of his sail ; ' there is time to kill a 
12594fish yet before the squall comes. There 's white water 
12595again ! close to ! Spring ! * 
12596
12597Soon after, two cries in quick succession on each side 
12598of us denoted that the other boats had got fast ; but 
12599hardly were they overheard, when with a lightning-like 
12600hurtling whisper Starbuck said : ' Stand up ! ' and Quee- 
12601queg, harpoon in hand, sprang to his feet. 
12602
12603Though not one of the oarsmen was then facing the 
12604life and death peril so close to them ahead, yet with their 
12605eyes on the intense countenance of the mate in the stern 
12606of the boat, they knew that the imminent instant had 
12607come ; they heard, too, an enormous wallowing sound 
12608as of fifty elephants stirring in their litter. Meanwhile 
12609the boat was still booming through the mist, the waves 
12610curling and hissing around us like the erected crests of 
12611enraged serpents. 
12612
12613' That 's his hump. There, there, give it to him ! ' 
12614whispered Starbuck. 
12615
12616A short rushing sound leaped out of the boat ; it was 
12617the darted iron of Queequeg. Then all in one welded 
12618commotion came an invisible push from astern, while 
12619forward the boat seemed striking on a ledge ; the sail 
12620collapsed and exploded ; a gush of scalding vapour shot 
12621up near by ; something rolled and tumbled like an earth- 
12622quake beneath us. The whole crew were half suffocated 
12623as they were tossed helter-skelter into the white curdling 
12624cream of the squall. Squall, whale, and harpoon had all 
12625
12626
12627
12628284 MOBY-DICK 
12629
12630blended together ; and the whale, merely grazed by the 
12631iron, escaped. 
12632
12633Though completely swamped, the boat was nearly 
12634unharmed. Swimming round it we picked up the floating 
12635oars, and lashing them across the gunwale, tumbled back 
12636to our places. There we sat up to our knees in the sea, 
12637the water covering every rib and plank, so that to our 
12638downward-gazing eyes the suspended craft seemed a coral 
12639boat grown up to us from the bottom of the ocean. 
12640
12641The wind increased to a howl ; the waves dashed their 
12642bucklers together ; the whole squall roared, forked, and 
12643crackled around us like a white fire upon the prairie, in 
12644which, unconsumed, we were burning ; immortal in these 
12645jaws of death ! In vain we hailed the other boats ; as 
12646well roar to the live coals down the chimney of a flaming 
12647furnace as hail those boats in that storm. Meanwhile 
12648the driving scud, rack, and mist grew darker with the 
12649shadows of night ; no sign of the ship could be seen. 
12650The rising sea forbade all attempts to bale out the boat. 
12651The oars were useless as propellers, performing now the 
12652office of life-preservers. So, cutting the lashing of the 
12653waterproof match keg, after many failures Starbuck 
12654contrived to ignite the lamp in the lantern ; then stretch- 
12655ing it on a waif -pole, handed it to Queequeg as the standard- 
12656bearer of this forlorn hope. There, then, he sat, holding 
12657up that imbecile candle in the heart of that almighty 
12658forlornness. There, then, he sat, the sign and symbol 
12659of a man without faith, hopelessly holding up hope in 
12660the midst of despair. 
12661
12662Wet, drenched through, and shivering cold, despairing 
12663of ship or boat, we lifted up our eyes as the dawn came on. 
12664The mist still spread over the sea, the empty lantern lay 
12665crushed in the bottom of the boat. Suddenly Queequeg 
12666started to his feet, hollowing his hand to his ear. We all 
12667heard a faint creaking, as of ropes and yards hitherto 
12668
12669
12670
12671THE FIRST LOWERING 285 
12672
12673muffled by the storm. The sound came nearer and 
12674nearer ; the thick mists were dimly parted by a huge, 
12675vague form. Affrighted, we all sprang into the sea as 
12676the ship at last loomed into view, bearing right down upon 
12677us within a distance of not much more than its length. 
12678
12679Floating on the waves we saw the abandoned boat, as 
12680for one instant it tossed and gaped beneath the ship's 
12681bows like a chip at the base of a cataract ! and then the 
12682vast hull rolled over it, and it was seen no more till it 
12683came up weltering astern. Again we swam for it, were 
12684dashed against it by the seas, and were at last taken up 
12685and safely landed on board. Ere the squall came close 
12686to, the other boats had cut loose from their fish and 
12687returned to the ship in good time. The ship had given us 
12688up, but was still cruising, if haply it might light upon some 
12689token of our perishing, an oar or a lance pole. 
12690
12691
12692
12693CHAPTER XL1X 
12694
12695THE HYENA 
12696
12697THERE are certain queer times and occasions in this 
12698strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this 
12699whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit 
12700thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects 
12701that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own. How- 
12702ever, nothing dispirits, and nothing seems worth while 
12703disputing. He bolts down all events, all creeds, and 
12704beliefs, and persuasions, all hard things visible and in- 
12705visible, never mind how knobby ; as an ostrich of potent 
12706digestion gobbles down bullets and gun flints. And as 
12707for small difficulties and worryings, prospects of sudden 
12708disaster, peril of life and limb ; all these, and death itself, 
12709seem to him only sly, good-natured hits, and jolly punches 
12710in the side bestowed by the unseen and unaccountable 
12711old joker. That odd sort of wayward mood I am speaking 
12712of, comes over a man only in some time of extreme tribu- 
12713lation ; it comes in the very midst of his earnestness, so 
12714that what just before might have seemed to him a thing 
12715most momentous, now seems but a part of the general 
12716joke. There is nothing like the perils of whaling to breed 
12717this free-and-easy sort of genial, desperado philosophy ; 
12718and with it I now regarded this whole voyage of the 
12719Pequod, and the great White Whale its object. 
12720
12721' Queequeg/ said I, when they had dragged me, the 
12722}ast man, to the deck, and I was still shaking myself in 
12723my jacket to fling off the water ; ' Queequeg, my fine 
12724friend, does this sort of thing often happen ? ' Without 
12725
12726286 
12727
12728
12729
12730THE HYENA 287 
12731
12732much emotion, though soaked through just like me, he 
12733gave me to understand that such things did often happen. 
12734
127354 Mr. Stubb,' said I, turning to that worthy, who, 
12736buttoned up in his oil-jacket, was now calmly smoking 
12737his pipe in the rain ; ' Mr. Stubb, I think I have heard you 
12738say that of all whalemen you ever met, our chief mate, 
12739Mr. Starbuck, is by far the most careful and prudent. I 
12740suppose then, that going plump on a flying whale with your 
12741sail set in a foggy squall is the height of a whaleman's 
12742discretion ? ' 
12743
127441 Certain. I 've lowered for whales from a leaking 
12745ship in a gale off Cape Horn.' 
12746
127474 Mr. Flask,' said I, turning to little King-Post, who was 
12748standing close by ; ' you are experienced in these things, 
12749and I am not. Will you tell me whether it is an unalter- 
12750able law in this fishery, Mr. Flask, for an oarsman to break 
12751his own back pulling himself back-foremost into death's 
12752jaws ? ' 
12753
12754' Can't you twist that smaller ? ' said Flask. ' Yes, 
12755that 's the law. I should like to see a boat's crew backing 
12756water up to a whale face foremost. Ha, ha ! the whale 
12757would give them squint for squint, mind that ! J 
12758
12759Here then, from three impartial witnesses, I had a 
12760deliberate statement of the entire case. Considering, 
12761therefore, that squalls and capsizings in the water and 
12762consequent bivouacks on the deep, were matters of 
12763common -occurrence in this kind of life ; considering that 
12764at the superlatively critical instant of going on to the 
12765whale I must resign my life into the hands of him who 
12766steered the boat oftentimes a fellow who at that very 
12767moment is in his impetuousness upon the point of scuttling 
12768the craft with his own frantic stampings ; considering 
12769that the particular disaster to our own particular boat was 
12770chiefly to be imputed to Starbuck's driving on to his whale 
12771almost in the teeth of a squall, and considering that 
12772
12773
12774
12775288 MOBY-DICK 
12776
12777Starbuck, notwithstanding, was famous for his great 
12778heedfulness in the fishery ; considering that I belonged to 
12779this uncommonly prudent Starbuck 's boat ; and finally 
12780considering in what a devil's chase I was implicated, 
12781touching the White Whale : taking all things together, I 
12782say, I thought I might as well go below and make a rough 
12783draft of my will. ' Queequeg,' said I, ' come along, you 
12784shall be my lawyer, executor, and legatee/ 
12785
12786It may seem strange that of all men sailors should be 
12787tinkering at their last wills and testaments, but there are 
12788no people in the world more fond of that diversion. This 
12789was the fourth time in my nautical life that I had done 
12790the same thing. After the ceremony was concluded upon 
12791the present occasion, I felt all the easier ; a stone was 
12792rolled away from my heart. Besides, all the days I should 
12793now live would be as good as the days that Lazarus lived 
12794after his resurrection ; a supplementary clean gain of so 
12795many months or weeks as the case might be. I survived 
12796myself ; my death and burial were locked up in my chest. 
12797I looked round me tranquilly and contentedly, like a quiet 
12798ghost with a clean conscience sitting inside the bars of a 
12799snug family vault. 
12800
12801Now then, thought I, unconsciously rolling up the 
12802sleeves of my frock, here goes for a cool, collected dive 
12803at death and destruction, and the devil fetch the hindmost. 
12804
12805
12806
12807CHAPTER L 
12808ARAB'S BOAT AND CREW. FEDALLAH 
12809
12810* WHO would have thought it, Flask ! ' cried Stubb. ' If 
12811I had but one leg you would not catch me in a boat, unless 
12812maybe to stop the plug-hole with my timber toe. Oh ! 
12813he 's a wonderful old man ! ' 
12814
12815' I don't think it so strange, after all, on that account,' 
12816said Flask. ' If his leg were off at the hip, now, it would 
12817be a different thing. That would disable him ; but he 
12818has one knee, and good part of the other left, you know.' 
12819
12820' I don't know that, my little man ; I never yet saw 
12821
12822him kneel.' 
12823
12824******* 
12825
12826Among whale -wise people it has often been argued 
12827whether, considering the paramount importance of his 
12828life to the success of the voyage, it is right for a whaling- 
12829captain to jeopardise that life in the active perils of the 
12830chase. So Tamerlane's soldiers often argued with tears 
12831in their eyes, whether that invaluable life of his ought to 
12832be carried into the thickest of the fight. 
12833
12834But with Ahab the question assumed a modified aspect. 
12835Considering that with two legs man is but a hobbling 
12836wight in all times of danger ; considering that the pursuit 
12837of whales is always under great and extraordinary diffi- 
12838culties ; that every individual moment, indeed, then 
12839comprises a peril ; under these circumstances is it wise 
12840for any maimed man to enter a whale-boat in the hunt ? 
12841As a general thing, the joint-owners of the Pequod must 
12842have plainly thought not. 
12843
12844VOL. I. T 
12845
12846
12847
12848290 MOBY-DICK 
12849
12850Ahab well knew that although his friends at home 
12851would think little of his entering a boat in certain com- 
12852paratively harmless vicissitudes of the chase, for the sake 
12853of being near the scene of action and giving his orders in 
12854person, yet for Captain Ahab to have a boat actually 
12855apportioned to him as a regular headsman in the hunt 
12856above all, for Captain Ahab to be supplied with five extra 
12857men, as that same boat's crew, he well knew that such 
12858generous conceits never entered the heads of the owners 
12859of the Pequod. Therefore he had not solicited a boat's 
12860crew from them, nor had he in any way hinted his desires 
12861on that head. Nevertheless he had taken private measure 
12862of his own touching all that matter. Until Cabaco's 
12863published discovery, the sailors had little foreseen it, 
12864though to be sure when, after being a little while out of 
12865port, all hands had concluded the customary business of 
12866fitting the whale-boats for service ; when some time after 
12867this Ahab was now and then found bestirring himself in 
12868the matter of making thole-pins with his own hands for 
12869what was thought to be one of the spare boats, and even 
12870solicitously cutting the small wooden skewers, which 
12871when the line is running out are pinned over the groove 
12872in the bow ; when all this was observed in him, and par- 
12873ticularly his solicitude hi having an extra coat of sheath- 
12874ing in the bottom of the boat, as if to make it better 
12875withstand the pointed pressure of his ivory limb ; and 
12876also the anxiety he evinced in exactly shaping the thigh - 
12877board, or clumsy cleat, as it is sometimes called, the hori- 
12878zontal piece in the boat's bow for bracing the knee against 
12879in darting or stabbing at the whale ; when it was observed 
12880how often he stood up in that boat with his solitary knee 
12881fixed in the semicircular depression in the cleat, and 
12882with the carpenter's chisel gouged out a little here and 
12883straightened it a little there ; all these things, I say, had 
12884awakened much interest and curiosity at the time. But 
12885
12886
12887
12888FEDALLAH 291 
12889
12890almost everybody supposed that this particular prepara- 
12891tive heedfulness in Ahab must only be with a view to the 
12892ultimate chase of Moby-Dick ; for he had already revealed 
12893his intention to hunt that mortal monster in person. But 
12894such a supposition did by no means involve the remotest 
12895suspicion as to any boat's crew being assigned to that 
12896boat. 
12897
12898Now, with the subordinate phantoms, what wonder 
12899remained soon waned away ; for in a whaler wonders soon 
12900wane. Besides, now and then such unaccountable odds 
12901and ends of strange nations come up from the unknown 
12902nooks and ash-holes of the earth to man these floating 
12903outlaws of whalers ; and the ships themselves often pick 
12904up such queer castaway creatures found tossing about 
12905the open sea on planks, bits of wreck, oars, whale-boats, 
12906canoes, blown-off Japanese junks, and what not ; that 
12907Beelzebub himself might climb up the side and step down 
12908into the cabin to chat with the captain, and it would not 
12909create any unsubduable excitement in the forecastle. 
12910
12911But be all this as it may, certain it is that while the 
12912subordinate phantoms soon found their place among the 
12913crew, though still as it were somehow distinct from them, 
12914yet that hair-turbaned Fedallah remained a muffled 
12915mystery to the last. Whence he came in a mannerly 
12916world like this, by what sort of unaccountable tie he soon 
12917evinced himself to be linked with Ahab's peculiar fortunes; 
12918nay, so far as to have some sort of a half -hinted influence ; 
12919Heaven knows, but it might have been even authority 
12920over him ; all this none knew. But one cannot sustain an 
12921indifferent air concerning Fedallah. He was such a 
12922creature as civilised, domestic people in the temperate 
12923zone only see in their dreams, and that but dimly ; but 
12924the like of whom now and then glide among the unchang- 
12925ing Asiatic communities, especially the oriental isles to 
12926the east of the continent those insulated, immemorial, 
12927
12928
12929
12930292 MOBY-DICK 
12931
12932unalterable countries, which even in these modern days 
12933still preserve much of the ghostly aboriginalness of earth's 
12934primal generations, when the memory of the first man was 
12935a distinct recollection, and all men his descendants, un- 
12936knowing whence he came, eyed each other as real phan- 
12937toms, and asked of the sun and the moon why they were 
12938created and to what end ; when though, according to 
12939Genesis, the angels indeed consorted with the daughters 
12940of men, the devils also, add the uncanonical Rabbins, 
12941indulged in mundane amours. 
12942
12943
12944
12945CHAPTER LI 
12946
12947THE SPIRIT- SPOUT 
12948
12949DAYS, weeks passed, and under easy sail, the ivory Pequod 
12950had slowly swept across four several cruising-grounds ; 
12951that off the Azores ; off the Cape de Verdes ; on the 
12952Plate (so called), being off the mouth of the Bio de la 
12953Plata ; and the Carrol ground, an unstaked, watery 
12954locality, southerly from St. Helena. 
12955
12956It was while gliding through these latter waters that 
12957one serene and moonlight night, when all the waves rolled 
12958by like scrolls of silver ; and, by their soft, suffusing 
12959seethings, made what seemed a silvery silence, not a 
12960solitude : on such a silent night a silvery jet was seen far ,; 
12961in advance of the white bubbles at the bow. Lit up by I 
12962the moon, it looked celestial ; seemed some plumed and 
12963glittering god uprising from the sea. Fedallah first 
12964descried this jet. For of these moonlight nights, it was 
12965his wont to mount to the mainmast-head, and stand a 
12966look-out there, with the same precision as if it had been 
12967day. And yet, though herds of whales were seen by 
12968night, not one whalemen in a hundred would venture a 
12969lowering for them. You may think with what emotions, 
12970then, the seamen beheld this old Oriental perched aloft 
12971at such unusual hours ; his turban and the moon, com- 
12972panions in one sky. But when, after spending his uniform 
12973interval there for several successive nights without utter- 
12974ing a single sound ; when, after all this silence, his un- 
12975earthly voice was heard announcing that silvery, moon-lit 
12976jet, every reclining mariner started to his feet as if some 
12977
12978293 
12979
12980
12981
12982294 MOBY-DICK 
12983
12984winged spirit had lighted in the rigging, and hailed the 
12985mortal crew. ' There she blows ! ' Had the trump of 
12986judgment blown, they could not have quivered more ; yet 
12987still they felt no terror ; rather pleasure. For though it 
12988was a most unwonted hour, yet so impressive was the cry, 
12989and so deliriously exciting, that almost every soul on 
12990board instinctively desired a lowering. 
12991
12992Walking the deck with quick, side -lunging strides, 
12993Ahab commanded the t '-gallant-sails and royals to be set, 
12994and every stun' -sail spread. The best man in the ship 
12995must take the helm. Then, with every mast-head manned, 
12996the piled-up craft rolled down before the wind. The 
12997strange, upheaving, lifting tendency of the taffrail breeze 
12998filling the hollows of so many sails, made the buoyant, 
12999hovering deck to feel like air beneath the feet ; while 
13000still she rushed along, as if two antagonistic influences 
13001were struggling in her one to mount direct to heaven, 1 
13002the other to drive yawingly to some horizontal goal. H 
13003And had you watched Ahab's face that night, you would 
13004have thought that in him also two different things were 
13005warring. While his one live leg made lively echoes along 
13006the deck, every stroke of his dead limb sounded like a 
13007coffin-tap. On life and death this old man walked. But 
13008though the ship so swiftly sped, and though from every 
13009eye, like arrows, the eager glances shot, yet the silvery 
13010jet was no more seen that night. Every sailor swore 
13011he saw it once, but not a second time. 
13012
13013This midnight-spout had almost grown a forgotten 
13014thing, when, some days after, lo ! at the same silent hour, 
13015it was again announced : again it was descried by all ; 
13016but upon making sail to overtake it, once more it dis- 
13017appeared as if it had never been. And so it served us 
13018night after night, till no one heeded it but to wonder at 
13019it. Mysteriously jetted into the clear moonlight, or 
13020starlight, as the case might be ; disappearing again for 
13021
13022
13023
13024THE SPIRIT-SPOUT 295 
13025
13026one whole day, or two days, or three ; and somehow 
13027seeming at every distinct repetition to be advancing still 
13028further and further in our van, this solitary jet seemed 
13029forever alluring us on. 
13030
13031Nor with the immemorial superstition of their race, 
13032and in accordance with the preternaturalness, as it seemed, 
13033which in many things invested the Pequod, were there 
13034wanting some of the seamen who swore that whenever 
13035and wherever descried ; at however remote times, or in 
13036however far apart latitudes and longitudes, that unnear- 
13037able spout was cast by one self-same whale ; and that 
13038whale, Moby-Dick. For a time, there reigned, too, a 
13039sense of peculiar dread at this flitting apparition, as if it 
13040were treacherously beckoning us on and on, in order that 
13041the monster might turn round upon us, and rend us at 
13042last in the remotest and most savage seas. 
13043
13044These temporary apprehensions, so vague but so awful, 
13045derived a wondrous potency from the contrasting serenity 
13046of the weather, in which, beneath all its blue blandness, 
13047some thought there lurked a devilish charm, as for days 
13048and days we voyaged along, through seas so wearily, 
13049lonesomely mild, that all space, in repugnance to our 
13050vengeful errand, seemed vacating itself of life before our 
13051urn-like prow. 
13052
13053But, at last, when turning to the eastward, the Cape 
13054winds began howling around us, and we rose and fell upon 
13055the long, troubled seas that are there ; when the ivory- 
13056tusked Pequod sharply bowed to the blast, and gored the 
13057dark waves in her madness, till, like showers of silver 
13058chips, the foam-flakes flew over her bulwarks ; then all 
13059this desolate vacuity of life went away, but gave place 
13060to sights more dismal than before. 
13061
13062Close to our bows, strange forms in the water darted 
13063hither and thither before us ; while thick in our rear flew 
13064the inscrutable sea-ravens. And every morning, perched 
13065
13066
13067
13068296 MOBY-DICK 
13069
13070on our stays, rows of these birds were seen ; and spite 
13071of our hootings, for a long time obstinately clung to the 
13072hemp, as though they deemed our ship some drifting, 
13073uninhabited craft ; a thing appointed to desolation, and 
13074therefore fit roosting-place for their homeless selves. And 
13075heaved and heaved, still unrestingly heaved the black 
13076sea, as if its vast tides were a conscience ; and the great 
13077mundane soul were in anguish and remorse for the long 
13078sin and suffering it had bred. 
13079
13080Cape of Good Hope, do they call ye ? Rather Cape 
13081Tormentoto, as called of yore ; for long allured by the 
13082perfidious silences that before had attended us, we found 
13083ourselves launched into this tormented sea, where guilty 
13084beings transformed into those fowls and these fish, 
13085seemed condemned to swim on everlastingly without any 
13086haven in store, or beat that black air without any horizon. 
13087But calm, snow-white, and unvarying ; still directing 
13088its fountain of feathers to the sky ; still beckoning us on 
13089from before, the solitary jet would at times be descried. 
13090
13091During all this blackness of the elements, Ahab, though 
13092assuming for the time the almost continual command 
13093of the drenched and dangerous deck, manifested the 
13094gloomiest reserve ; and more seldom than ever addressed 
13095his mates. In tempestuous times like these, after every- 
13096thing above and aloft has been secured, nothing more 
13097can be done but passively to await the issue of the gale. 
13098Then captain and crew become practical fatalists. So, 
13099with his ivory leg inserted into its accustomed hole, and 
13100with one hand firmly grasping a shroud, Ahab for hours 
13101and hours would stand gazing dead to windward, while an 
13102occasional squall of sleet or snow would all but congeal 
13103his very eyelashes together. Meantime, the crew driven 
13104from the forward part of the ship by the perilous seas 
13105that burstingly broke over its bows, stood in a line along 
13106the bulwarks in the waist ; and the better to guard against 
13107
13108
13109
13110THE SPIRIT-SPOUT 297 
13111
13112the leaping waves, each man had slipped himself into a 
13113sort of bow-line secured to the rail, in which he swung as 
13114in a loosened belt. Few or no words were spoken ; and 
13115the silent ship, as if manned by painted sailors in wax, 
13116day after day tore on through all the swift madness and 
13117gladness of the demoniac waves. By night the same 
13118muteness of humanity before the shrieks of the ocean 
13119prevailed ; still in silence the men swung in the bow-lines ; 
13120still wordless Ahab stood up to the blast. Even when 
13121wearied nature seemed demanding repose, he would not 
13122seek that repose in his hammock. Never could Starbuck 
13123forget the old man's aspect, when one night going down 
13124into the cabin to mark how the barometer stood, he saw 
13125him with closed eyes sitting straight in his floor-screwed 
13126chair ; the rain and half-melted sleet of the storm from 
13127which he had some time before emerged, still slowly 
13128dripping from the unremoved hat and coat. On the table 
13129beside him lay unrolled one of those charts of tides and 
13130currents which have previously been spoken of. His 
13131lantern swung from his tightly clenched hand. Though 
13132the body was erect, the head was thrown back so that the 
13133closed eyes were pointed toward the needle of the tell- 
13134tale that swung from a beam in the ceiling. 1 
13135
13136Terrible old man ! thought Starbuck with a shudder, 
13137sleeping in this gale, still thou steadfastly eyest thy 
13138purpose. 
13139
131401 The cabin-compass is called the tell-tale, because, without going to 
13141the compass at the helm, the captain, while below, can inform himself of 
13142the course of the ship. 
13143
13144
13145
13146CHAPTER LII 
13147
13148THE ALBATROSS 
13149
13150SOUTH-EASTWARD from the Cape, off the distant Crozetts, 
13151a good cruising -ground for right whalemen, a sail loomed 
13152ahead, the Goney (Albatross) by name. As she slowly 
13153drew nigh, from my lofty perch at the foremast -head, I 
13154had a good view of that sight so remarkable to a tyro in 
13155the far ocean fisheries a whaler at sea, and long absent 
13156from home. 
13157
13158As if the waves had been fullers, this craft was bleached 
13159like the skeleton of a stranded walrus. All down her 
13160sides, this spectral appearance was traced with long 
13161channels of reddened rust, while all her spars and her 
13162rigging were like the thick branches of trees furred over 
13163with hoar-frost. Only her lower sails were set. A wild 
13164sight it was to see her long-bearded look-outs at those 
13165three mast-heads. They seemed clad in the skins of beasts, 
13166so torn and bepatched the raiment that had survived 
13167nearly four years of cruising. Standing in iron hoops 
13168nailed to the mast, they swayed and swung over a fathom- 
13169less sea ; and though, when the ship slowly glided close 
13170under our stern, we six men in the air came so nigh to each 
13171other that we might almost have leaped from the mast- 
13172heads of one ship to those of the other ; yet, those for- 
13173lorn-looking fishermen, mildly eyeing us as they passed, 
13174said not one word to our own look-outs, while the quarter- 
13175deck hail was being heard from below. 
13176
13177' Ship ahoy ! Have ye seen the White Whale ? ' 
13178But as the strange captain, leaning over the pallid 
13179
13180
13181
13182THE ALBATROSS 299 
13183
13184bulwarks, was in the act of putting his trumpet to his 
13185mouth, it somehow fell from his hand into the sea ; and 
13186the wind now rising amain, he in vain strove to make 
13187himself heard without it. Meantime, his ship was still 
13188increasing the distance between. While in various silent 
13189ways the seamen of the Pequod were evincing their observ- 
13190ance of this ominous incident at the first mere mention 
13191of the White Whale's name to another ship, Ahab for a 
13192moment paused ; it almost seemed as though he would 
13193have lowered a boat to board the stranger, had not the 
13194threatening wind forbade. But taking advantage of his 
13195windward position, he again seized his trumpet, and 
13196knowing by her aspect that the stranger vessel was a 
13197Nantucketer and shortly bound home, he loudly hailed 
13198' Ahoy there ! This is the Pequod, bound round the 
13199world ! Tell them to address all future letters to the 
13200Pacific Ocean ! and this time three years, if I am not at 
13201home, tell them to address them to ' 
13202
13203At that moment the two wakes were fairly crossed, and 
13204instantly, then, in accordance with their singular ways, 
13205shoals of small harmless fish, that for some days before 
13206had been placidly swimming by our side, darted away 
13207with what seemed shuddering fins, and ranged themselves 
13208fore and aft with the stranger's flanks. Though in the 
13209course of his continual voyagings Ahab must often before 
13210have noticed a similar sight, yet, to any monomaniac 
13211man, the veriest trifles capriciously carry meanings. 
13212
13213' Swim away from me, do ye ? ' murmured Ahab, 
13214gazing over into the water. There seemed but little in 
13215the words, but the tone conveyed more of deep helpless 
13216sadness than the insane old man had ever before evinced. 
13217But turning to the steersman, who thus far had been 
13218holding the ship in the wind to diminish her headway, 
13219he cried out in his old lion voice, ' Up helm ! Keep her 
13220off round the world ! ' 
13221
13222
13223
13224300 
13225
13226
13227
13228MOBY-DICK 
13229
13230
13231
13232Round the world ! There is much in that sound to 
13233inspire proud feelings ; but whereto does all that circum- 
13234navigation conduct ? Only through numberless perils 
13235to the very point whence we started, where those that we 
13236left behind secure, were all the time before us. 
13237
13238Were this world an endless plain, and by sailing east- 
13239ward we could forever reach new distances, and discover 
13240sights more sweet and strange than any Cyclades or Islands 
13241of King Solomon, then there were promise in the voyage. 
13242But in pursuit of those far mysteries we dream of, or in 
13243tormented chase of that demon phantom that, some time 
13244or other, swims before all human hearts ; while chasing 
13245such over this round globe, they either lead us on in 
13246barren mazes or midway leave us whelmed. 
13247
13248
13249
13250CHAPTER LIII 
13251
13252THE GAM 
13253
13254THE ostensible reason why Ahab did not go on board of the 
13255whaler we had spoken was this : the wind and sea be- 
13256tokened storms. But even had this not been the case, 
13257he would not after all, perhaps, have boarded her judging 
13258by his subsequent conduct on similar occasions if so it 
13259had been that, by the process of hailing, he had obtained 
13260a negative answer to the question he put. For, as it 
13261eventually turned out, he cared not to consort, even for 
13262five minutes, with any stranger captain, except he could 
13263contribute some of that information he so absorbingly 
13264sought. But all this might remain inadequately esti- 
13265mated, were not something said here of the peculiar usages 
13266of whaling-vessels wlfen meeting each other in foreign 
13267seas, and especially on a common cruising-ground. 
13268
13269If two strangers crossing the Pine Barrens in New York 
13270State, or the equally desolate Salisbury Plain in England ; 
13271if casually encountering each other in such inhospitable 
13272wilds, these twain, for the life of them, cannot well avoid 
13273a mutual salutation ; and stopping for a moment to 
13274interchange the news ; and, perhaps, sitting down for a 
13275while and resting in concert : then, how much more natural 
13276that upon the illimitable Pine Barrens and Salisbury Plains 
13277of the sea, two whaling-vessels descrying each other at the 
13278ends of the earth off lone Fanning 's Island, or the far 
13279away King's Mills ; how much more natural, I say, 
13280that under such circumstances these ships should not only 
13281interchange hails, but come into still closer, more friendly 
13282and sociable contact. And especially would this seem to 
13283
13284901 
13285
13286
13287
13288302 MOBY-DICK 
13289
13290be a matter of course, in the case of vessels owned in one 
13291seaport, and whose captains, officers, and not a few of the 
13292men are personally known to each other ; and consequently, 
13293have all sorts of dear domestic things to talk about. 
13294
13295For the long absent ship, the outward-bounder, per- 
13296haps, has letters on board ; at any rate, she will be sure 
13297to let her have some papers of a date a year or two later 
13298than the last one on her blurred and thumb-worn files. 
13299And in return for that courtesy, the outward-bound ship 
13300would receive the latest whaling intelligence from the 
13301cruising-ground to which she may be destined, a thing of 
13302the utmost importance to her. And in degree, all this 
13303will hold true concerning whaling-vessels crossing each 
13304other's track on the cruising-ground itself, even though 
13305they are equally long absent from home. For one of them 
13306may have received a transfer of letters from some third, 
13307and now far remote vessel ; and some of those letters 
13308may be for the people of the ship she now meets. Besides, 
13309they would exchange the whaling news, and have an 
13310agreeable chat. For not only would they meet with all 
13311the sympathies of sailors, but likewise with all the peculiar 
13312congenialities arising from a common pursuit and mutually 
13313shared privations and perils. 
13314
13315Nor would difference of country make any very essential 
13316difference ; that is, so long as both parties speak one lan- 
13317guage, as is the case with Americans and English. 
13318Though, to be sure, from the small number of English 
13319whalers, such meetings do not very often occur, and when 
13320they do occur there is too apt to be a sort of shyness 
13321between them ; for your Englishman is rather reserved, 
13322and your Yankee, he does not fancy that sort of thing 
13323in anybody but himself. Besides, the English whalers 
13324sometimes affect a kind of metropolitan superiority over 
13325the American whalers ; regarding the long, lean Nan- 
13326tucketer, with his nondescript provincialisms, as a sort 
13327of sea-peasant. But where this superiority in the English 
13328
13329
13330
13331THE GAM 303 
13332
13333whalemen does really consist, it would be hard to say, 
13334seeing that the Yankees in one day, collectively, kill more 
13335whales than all the English, collectively, in ten years. 
13336But this is a harmless little foible in the English whale- 
13337hunters, which the Nantucketer does not take much to 
13338heart ; probably, because he knows that he has a few 
13339foibles himself. 
13340
13341So, then, we see that of all ships separately sailing the 
13342sea, the whalers have most reason to be sociable and 
13343they are so. Whereas, some merchant ships crossing 
13344each other's wake in the mid- Atlantic, will oftentimes 
13345pass on without so much as a single word of recognition, 
13346mutually cutting each other on the high seas, like a brace 
13347of dandies in Broadway ; and all the time indulging, 
13348perhaps, in finical criticism upon each other's rig. As 
13349for men-of-war, when they chance to meet at sea, they 
13350first go through such a string of silly bowings and scrapings, 
13351such a ducking of ensigns, that there does not seem to be 
13352much right-down hearty goodwill and brotherly love 
13353about it at all. As touching slave-ships meeting, why, they 
13354are in such a prodigious hurry, they run away from each 
13355other as soon as possible. And as for pirates, when they 
13356chance to cross each other's cross-bones, the first hail is, 
13357' How many skulls ? ' the same way that whalers hail 
13358' How many barrels ? ' And that question once answered, 
13359pirates straightway steer apart, for they are infernal 
13360villains on both sides, and don't like to see overmuch of 
13361each other's villainous likenesses. 
13362
13363But look at the godly, honest, unostentatious, hos- 
13364pitable, sociable, free-and-easy whaler ! What does the 
13365whaler do when she meets another whaler in any sort of 
13366decent weather ? She has a ' Gam,' a thing so utterly 
13367unknown to all other ships that they never heard of the 
13368name even ; and if by chance they should hear of it, they 
13369only grin at it, and repeat gamesome stuff about 'spouters' 
13370and c blubber-boilers,' and such like pretty exclamations. 
13371
13372
13373
13374304 MOBY-DICK 
13375
13376Why it is that all merchant seamen, and also all pirates 
13377and man-of-war's men, and slave-ship sailors, cherish 
13378such a scornful feeling toward whale-ships ; this is a 
13379question it would be hard to answer. Because, in the 
13380case of pirates, say, I should like to know whether that 
13381profession of theirs has any peculiar glory about it. It 
13382sometimes ends in uncommon elevation, indeed ; but only 
13383at the gallows. And besides, when a man is elevated in 
13384that odd fashion, he has no proper foundation for his 
13385superior altitude. Hence, I conclude, that in boasting 
13386himself to be high lifted above a whaleman, in that 
13387assertion the pirate has no solid basis to stand on. 
13388
13389But what is a Gam ? You might wear out your index 
13390finger running up and down the columns of dictionaries, 
13391and never find the word. Dr. Johnson never attained 
13392to that erudition ; Noah Webster's ark does not hold it. 
13393Nevertheless, this same expressive word has now for 
13394many years been in constant use among some fifteen 
13395thousand true-born Yankees. Certainly, it needs a 
13396definition, and should be incorporated into the Lexicon. 
13397With that view, let me learnedly define it. 
13398
13399GAM. NOUN A social meeting of two (or more) 
13400whale-ships, generally on a cruising-ground ; when, after 
13401exchanging hails, they exchange visits by boats' crews : the 
13402two captains remaining, for the time, on board of one ship t 
13403and the two chief mates on the other. 
13404
13405There is another little item about Gamming which must 
13406not be forgotten here. All professions have their own 
13407little peculiarities of detail ; so has the whale-fishery. In 
13408a pirate, man-of-war, or slave-ship, when the captain 
13409is rowed anywhere hi his boat, he always sits in the stern- 
13410sheets on a comfortable, sometimes cushioned seat there, 
13411and often steers himself with a pretty little milliner's 
13412tiller decorated with gay cords and ribbons. But the 
13413whale-boat has no seat astern, no sofa of that sort what- 
13414
13415
13416
13417THE GAM 305 
13418
13419ever, and no tiller at all. High times indeed, if whaling- 
13420captains were wheeled about the water on castors like 
13421gouty old aldermen in patent chairs. And as for a tiller, 
13422the whale-boat never admits of any such effeminacy ; and 
13423therefore as in gamming a complete boat's crew must 
13424leave the ship, and hence as the boat steerer or harpooneer 
13425is of the number, that subordinate is the steersman upon 
13426the occasion, and the captain, having no place to sit in, 
13427is pulled off to his visit all standing like a pine-tree. And 
13428often you will notice that being conscious of the eyes of 
13429the whole visible world resting on him from the sides of 
13430the two ships, this standing captain is all alive to the 
13431importance of sustaining his dignity by maintaining his 
13432legs. Nor is this any very easy matter ; for in his rear 
13433is the immense projecting steering-oar hitting him now 
13434and then in the small of his back, the after-oar reciprocat- 
13435ing by rapping his knees in front. He is thus completely 
13436wedged before and behind, and can only expand himself 
13437sideways by settling down on his stretched legs ; but a 
13438sudden, violent pitch of the boat will often go far to topple 
13439him, because length of foundation is nothing without 
13440corresponding breadth. Merely make a spread angle of 
13441two poles, and you cannot stand them up. Then, again, 
13442it would never do in plain sight of the world's riveted 
13443eyes, it would never do, I say, for this straddling captain 
13444to be seen steadying himself the slightest particle by 
13445catching hold of anything with his hands ; indeed, as 
13446token of his entire, buoyant self-command, he generally 
13447carries his hands in his trowsers' pockets ; but perhaps 
13448being generally very large, heavy hands, he carries them 
13449there for ballast. Nevertheless there have occurred 
13450instances, well authenticated ones too, where the captain 
13451has been known for an uncommonly critical moment or 
13452two, in a sudden squall, say to seize hold of the nearest 
13453oarsman's hair, and hold on there like grim death. 
13454VOL. i. u 
13455
13456
13457
13458CHAPTER L1V 
13459
13460THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 
13461
13462(As told at the Golden Inn.) 
13463
13464THE Cape of Good Hope, and all the watery region round 
13465about there, is much like some noted four corners of a 
13466great highway, where you meet more travellers than in 
13467any other part. 
13468
13469It was not very long after speaking the Goney that 
13470another homeward-bound whaleman, the Town-Ho? was 
13471encountered. She was manned almost wholly by Poly- 
13472nesians. In the short gam that ensued she gave us strong 
13473news of Moby-Dick. To some the general interest in the 
13474White Whale was now wildly heightened by a circumstance 
13475of the Town-Ho' s story, which seemed obscurely to in- 
13476volve with the whale a certain wondrous, inverted visi- 
13477tation of one of those so-called judgments of God which 
13478at times are said to overtake some men. This latter 
13479circumstance, with its own particular accompaniments, 
13480forming what may be called the secret part of the tragedy 
13481about to be narrated, never reached the ears of Captain 
13482Ahab or his mates. For that secret part of the story was 
13483unknown to the captain of the Town-Ho himself. It was 
13484the private property of three confederate white seamen 
13485of that ship, one of whom, it seems, communicated it to 
13486Tashtego with Romish injunctions of secrecy, but the 
13487following night Tashtego rambled in his sleep, 
13488
134891 The ancient whale-cry upon first sighting a whale from the mast-1 
13490still used by \vhalemen in hunting the famous Gallipagos terrapin. 
13491306 
13492
13493
13494
13495THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 307 
13496
13497revealed so much of it in that way, that when he was 
13498wakened he could not well withhold the rest. Neverthe- 
13499less, so potent an influence did this thing have on those 
13500seamen in the Pequod who came to the full knowledge of 
13501it, and by such a strange delicacy, to call it so, were they 
13502governed in this matter, that they kept the secret among 
13503themselves so that it never transpired abaft the Peqiwd's 
13504mainmast. Interweaving in its proper place this darker 
13505thread with the story as publicly narrated on the ship, 
13506the whole of this strange affair I now proceed to put on 
13507lasting record. 
13508
13509For my humour's sake, I shall preserve the style in 
13510which I once narrated it at Lima, to a lounging circle of 
13511my Spanish friends, one saint's eve, smoking upon the 
13512thick-gilt tiled piazza of the Golden Inn. Of those fine 
13513cavaliers, the young Dons, Pedro and Sebastian, were on 
13514the closer terms with me ; and hence the interluding 
13515questions they occasionally put, and which are duly 
13516answered at the time. 
13517
135184 Some two years prior to my first learning the events 
13519which I am about rehearsing to you, gentlemen, the Town- 
13520Ho, sperm whaler of Nantucket, was cruising in your 
13521Pacific here, not very many days' sail westward from the 
13522eaves of this good Golden Inn. She was somewhere 
13523to the northward of the Line. One morning upon hand- 
13524ling the pumps, according to daily usage, it was observed 
13525that she made more water in her hold than common. 
13526They supposed a sword-fish had stabbed her, gentlemen. 
13527But the captain, having some unusual reason for believing 
13528that rare good luck awaited him in those latitudes, and 
13529therefore being very averse to quit them ; and the leak 
13530not being then considered at all dangerous, though, 
13531indeed, they could not find it after searching the hold as 
13532low down as was possible in rather heavy weather ; the 
13533ship still continued her cruisings, the mariners working 
13534
13535
13536
13537308 MOBY-DICK 
13538
13539at the pumps at wide and easy intervals ; but no good luck 
13540came ; more days went by, and not only was the leak yet 
13541undiscovered, but it sensibly increased. So much so, 
13542that now taking some alarm, the captain, making all sail, 
13543stood away for the nearest harbour among the islands, 
13544there to have his hull hove out and repaired. 
13545
135464 Though no small passage was before her, yet, if the 
13547commonest chance favoured, he did not at all fear that 
13548his ship would founder by the way, because his pumps 
13549were of the best, and being periodically relieved at them, 
13550those six-and-thirty men of his could easily keep the ship 
13551free ; never mind if the leak should double on her. In 
13552truth, well-nigh the whole of this passage being attended 
13553by very prosperous breezes, the Town-Ho had all but 
13554certainly arrived in perfect safety at her port without 
13555the occurrence of the least fatality, had it not been for the 
13556brutal overbearing of Radney, the mate, a Vineyarder, and 
13557the bitterly provoked vengeance of Steelkilt, a Lakeman 
13558and desperado from Buffalo. 
13559
13560' " Lakeman ! Buffalo ! Pray, what is a Lakeman, 
13561and where is Buffalo ? " said Don Sebastian, rising in his 
13562swinging mat of grass. 
13563
13564' On the eastern shore of our Lake Erie, Don ; but 
13565I crave your courtesy maybe, you shall soon hear 
13566further of all that. Now, gentlemen, in square-sail brigs 
13567and three-masted ships, well-nigh as large and stout as 
13568any that ever sailed out of your old Callao to far Manilla ; 
13569this Lakeman, in the land-locked heart of our America, 
13570had yet been nurtured by all those agrarian freebooting 
13571impressions popularly connected with the open ocean. 
13572For in their interflowing aggregate, those grand fresh- 
13573water seas of ours, Erie, and Ontario, and Huron, and 
13574Superior, and Michigan, possess an ocean -like expansive- 
13575ness, with many of the ocean's noblest traits ; with many 
13576of its rimmed varieties of races and of climes. They 
13577
13578
13579
13580THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 309 
13581
13582contain round archipelagoes of romantic isles, even as the 
13583Polynesian waters do ; in large part, are shored by two 
13584great contrasting nations, as the Atlantic is ; they furnish 
13585long maritime approaches to our numerous territorial 
13586colonies from the East, dotted all round their banks ; ; 
13587here and there are frowned upon by batteries, and by 
13588the goat-like craggy guns of lofty Mackinaw ; they have 
13589heard the fleet thunderings of naval victories ; at intervals 
13590they yield their beaches to wild barbarians, whose red- 
13591painted faces flash from out their peltry wigwams ; for 
13592leagues and leagues are flanked by ancient and unentered 
13593forests, where the gaunt pines stand like serried lines of 
13594kings in Gothic genealogies ; those same woods harbour- 
13595ing wild Afric beasts of prey, and silken creatures whose 
13596exported furs give robes to Tartar emperors ; they mirror 
13597the paved capitals of Buffalo and Cleveland, as well as 
13598Winnebago villages ; they float alike the full-rigged 
13599merchant ship, the armed cruiser of the State, the steamer, 
13600and the beech canoe ; they are swept by Borean and dis- 
13601masting blasts as direful as any that lash the salted wave ; 
13602they know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, 
13603however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight 
13604ship with all its shrieking crew. Thus, gentlemen, though 
13605an inlander, Steelkilt was wild-ocean born, and wild- 
13606ocean nurtured ; as much of an audacious mariner as 
13607any. And for Radney, though in his infancy he may have 
13608laid him down on the lone Nantucket beach, to nurse at 
13609his maternal sea ; though in after life he had long followed 
13610our austere Atlantic and your contemplative Pacific ; yet 
13611was he quite as vengeful and full of social quarrel as the 
13612backwoods seaman, fresh from the latitudes of buck-horn 
13613handled bowie-knives. Yet was this Nantucketer a man 
13614with some good-hearted traits ; and this Lakeman, a 
13615mariner, who though a sort of devil indeed, might yet by 
13616inflexible firmness, only tempered by that common 
13617
13618
13619
13620310 MOBY-DICK 
13621
13622decency of human recognition which is the meanest 
13623slave's right ; thus treated, this Steelkilt had long been 
13624retained harmless and docile. At all events, he had 
13625proved so thus far ; but Radney was doomed and made 
13626mad, and Steelkilt but, gentlemen, you shall hear. 
13627
13628' It was not more than a day or two at the furthest 
13629after pointing her prow for her island haven, that the 
13630Town-Ho's leak seemed again increasing, but only so as 
13631to require an hour or more at the pumps every day. You 
13632must know that in a settled and civilised ocean like our 
13633Atlantic, for example, some skippers think little of pump- 
13634ing their whole way across it ; though of a still, sleepy 
13635night, should the officer of the deck happen to forget his 
13636duty in that respect, the probability would be that he 
13637and his shipmates would never again remember it, on 
13638account of all hands gently subsiding to the bottom. Nor 
13639in the solitary and savage seas far from you to the west- 
13640ward, gentlemen, is it altogether unusual for ships to 
13641keep clanging at their pump-handles in full chorus even 
13642for a voyage of considerable length ; that is, if it lie along 
13643a tolerably accessible coast, or if any other reasonable 
13644retreat is afforded them. It is only when a leaky vessel 
13645is in some very out-of-the-way part of those waters, some 
13646really landless latitude, that her captain begins to feel 
13647a little anxious. 
13648
13649' Much this way had it been with the Town-Ho \ so 
13650when her leak was found gaining once more, there was 
13651in truth some small concern manifested by several of her 
13652company ; especially by Radney the mate. He com- 
13653manded the upper sails to be well hoisted, sheeted home 
13654anew, and every way expanded to the breeze. Now this 
13655Radney, I suppose, was as little of a coward, and as little 
13656inclined to any sort of nervous apprehensiveness touching 
13657his own person, as any fearless, unthinking creature on 
13658land or on sea that you can conveniently imagine, gentle- 
13659
13660
13661
13662THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 311 
13663
13664men. Therefore when he betrayed this solicitude about 
13665the safety of the ship, some of the seamen declared that 
13666it was only on account of his being a part owner in her. 
13667So when they were working that evening at the pumps, 
13668there was on this head no small gamesomeness slyly going 
13669on among them, as they stood with their feet continually 
13670overflowed by the rippling clear water clear as any 
13671mountain spring, gentlemen that bubbling from the 
13672pumps ran across the deck, and poured itself out in steady 
13673spouts at the lee scupper-holes. 
13674
136754 Now, as you well know, it is not seldom the case hi 
13676this conventional world of ours watery or otherwise ; 
13677that when a person placed in command over his fellow- 
13678men finds one of them to be very significantly his superior 
13679in general pride of manhood, straightway against that 
13680man he conceives an unconquerable dislike and bitterness ; 
13681and if he have a chance he will pull down and pulverise that 
13682subaltern's tower, and make a little heap of dust of it. 
13683Be this conceit of mine as it may, gentlemen, at all events 
13684Steelkilt was a tall and noble animal with a head like a 
13685Roman, and a flowing golden beard like the tasselled 
13686housings of your last viceroy's snorting charger ; and a 
13687brain, and a heart, and a soul in him, gentlemen, which 
13688had made Steelkilt Charlemagne, had he been born son 
13689to Charlemagne's father. But Radney, the mate, was 
13690ugly as a mule ; yet as hardy, as stubborn, as malicious. 
13691He did not love Steelkilt, and Steelkilt knew it. 
13692
13693' Espying the mate drawing near as he was toiling at 
13694the pump with the rest, the Lakeman affected not to 
13695notice him, but unawed, went on with his gay banterings. 
13696
13697' " Ay, ay, my merry lads, it 's a lively leak this ; 
13698hold a cannikin, one of ye, and let 's have a taste. By the 
13699Lord, it 's worth bottling ! I tell ye what, men, old Rad's 
13700investment must go for it ! he had best cut away his part 
13701of the hull and tow it home. The fact is, boys, that sword- 
13702
13703
13704
13705312 MOBY-DICK 
13706
13707fish only began the job ; he 's come back again with a 
13708gang of ship-carpenters, saw-fish, and file-fish, and what 
13709not ; and the whole posse of 'em are now hard at work 
13710cutting and slashing at the bottom ; making improve- 
13711ments, I suppose. If old Rad were here now, I 'd tell 
13712him to jump overboard and scatter 'em. They 're play- 
13713ing the devil with his estate, I can tell him. But he 's a 
13714simple old soul, Rad, and a beauty too. Boys, they say 
13715the rest of his property is invested in looking-glasses. I 
13716wonder if he 'd give a poor devil like me the model of his 
13717nose." 
13718
13719' " Damn your eyes ! what 's that pump stopping f or ? " 
13720roared Radney, pretending not to have heard the sailors' 
13721talk. " Thunder away at it ! " 
13722
13723" Ay, ay, sir," said Steelkilt, merry as a cricket. 
13724" Lively, boys, lively, now ! " And with that the pump 
13725clanged like fifty fire-engines ; the men tossed their hats 
13726off to it, and ere long that peculiar gasping of the lungs 
13727was heard which denotes the fullest tension of life's 
13728utmost energies. 
13729
13730' Quitting the pump at last, with the rest of his band, 
13731the Lakeman went forward all panting, and sat himself 
13732down on the windlass ; his face fiery red, his eyes blood- 
13733shot, and wiping the profuse sweat from his brow. Now 
13734what cozening fiend it was, gentlemen, that possessed 
13735Radney to meddle with such a man in that corporeally 
13736exasperated state, I know not ; but so it happened. In- 
13737tolerably striding along the deck, the mate commanded 
13738him to get a broom and sweep down the planks, and also 
13739a shovel, and remove some offensive matters consequent 
13740upon allowing a pig to run at large. 
13741
13742' Now, gentlemen, sweeping a ship's deck at sea is a 
13743piece of household work which in all times but raging 
13744gales is regularly attended to every evening ; it has been 
13745known to be done in the case of ships actually foundering 
13746
13747
13748
13749THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 313 
13750
13751at the time. Such, gentlemen, is the inflexibility of sea- 
13752usages and the instinctive love of neatness in seamen ; 
13753some of whom would not willingly drown without first 
13754washing their faces. But in all vessels this broom business 
13755is the prescriptive province of the boys, if boys there be 
13756aboard. Besides, it was the stronger men in the Town-Ho 
13757that had been divided into gangs, taking turns at the 
13758pumps ; and being the most athletic seaman of them all, 
13759Steelkilt had been regularly assigned captain of one of 
13760the gangs ; consequently he should have been freed from 
13761any trivial business not connected with truly nautical 
13762duties, such being the case with his comrades. I mention 
13763all these particulars so that you may understand exactly 
13764how this affair stood between the two men. 
13765
13766' But there was more than this : the order about the 
13767shovel was almost as plainly meant to sting and insult 
13768Steelkilt, as though Radney had spat in his face. Any 
13769man who has gone sailor in a whale-ship will understand 
13770this ; and all this and doubtless much more, the Lakeman 
13771fully comprehended when the mate uttered his command. 
13772But as he sat still for a moment, and as he steadfastly 
13773looked into the mate's malignant eye and perceived the 
13774stacks of powder-casks heaped up in him and the slow- 
13775match silently burning along toward them ; as he in- 
13776stinctively saw all this, that strange forbearance and un- 
13777willingness to stir up the deeper passionateness in any 
13778already ireful being a repugnance most felt, when felt 
13779at all, by really valiant men even when aggrieved this 
13780nameless phantom feeling, gentlemen, stole over Steelkilt. 
13781
13782' Therefore, in his ordinary tone, only a little broken 
13783by the bodily exhaustion he was temporarily in, he an- 
13784swered him saying that sweeping the deck was not his 
13785business, and he would not do it. And then, without at 
13786all alluding to the shovel, he pointed to three lads as the 
13787customary sweepers ; who, not being billeted at the 
13788
13789
13790
13791314 MOBY-DICK 
13792
13793pumps, had done little or nothing all day. To this, 
13794Radney replied with an oath, in a most domineering and 
13795outrageous manner unconditionally reiterating his com- 
13796mand ; meanwhile advancing upon the still seated Lake- 
13797man, with an uplifted cooper's club hammer which he had 
13798snatched from a cask near by. 
13799
13800' Heated and irritated as he was by his spasmodic toil 
13801at the pumps, for all his first nameless feeling of forbear- 
13802ance the sweating Steelkilt could but ill brook this bearing 
13803in the mate ; but somehow still smothering the conflagra- 
13804tion within him, without speaking he remained doggedly 
13805rooted to his seat, till at last the incensed Radney shook 
13806the hammer within a few inches of his face, furiously 
13807commanding him to do his bidding. 
13808
138094 Steelkilt rose, and slowly retreating round the wind- 
13810lass, steadily followed by the mate with his menacing 
13811hammer, deliberately repeated his intention not to obey. 
13812Seeing, however, that his forbearance had not the slightest 
13813effect, by an awful and unspeakable intimation with his 
13814twisted hand he warned off the foolish and infatuated 
13815man ; but it was to no purpose. And in this way the 
13816two went once slowly round the windlass ; when, resolved 
13817at last no longer to retreat, bethinking him that he had 
13818now forborne as much as comported with his humour, 
13819the Lakeman paused on the hatches and thus spoke to 
13820the officer : 
13821
138221 " Mr. Radney, I will not obey you. Take that 
13823hammer away, or look to yourself." But the predestin- 
13824ated mate coming still closer to him, where the Lakeman 
13825stood fixed, now shook the heavy hammer within an inch 
13826of his teeth ; meanwhile repeating a string of insufferable 
13827maledictions. Retreating not the thousandth part of an 
13828inch ; stabbing him in the eye with the unflinching 
13829poniard of his glance, Steelkilt, clenching his right hand 
13830behind him and creepingly drawing it back, told his perse- 
13831
13832
13833
13834THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 315 
13835
13836cutor that if the hammer but grazed his cheek he (Steel- 
13837kilt) would murder him. But, gentlemen, the fool had 
13838been branded for the slaughter by the gods. Immediately 
13839the hammer touched the cheek ; the next instant the 
13840lower jaw of the mate was stove in his head ; he fell on 
13841the hatch spouting blood like a whale. 
13842
13843* Ere the cry could go aft Steelkilt was shaking one of 
13844the backstays leading far aloft to where two of his com- 
13845rades were standing their mast-heads. They were both 
13846Canallers. 
13847
13848' " Canallers ! " cried Don Pedro. " We have seen 
13849many whale -ships in our harbours, but never heard of 
13850your Canallers. Pardon : who and what are they ? " 
13851
13852' " Canallers, Don, are the boatmen belonging to our 
13853grand Erie Canal. You must have heard of it." 
13854
13855' " Nay, Senor ; hereabouts in this dull, warm, most 
13856lazy, and hereditary land, we know but little of your 
13857vigorous North." 
13858
13859' " Ay ? Well then, Don, refill my cup. Your 
13860chicha 's very fine ; and ere proceeding further I will tell 
13861ye what our Canallers are ; for such information may 
13862throw side-light upon my story." 
13863
138644 For three hundred and sixty miles, gentlemen, through 
13865the entire breadth of the state of New York ; through 
13866numerous populous cities and most thriving villages ; 
13867through long, dismal, uninhabited swamps, and affluent, 
13868cultivated fields, unrivalled for fertility ; by billiard- 
13869room and bar-room ; through the holy-of-holies of great 
13870forests ; on Roman arches over Indian rivers ; through 
13871sun and shade ; by happy hearts or broken ; through 
13872all the wide contrasting scenery of those noble Mohawk 
13873counties ; and especially, by rows of snow-white chapels, 
13874whose spires stand almost like milestones, flows one con- 
13875tinual stream of Venetianly corrupt and often lawless life. 
13876There 's your true Ashantee, gentlemen ; there howl your 
13877
13878
13879
13880316 MOBY-DICK 
13881
13882pagans ; where you ever find them, next door to you ; 
13883under the long-flung shadow, and the snug patronising 
13884lee of churches. For by some curious fatality, as it is 
13885often noted of your metropolitan freebooters that they 
13886ever encamp around the halls of justice, so sinners, gentle- 
13887men, most abound in holiest vicinities. 
13888
138894 " Is that a friar passing ? " said Don Pedro, looking 
13890downward into the crowded plaza, with humorous 
13891concern. 
13892
13893' " Well for our northern friend, Dame Isabella's In- 
13894quisition wanes in Lima," laughed Don Sebastian. " Pro- 
13895ceed, Senor." 
13896
13897' " A moment ! Pardon ! " cried another of the com- 
13898pany. " In the name of all us Limeese, I but desire to 
13899express to you, sir sailor, that we have by no means over- 
13900looked your delicacy in not substituting present Lima 
13901for distant Venice in your corrupt comparison. Oh ! do 
13902not bow and look surprised ; you know the proverb all 
13903along this coast 'Corrupt as Lima.' It but bears out 
13904your saying, too ; churches more plentiful than billiard- 
13905tables, and forever open and ' Corrupt as Lima.' So, 
13906too, Venice ; I have been there ; the holy city of the 
13907blessed evangelist, St. Mark ! St. Dominic, purge it ! 
13908Your cup ! Thanks : here I refill ; now, you pour out 
13909again." 
13910
139111 Freely depicted in his own vocation, gentlemen, the 
13912Canaller would make a fine dramatic hero, so abundantly 
13913and picturesquely wicked is he. Like Mark Antony, for 
13914days and days along his green-turfed, flowery Nile, he 
13915indolently floats, openly toying with his red-cheeked 
13916Cleopatra, ripening his apricot thigh upon the sunny deck. 
13917But ashore, all this effeminacy is dashed. The brigandish 
13918guise which the Canaller so proudly sports, his slouched 
13919and gaily -ribboned hat, betoken his grand features. A 
13920terror to the smiling innocence of the villages through 
13921
13922
13923
13924THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 317 
13925
13926which he floats ; his swart visage and bold swagger are 
13927not unshunned in cities. Once a vagabond on his own 
13928canal, I have received good turns from one of these 
13929Canallers ; I thank him heartily ; would fain be not 
13930ungrateful ; but it is often one of the prime redeeming 
13931qualities of your man of violence, that at times he has 
13932as stiff an arm to back a poor stranger in a strait, as to 
13933plunder a wealthy one. In sum, gentlemen, what the 
13934wildness of this canal life is, is emphatically evinced by 
13935this ; that our wild whale-fishery contains so many of 
13936its most finished graduates, and that scarce any race of 
13937mankind, except Sydney men, are so much distrusted by 
13938our whaling-captains. Nor does it at all diminish the 
13939curiousness of this matter, that to many thousands of our 
13940rural boys and young men born along its line, the pro- 
13941bationary life of the Grand Canal furnishes the sole tran- 
13942sition between quietly reaping in a Christian corn-field, 
13943and recklessly ploughing the waters of the most barbaric 
13944seas. 
13945
13946' " I see ! I see ! " impetuously exclaimed Don Pedro, 
13947spilling his chicha upon his silvery ruffles. " No need to 
13948travel ! The world 5 s one Lima. I had thought, now, 
13949that at your temperate North the generations were cold 
13950and holy as the hills. But the story." 
13951
13952' I left off, gentlemen, where the Lakeman shook the 
13953backstay. Hardly had he done so, when he was sur- 
13954rounded by the three junior mates and the four har- 
13955pooneers, who all crowded him to the deck. But sliding 
13956down the ropes like baleful comets, the two Canallers 
13957rushed into the uproar, and sought to drag their man out 
13958of it toward the forecastle. Others of the sailors joined 
13959with them in this attempt, and a twisted turmoil ensued ; 
13960while standing out of harm's way, the valiant captain 
13961danced up and down with a whale-pike, calling upon his 
13962officers to manhandle that atrocious scoundrel, and smoke 
13963
13964
13965
13966318 MOBY-DICK 
13967
13968him along to the quarter-deck. At intervals, he ran close 
13969up to the revolving border of the confusion, and prying 
13970into the heart of it with his pike, sought to prick out the 
13971object of his resentment. But Steelkilt and his desper- 
13972adoes were too much for them all ; they succeeded in 
13973gaining the forecastle deck, where, hastily slewing about 
13974three or four large casks in a line with the windlass, these 
13975sea-Parisians entrenched themselves behind the barricade. 
13976
13977' " Come out of that, ye pirates ! " roared the captain, 
13978now menacing them with a pistol in each hand, just 
13979brought to him by the steward. " Come out of that, ye 
13980cut -throats ! " 
13981
13982' Steelkilt leaped on the barricade, and striding up and 
13983down there, defied the worst the pistols could do ; but 
13984gave the captain to understand distinctly, that his (Steel- 
13985kilt's) death would be the signal for a murderous mutiny 
13986on the part of all hands. Fearing in his heart lest this 
13987might prove but too true, the captain a little desisted, but 
13988still commanded the insurgents instantly to return to 
13989their duty. 
13990
13991' " Will you promise not to touch us, if we do ? " 
13992demanded their ringleader. 
13993
13994' " Turn to ! turn to ! I make no promise ; to your 
13995duty ! Do you want to sink the ship, by knocking off 
13996at a time like this ? Turn to ! " and he once more raised 
13997a pistol. 
13998
13999' " Sink the ship ! " cried Steelkilt. " Ay, let her 
14000sink. Not a man of us turns to, unless you swear not to 
14001raise a rope-yarn against us. What say ye, men 1 " 
14002turning to his comrades. A fierce cheer was their response. 
14003
14004' The Lakeman now patrolled the barricade, all the 
14005while keeping his eye on the captain, and jerking out such 
14006sentences as these : "It 's not our fault ; we didn't 
14007want it ; I told him to take his hammer away ; it was 
14008boy 3 s business ; he might have known me before this ; 
14009
14010
14011
14012THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 319 
14013
14014I told him not to prick the buffalo ; I believe I have broken 
14015a finger here against his cursed jaw ; ain't those mincing- 
14016knives down in the forecastle there, men ? look to those 
14017handspikes, my hearties. Captain, by God, look to 
14018yourself ; say the word ; don't be a fool ; forget it all ; 
14019we are ready to turn to ; treat us decently, and we 're 
14020your men ; but we won't be flogged." 
14021
14022' " Turn to ! I make no promises, turn to, I say ! " 
14023
14024' " Look ye, now," cried the Lake man, flinging out his 
14025arm toward him, " there are a few of us here (and I am 
14026one of them) who have shipped for the cruise, d' ye see ; 
14027now as you well know, sir, we can claim our discharge as 
14028soon as the anchor is down ; so we don't want a row ; it 's 
14029not our interest ; we want to be peaceable ; we are ready 
14030to work, but we won't be flogged." 
14031
14032' " Turn to ! " roared the captain. 
14033
14034* Steelkilt glanced round him a moment, and then 
14035said : " I tell you what it is now, captain, rather than 
14036kill ye, and be hung for such a shabby rascal, we won't 
14037lift a hand against ye unless ye attack us ; but till you 
14038say the word about not flogging us, we don't do a hand's 
14039turn." 
14040
140416 " Down into the forecastle then, down with ye, I '11 
14042keep ye there till ye 're sick of it. Down ye go." 
14043
14044' " Shall we ? " cried the ringleader to his men. Most 
14045of them were against it ; but at length, in obedience to 
14046Steelkilt, they preceded him down into their dark den, 
14047growlingly disappearing, like bears into a cave. 
14048
14049' As the Lakeman's bare head was just level with the 
14050planks, the captain and his posse leaped the barricade, 
14051and rapidly drawing over the slide of the scuttle, planted 
14052their group of hands upon it, and loudly called for the 
14053steward to bring the heavy brass padlock belonging to the 
14054companion-way. Then opening the slide a little, the 
14055captain whispered something down the crack, closed it, 
14056
14057
14058
14059320 MOBY-DICK 
14060
14061and turned the key upon them ten in number leaving 
14062on deck some twenty or more, who thus far had remained 
14063neutral. 
14064
14065' All night a wide-awake watch was kept by all the 
14066officers, forward and aft, especially about the forecastle 
14067scuttle and fore-hatchway : at which last place it was 
14068feared the insurgents might emerge, after breaking through 
14069the bulkhead below. But the hours of darkness passed 
14070in peace ; the men who still remained at their duty toiling 
14071hard at the pumps, whose clinking and clanking at inter- 
14072vals through the dreary night dismally resounded through 
14073the ship. 
14074
14075' At sunrise the captain went forward, and knocking 
14076on the deck, summoned the prisoners to work ; but with 
14077a yell they refused. Water was then lowered down to 
14078them, and a couple of handfuls of biscuit were tossed after 
14079it ; when again turning the key upon them and pocketing 
14080it, the captain returned to the quarter-deck. Twice 
14081every day for three days this was repeated ; but on the 
14082fourth morning a confused wrangling, and then a scuffling 
14083was heard, as the customary summons was delivered ; 
14084and suddenly four men burst up from the forecastle, 
14085saying they were ready to turn to. The fetid closeness 
14086of the ah*, and a famishing diet, united perhaps to some 
14087fears of ultimate retribution, had constrained them to 
14088surrender at discretion. Emboldened by this, the captain 
14089reiterated his demand to the rest, but Steelkilt shouted 
14090up to him a terrific hint to stop his babbling and betake 
14091himself where he belonged. On the fifth morning three 
14092others of the mutineers bolted up into the air from the 
14093desperate arms below that sought to restrain them. 
14094Only three were left. 
14095
14096' " Better turn to, now ? " said the captain, with a 
14097heartless jeer. 
14098
14099' " Shut us up again, will ye ! " cried Steelkilt. 
14100
14101
14102
14103THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 321 
14104
141054 " Oh ! certainly," said the captain, and the key clicked. 
14106
14107' It was at this point, gentlemen, that enraged by the 
14108defection of seven of his former associates, and stung by the 
14109mocking voice that had last hailed him, and maddened 
14110by his long entombment in a place as black as the bowels 
14111of despair ; it was then that Steelkilt proposed to the two 
14112Canallers, thus far apparently of one mind with him, to 
14113burst out of their hole at the next summoning of the 
14114garrison ; and armed with their keen mincing-knives 
14115(long, crescentic, heavy implements with a handle at each 
14116end) run amuck from the bowsprit to the taffrail ; and if 
14117by any devilishness of desperation possible, seize the ship. 
14118For himself, he would do this, he said, whether they joined 
14119him or not. That was the last night he should spend in 
14120that den. But the scheme met with no opposition on 
14121the part of the other two ; they swore they were ready for 
14122that, or for any other mad thing, for anything in short 
14123but a surrender. And what was more, they each insisted 
14124upon being the first man on deck, when the time to make 
14125the rush should come. But to this their leader as fiercely 
14126objected, reserving that priority for himself ; particularly 
14127as his two comrades would not yield, the one to the other, 
14128in the matter ; and both of them could not be first, for 
14129the ladder would but admit one man at a time. And 
14130here, gentlemen, the foul play of these miscreants must 
14131come out. 
14132
14133' Upon hearing the frantic project of their leader, each 
14134in his own separate soul had suddenly lighted, it would 
14135seem, upon the same piece of treachery, namely : to be 
14136foremost in breaking out, in order to be the first of the 
14137three, though the last of the ten, to surrender ; and there- 
14138by secure whatever small chance of pardon such conduct 
14139might merit. But when Steelkilt made known his deter- 
14140mination still to lead them to the last, they in some way, by 
14141some subtle chemistry of villainy, mixed their before secret 
14142
14143VOL. i, x 
14144
14145
14146
14147322 MOBY-DICK 
14148
14149treacheries together ; and when their leader fell into a 
14150doze, verbally opened their souls to each other in three 
14151sentences ; and bound the sleeper with cords, and gagged 
14152him with cords ; and shrieked out for the captain at 
14153midnight. 
14154
14155' Thinking murder at hand, and smelling in the dark 
14156for the blood, he and all his armed mates and harpooneers 
14157rushed for the forecastle. In a few minutes the scuttle 
14158was opened, and, bound hand and foot, the still struggling 
14159ringleader was shoved up into the air by his perfidious 
14160allies, who at once claimed the honour of securing a man 
14161who had been fully ripe for murder. But all these were 
14162collared, and dragged along the deck like dead cattle ; and, 
14163side by side, were seized up into the mizen rigging, like 
14164three quarters of meat, and there they hung till morning. 
14165" Damn ye," cried the captain, pacing to and fro before 
14166them, " the vultures would not touch ye, ye villains ! " 
14167
14168' At sunrise he summoned all hands ; and separating 
14169those who had rebelled from those who had taken no 
14170part in the mutiny, he told the former that he had a good 
14171mind to flog them all round thought, upon the whole, 
14172he would do so he ought to justice demanded it ; but 
14173for the present, considering their timely surrender, he 
14174would let them go with a reprimand, which he accordingly 
14175administered in the vernacular. 
14176
14177' " But as for you, ye carrion rogues," turning to the 
14178three men in the rigging " for you, I mean to mince ye 
14179up for the try -pots " ; and, seizing a rope, he applied it 
14180with all his might to the backs of the two traitors, till 
14181they yelled no more, but lifelessly hung their heads side- 
14182ways, as the two crucified thieves are drawn. 
14183
141844 " My wrist is sprained with ye ! " he cried, at last ; 
14185" but there is still rope enough left for you, my fine 
14186bantam, that wouldn't give up. Take that gag from his 
14187mouth, and let us hear what he can say for himself." 
14188
14189
14190
14191THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 323 
14192
14193' For a moment the exhausted mutineer made a tremu- 
14194lous motion of his cramped jaws, and then painfully 
14195twisting round his head, said in a sort of hiss, " What I 
14196say is this and mind it well if you flog me, I murder 
14197you ! " 
14198
14199' " Say ye so ? then see how ye frighten me " and 
14200the captain drew off with the rope to strike. 
14201
14202' " Best not," hissed the Lakeman. 
14203
14204' " But I must," and the rope was once more drawn 
14205back for the stroke. 
14206
14207* Steelkilt here hissed out something, inaudible to all 
14208but the captain ; who, to the amazement of all hands, 
14209started back, paced the deck rapidly two or three times, 
14210and then suddenly throwing down his rope, said, " I won't 
14211do it let him go cut him down : d' ye hear ? " 
14212
14213' But as the junior mates were hurrying to execute the 
14214order, a pale man, with a bandaged head, arrested them 
14215Radney the chief mate. Ever since the blow, he had 
14216lain in his berth ; but that morning, hearing the tumult 
14217on the deck, he had crept out, and thus far had watched 
14218the whole scene. Such was the state of his mouth, that 
14219he could hardly speak ; but mumbling something about 
14220his being willing and able to do what the captain dared not 
14221attempt, he snatched the rope and advanced to his pinioned 
14222foe. 
14223
14224* " You are a coward ! " hissed the Lakeman. 
14225
14226' " So I am, but take that." The mate was in the very 
14227act of striking, when another hiss stayed his uplifted arm. 
14228He paused : and then pausing no more, made good his 
14229word, spite of Steelkilt 's threat, whatever that might have 
14230been. The three men were then cut down, all hands were 
14231turned to, and, sullenly worked by the moody seamen, the 
14232iron pumps clanged as before. 
14233
14234' Just after dark that day, when one watch had retired 
14235below, a clamour was heard in the forecastle : and the 
14236
14237
14238
14239324 MOBY-DICK 
14240
14241two trembling traitors running up, besieged the cabin 
14242door, saying they durst not consort with the crew. En- 
14243treaties, cuffs, and kicks could not drive them back, so 
14244at their own instance they were put down in the ship's run 
14245for salvation. Still, no sign of mutiny reappeared among 
14246the rest. On the contrary, it seemed, that mainly at 
14247Steelkilt's instigation, they had resolved to maintain 
14248the strictest peacefulness, obey all orders to the last, and, 
14249when the ship reached port, desert her in a body. But in 
14250order to ensure the speediest end to the voyage, they all 
14251agreed to another thing namely, not to sing out for 
14252whales, in case any should be discovered. For, spite of 
14253her leak, and spite of all her other perils, the Town-Ho 
14254still maintained her mast-heads, and her captain was just 
14255as willing to lower for a fish that moment, as on the day 
14256his craft first struck the cruising -ground ; and Radney 
14257the mate was quite as ready to change his berth for a boat, 
14258and with his bandaged mouth seek to gag in death the 
14259vital jaw of the whale. 
14260
14261' But though the Lakeman had induced the seamen to 
14262adopt this sort of passiveness in their conduct, he kept 
14263his own counsel (at least till all was over) concerning his 
14264own proper and private revenge upon the man who had 
14265stung him in the ventricles of his heart. He was in 
14266Radney the chief mate's watch ; and as if the infatuated 
14267man sought to run more than half-way to meet his doom, 
14268after the scene at the rigging, he insisted, against the 
14269express counsel of the captain, upon resuming the head 
14270of his watch at night. Upon this, and one or two other 
14271circumstances, Steelkilt systematically built the plan of his 
14272revenge. 
14273
14274' During the night, Radney had an unseamanlike way 
14275of sitting on the bulwarks of the quarter-deck, and leaning 
14276his arm upon the gunwale of the boat which was hoisted 
14277up there, a little above the ship's side. In this attitude, 
14278
14279
14280
14281THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 325 
14282
14283it was well known, he sometimes dozed. There was a 
14284considerable vacancy between the boat and the ship, and 
14285down between this was the sea. Steelkilt calculated his 
14286time, and found that his next trick at the helm would 
14287come round at two o'clock, in the morning of the third 
14288day from that in which he had been betrayed. At his 
14289leisure, he employed the interval in braiding something 
14290very carefully in his watches below. 
14291
14292' " What are you making there ? " said a shipmate. 
14293
14294c " What do you think ? what does it look like ? " 
14295
14296' " Like a lanyard for your bag ; but it 's an odd one, 
14297seems to me." 
14298
14299' " Yes, rather oddish," said the Lakeman, holding it 
14300at arm's length before him ; " but I think it will answer. 
14301Shipmate, I haven't enough twine, have you any ? " 
14302
14303' But there was none in the forecastle. 
14304
14305' " Then I must get some from old Had " ; and he rose 
14306to go aft. 
14307
14308' " You don't mean to go a-begging to him I " said a 
14309sailor. 
14310
14311' " Why not ? Do you think he won't do me a turn, 
14312when it 's to help himself in the end, shipmate ? " and 
14313going to the mate, he looked at him quietly, and asked 
14314him for some twine to mend his hammock. It was given 
14315him neither twine nor lanyard were seen again ; but 
14316the next night an iron ball, closely netted, partly rolled 
14317from the pocket of the Lakeman's monkey-jacket, as he 
14318was tucking the coat into his hammock for a pillow. 
14319Twenty-four hours after, his trick at the silent helm 
14320nigh to the man who was apt to doze over the grave always 
14321ready dug to the seaman's hand that fatal hour was then 
14322to come ; and in the fore -ordaining soul of Steelkilt, the 
14323mate was already stark and stretched as a corpse, with his 
14324forehead crushed in. 
14325
143264 But, gentlemen, a fool saved the would-be murderer 
14327
14328
14329
14330326 MOBY-DICK 
14331
14332from the bloody deed he had planned. Yet complete 
14333revenge he had, and without being the avenger. For by 
14334a mysterious fatality, Heaven itself seemed to step in to 
14335take out of his hands into its own the damning thing he 
14336would have done. 
14337
143381 It was just between daybreak and sunrise of the 
14339morning of the second day, when they were washing down 
14340the decks, that a stupid Teneriffe man, drawing water in 
14341the main-chains, all at once shouted out, " There she rolls ! 
14342there she rolls ! " Jesu, what a whale ! It was Mahv^JQick. 
14343
143444 " Moby-Dick ! " cried Don Sebastian ; " St. Dominic ! 
14345sir sailor, but do whales have christenings ? Whom call 
14346you Moby-Dick ? " 
14347
143484 " A very white, and famous, and most deadly immortal 
14349monster, Don ; but that would be too long a story." 
14350
143514 " How ? how ? " cried all the young Spaniards, 
14352crowding. 
14353
14354' " Nay, Dons, Dons nay, nay ! I cannot rehearse 
14355that now. Let me get more into the air, sirs." 
14356
143574 " Chicha ! the chicha ! " cried Don Pedro ; " our 
14358vigorous friend looks faint ; fill up his empty glass ! " 
14359
143604 No need, gentlemen ; one moment, and I proceed. 
14361Now, gentlemen, so suddenly perceiving the snowy whale 
14362within fifty yards of the ship forgetful of the compact 
14363among the crew in the excitement of the moment, the 
14364Teneriffe man had instinctively and involuntarily lifted 
14365his voice for the monster, though for some little time past 
14366it had been plainly beheld from the three sullen mast-heads. 
14367All was now a frenzy. " The White Whale the White 
14368Whale ! " was the cry from captain, mates, and har- 
14369pooneers, who, undeterred by fearful rumours, were all 
14370anxious to capture so famous and precious a fish ; while 
14371the dogged crew eyed askance, and with curses, the appal- 
14372ling beauty of the vast milky mass, that lit up by a hori- 
14373zontal spangling sun, shifted and glistened like a living 
14374
14375
14376
14377THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 327 
14378
14379opal in the blue morning sea. Gentlemen, a strange 
14380fatality pervades the whole career of these events, as if 
14381verily mapped out before the world itself was charted. 
14382The mutineer was the bowsman of the mate, and when 
14383fast to a fish, it was his duty to sit next him, while Radney 
14384stood up with his lance in the prow, and haul in or slacken 
14385the line, at the word of command. Moreover, when the 
14386four boats were lowered, the mate's got the start ; and 
14387none howled more fiercely with delight than did Steelkilt, 
14388as he strained at his oar. After a stiff pull, their har- 
14389pooneer got fast, and, spear in hand, Radney sprang to 
14390the bow. He was always a furious man, it seems, in a 
14391boat. And now his bandaged cry was, to beach him 
14392on the whale's topmost back. Nothing loath, his bows- 
14393man hauled him up and up, through a blinding foam that 
14394blent two whitenesses together ; till of a sudden the boat 
14395struck as against a sunken ledge, and keeling over, spilled 
14396out the standing mate. That instant, as he fell on the 
14397whale's slippery back, the boat righted, and was dashed 
14398aside by the swell, while Radney was tossed over into the 
14399sea, on the other flank of the whale . He struck out through 
14400the spray, and, for an instant, was dimly seen through 
14401that veil, wildly seeking to remove himself from the eye 
14402of Moby-Dick. But the whale rushed round in a sudden 
14403maelstrom ; seized the swimmer between his jaws ; and 
14404rearing high up with him, plunged headlong again, and 
14405went down. 
14406
14407' Meantime, at the first tap of the boat's bottom, the 
14408Lakeman had slackened the line, so as to drop astern from 
14409the whirlpool ; calmly looking on, he thought his own 
14410thoughts. But a sudden, terrific, downward jerking 
14411of the boat, quickly brought his knife to the line. He 
14412cut it ; and the whale was free. But, at some distance, 
14413Moby-Dick rose again, with some tatters of Radney 's 
14414red woollen shirt caught in the teeth that had destroyed 
14415
14416
14417
14418328 MOBY-DICK 
14419
14420him. All four boats gave chase again ; but the whale 
14421eluded them, and finally wholly disappeared. 
14422
14423' In good time, the Town-Ho reached her port a savage, 
14424solitary place where no civilised creature resided. 
14425There, headed by the Lake man, all but five or six of the 
14426foremast-men deliberately deserted among the palms ; 
14427eventually, as it turned out, seizing a large double war- 
14428canoe of the savages, and setting sail for some other 
14429harbour. 
14430
144314 The ship's company being reduced to but a handful, 
14432the captain called upon the Islanders to assist him in the 
14433laborious business of heaving down the ship to stop the 
14434leak. But to such unresting vigilance over their danger- 
14435ous allies was this small band of whites necessitated, both 
14436by night and by day, and so extreme was the hard work 
14437they underwent, that upon the vessel being ready again 
14438for sea, they were in such a weakened condition that the 
14439captain durst not put off with them in so heavy a vessel. 
14440After taking counsel with his officers, he anchored the 
14441ship as far off shore as possible ; loaded and ran out his 
14442two cannon from the bows ; stacked his muskets on the 
14443poop ; and warning the Islanders not to approach the 
14444ship at their peril, took one man with him, and setting 
14445the sail of his best whale-boat, steered straight before the 
14446wind for Tahiti, five hundred miles distant, to procure 
14447a reinforcement to his crew. 
14448
14449' On the fourth day of the sail, a large canoe was 
14450descried, which seemed to have touched at a low isle of 
14451corals. He steered away from it ; but the savage craft 
14452bore down on him ; and soon the voice of Steelkilt hailed 
14453him to heave to, or he would run him under water. The 
14454captain presented a pistol. With one foot on each prow 
14455of the yoked war-canoes, the Lakeman laughed him to 
14456scorn ; assuring him that if the pistol so much as clicked 
14457in the lock, he would bury him in bubbles and foam. 
14458
14459
14460
14461THE TOWN-HO'S STORY 329 
14462
14463' " What do you want of me ? " cried the captain. 
14464
14465' " Where are you bound ? and for what are you 
14466bound ? " demanded Steelkilt ; "no lies." 
14467
14468' " I am bound to Tahiti for more men." 
14469
14470' " Very good. Let me board you a moment I come 
14471in peace." With that he leaped from the canoe, swam to 
14472the boat ; and climbing the gunwale, stood face to face 
14473with the captain. 
14474
14475" Cross your arms, sir ; throw back your head. Now, 
14476repeat after me. As soon as Steelkilt leaves me, I swear 
14477to beach this boat on yonder island, and remain there six 
14478days. If I do not, may lightnings strike me ! " 
14479
14480' " A pretty scholar," laughed the Lakeman. " Adios, 
14481Senor ! " and leaping into the sea, he swam back to his 
14482comrades. 
14483
14484' Watching the boat till it was fairly beached, and 
14485drawn up to the roots of the cocoa-nut trees, Steelkilt 
14486made sail again, and in due time arrived at Tahiti, his 
14487own place of destination. There, luck befriended him ; 
14488two ships were about to sail for France, and were provi- 
14489dentially in want of precisely that number of men which 
14490the sailor headed. They embarked ; and so forever got 
14491the start of their former captain, had he been at all minded 
14492to work them legal retribution. 
14493
14494' Some ten days after the French ships sailed, the whale- 
14495boat arrived, and the captain was forced to enlist some of 
14496the more civilised Tahitians, who had been somewhat 
14497used to the sea. Chartering a small native schooner, he 
14498returned with them to his vessel ; and finding all right 
14499there, again resumed his cruisings. 
14500
14501' Where Steelkilt now is, gentlemen, none know ; but 
14502upon the island of Nantucket, the widow of Radney still 
14503turns to the sea which refuses to give up its dead ; still 
14504in dreams sees the awful White Whale that destroyed 
14505him. * * * 
14506
14507
14508
14509330 MOBY-DICK 
14510
14511' " Are you through ? " said Don Sebastian quietly. 
14512
145131 " I am, Don." 
14514
145156 " Then I entreat you, tell me if to the best of your 
14516own convictions, this your story is in substance really 
14517true ? It is so passing wonderful ! Did you get it from an 
14518unquestionable source ? Bear with me if I seem to press." 
14519
14520' " Also bear with all of us, sir sailor ; for we all join 
14521in Don Sebastian's suit," cried the company, with exceed- 
14522ing interest. 
14523
14524' " Is there a copy of the Holy Evangelists hi the Golden 
14525Inn, gentlemen ? " 
14526
14527' " Nay," said Don Sebastian ; " but I know a worthy 
14528priest near by, who will quickly procure one for me. I 
14529go for it ; but are you well advised ? this may grow too 
14530serious." 
14531
14532' " Will you be so good as to bring the priest also, Don ? " 
14533
14534' " Though there are no Auto-da-Fes in Lima now," 
14535said one of the company to another ; "I fear our sailor 
14536friend runs risk of the archiepiscopacy. Let us withdraw 
14537more out of the moonlight. I see no need of this." 
14538
14539' " Excuse me for running after you, Don Sebastian ; 
14540but may I also beg that you will be particular in procuring 
14541
14542the largest -sized Evangelists you can." 
14543
14544******* 
14545
14546' " This is the priest, he brings you the Evangelists," 
14547said Don Sebastian gravely, returning with a tall and 
14548solemn figure. 
14549
14550' " Let me remove my hat. Now, venerable priest, 
14551further into the light, and hold the Holy Book before me 
14552that I may touch it. 
14553
14554' " So help me Heaven, and on my honour the story I 
14555have told ye, gentlemen, is in substance and its great 
14556items, true. I know it to be true ; it happened on this 
14557ball ; I trod the ship ; I knew the crew ; I have seen and 
14558talked with Steelkilt since the death of Radney." 
14559
14560
14561
14562CHAPTER LV 
14563
14564OF THE MONSTROUS PICTURES OF WHALES 
14565
14566I SHALL ere long paint to you as well as one can without 
14567canvas, something like the true form of the whale as he 
14568actually appears to the eye of the whaleman when in his 
14569own absolute body the whale is moored alongside the 
14570whale -ship so that he can be fairly stepped upon there. 
14571It may be worth while, therefore, previously to advert 
14572to those curious imaginary portraits of him which even 
14573down to the present day confidently challenge the faith 
14574of the landsman. It is time to set the world right in 
14575this matter, by proving such pictures of the whale all 
14576wrong. 
14577
14578It may be that the primal source of all those pictorial 
14579delusions will be found among the oldest Hindu, Egyptian, 
14580and Grecian sculptures. For ever since those inventive 
14581but unscrupulous times when on the marble panellings 
14582of temples, the pedestals of statues, and on shields, 
14583medallions, cups, and coins, the dolphin was drawn in 
14584scales of chain-armour like Saladin's, and a helmeted 
14585head like St. George's ; ever since then has something 
14586of the same sort of licence prevailed, not only in most 
14587popular pictures of the whale, but in many scientific 
14588presentations of him. 
14589
14590Now, by all odds, the most ancient extant portrait 
14591anyways purporting to be the whale's, is to be found in 
14592the famous cavern -pagoda of Elephanta, in India. The 
14593Brahmins maintain that in the almost endless sculptures 
14594of that immemorial pagoda, all the trades and pursuits, 
14595
14596331 
14597
14598
14599
14600332 MOBY-DICK 
14601
14602every conceivable avocation of man, were prefigured ages 
14603before any of them actually came into being. No wonder, 
14604then, that in some sort our noble profession of whaling 
14605should have been there shadowed forth. The Hindu 
14606whale referred to, occurs in a separate department of the 
14607wall, depicting the incarnation of Vishnu in the form of 
14608leviathan, learnedly known as the Matse Avatar. But 
14609though this sculpture is half man and half whale, so as 
14610only to give the tail of the latter, yet that small section 
14611of him is all wrong. It looks more like the tapering tail 
14612of an anaconda a than the broad palms of the true whale's 
14613majestic flukes. 
14614
14615But go to the old galleries, and look now at a great 
14616Christian painter's portrait of this fish ; for he succeeds 
14617no better than the antediluvian Hindu. It is Guide's 
14618picture of Perseus rescuing Andromeda from the sea- 
14619monster or whale. Where did Guido get the model of 
14620such a strange creature as that ? Nor does Hogarth, in 
14621painting the same scene in his own ' Perseus Descending,' 
14622make out one whit better. The huge corpulence of that 
14623Hogarthian monster undulates on the surface, scarcely 
14624drawing one inch of water. It has a sort of howdah on its 
14625back, and its distended tusked mouth into which the 
14626billows are rolling, might be taken for the Traitors' Gate 
14627leading from the Thames by water into the Tower. Then, 
14628there are the Prodromus whales of old Scotch Sibbald, 
14629and Jonah's whale, as depicted in the prints of old Bibles 
14630and the cuts of old primers. What shall be said of these ? 
14631As for the bookbinder's whale winding like a vine-stalk 
14632round the stock of a descending anchor as stamped and 
14633gilded on the backs and title-pages of many books both 
14634old and new that is a very picturesque but purely 
14635fabulous creature, imitated, I take it, from the like figures 
14636on antique vases. Though universally denominated a 
14637dolphin, I nevertheless call this bookbinder's fish an 
14638
14639
14640
14641MONSTROUS PICTURES OF WHALES 333 
14642
14643attempt at a whale ; because it was so intended when the 
14644device was first introduced. It was introduced by an old 
14645Italian publisher somewhere about the 15th century, 
14646during the Revival of Learning ; and in those days, and 
14647even down to a comparatively late period, dolphins were 
14648popularly supposed to be a species of the leviathan. 
14649
14650In the vignettes and other embellishments of some 
14651ancient books you will at times meet with very curious 
14652touches at the whale, where all manner of spouts, jets 
14653d'eau, hot springs and cold, Saratoga and Baden-Baden, 
14654come bubbling up from his unexhausted brain. In the 
14655title-page of the original edition of the Advancement of 
14656Learning you will find some curious whales. 
14657
14658But quitting all these unprofessional attempts, let us 
14659glance at those pictures of leviathan purporting to be 
14660sober, scientific delineations, by those who know. In 
14661old Harris's collection of voyages there are some plates 
14662of whales extracted from a Dutch book of voyages, A.D. 
146631671, entitled A Whaling Voyage to Spitzbergen in the ship 
14664Jonas in the Whale, Peter Peterson of Friesland, master. 
14665In one of those plates the whales, like great rafts of 
14666logs, are represented lying among ice-isles, with white 
14667bears running over their living backs. In another 
14668plate, the prodigious blunder is made of representing 
14669the whale with perpendicular flukes. 
14670
14671Then again, there is an imposing quarto, written by one 
14672Captain Colnett, a post-captain in the English navy, 
14673entitled A Voyage round Cape Horn into the South Seas, 
14674for the purpose of extending the Spermaceti Whale Fisheries. 
14675In this book is an outline purporting to be a ' Picture of a 
14676Physeter or Spermaceti whale, drawn by scale from one 
14677killed on the coast of Mexico, August 1793, and hoisted 
14678on deck.' I doubt not the captain had this veracious 
14679picture taken for the benefit of his marines. To mention 
14680but one thing about it, let me say that it has an eye which 
14681
14682
14683
14684334 MOBY-DICK 
14685
14686applied, according to the accompanying scale, to a full- 
14687grown sperm whale, would make the eye of that whale a 
14688bow- window some five feet long. Ah, my gallant cap- 
14689tain, why did ye not give us Jonah looking out of that eye ! 
14690
14691Nor are the most conscientious compilations of Natural 
14692History for the benefit of the young and tender, free from 
14693the same heinousness of mistake. Look at that popular 
14694work Goldsmith's Animated Nature. In the abridged 
14695London edition of 1807, there are plates of an alleged 
14696'whale' and a 'narwhale.' I do not wish to seem 
14697inelegant, but this unsightly whale looks much like an 
14698amputated sow ; and, as for the nar whale, one glimpse at 
14699it is enough to amaze one, that in this nineteenth century 
14700such a hippogrrff could be palmed for genuine upon any 
14701intelligent public of schoolboys. 
14702
14703Then, again, in 1825, Bernard Germain, Count de Lace- 
14704pede, a great naturalist, published a scientific systematised 
14705whale book, wherein are several pictures of the different 
14706species of the leviathan. All these are not only incorrect, 
14707but the picture of the Mysticetus or Greenland whale 
14708(that is to say, the right whale), even Scoresby, a long- 
14709experienced man as touching that species, declares not 
14710to have its counterpart in nature. 
14711
14712But the placing of the cap -sheaf to all this blundering 
14713business was reserved for the scientific Frederick Cuvier, 
14714brother to the famous Baron. In 1836, he published a 
14715Natural History of Whales, in which he gives what he 
14716calls a picture of the sperm whale. Before showing that 
14717picture to any Nantucketer, you had best provide for 
14718your summary retreat from Nantucket. In a word, 
14719Frederick Cuvier's sperm whale is not a sperm whale, 
14720but a squash. Of course, he never had the benefit of a 
14721whaling voyage (such men seldom have), but whence he 
14722derived that picture, who can tell ? Perhaps he got it 
14723as his scientific predecessor in the same field, Desmarest, 
14724
14725
14726
14727MONSTROUS PICTURES OF WHALES 335 
14728
14729got one of his authentic abortions ; that is, from a Chinese 
14730drawing. And what sort of lively lads with the pencil 
14731those Chinese are, many queer cups and saucers inform us. 
14732
14733As for the sign-painters' whales seen in the streets 
14734hanging over the shops of oil-dealers, what shall be said 
14735of them ? They are generally Richard in. whales, with 
14736dromedary humps, and very savage ; breakfasting on 
14737three or four sailor tarts, that is whale-boats full of 
14738mariners : their deformities floundering in seas of blood 
14739and blue paint. 
14740
14741But these manifold mistakes in depicting the whale are 
14742not so very surprising after all. Consider ! Most of the 
14743scientific drawings have been taken from the stranded 
14744fish ; and these are about as correct as a drawing of a 
14745wrecked ship, with broken back, would correctly repre- 
14746sent the noble animal itself in all its undashed pride of 
14747hull and spars. Though elephants have stood for their 
14748full-lengths, the living leviathan has never yet fairly 
14749floated himself for his portrait. The living whale, in his 
14750full majesty and significance, is only to be seen at sea in 
14751unfathomable waters ; and afloat the vast bulk of him 
14752is out of sight, like a launched line-of-battle ship ; and 
14753out of that element it is a thing eternally impossible for 
14754mortal man to hoist him bodily into the air, so as to 
14755preserve all his mighty swells and undulations. And, 
14756not to speak of the highly presumable difference of con- 
14757tour between a young sucking whale and a full-grown 
14758Platonian leviathan ; yet, even in the case of one of those 
14759young sucking whales hoisted to a ship's deck, such is 
14760then the outlandish, eel-like, limbered, varying shape of 
14761him, that his precise expression the devil himself could 
14762not catch. 
14763
14764But it may be fancied, that from the naked skeleton 
14765of the stranded whale, accurate hints may be derived 
14766touching his true form. Not at all. For it is one of the 
14767
14768
14769
14770336 MOBY-DICK 
14771
14772more curious things about this leviathan, that his skele- 
14773ton gives very little idea of his general shape. Though 
14774Jeremy Bentham's skeleton, which hangs for candelabra 
14775in the library of one of his executors, correctly conveys 
14776the idea of a burly -browed utilitarian old gentleman, with 
14777all Jeremy's other leading personal characteristics ; yet 
14778nothing of this kind could be inferred from any leviathan's 
14779articulated bones. In fact, as the great Hunter says, the 
14780mere skeleton of the whale bears the same relation to the 
14781fully invested and padded animal as the insect does to 
14782the chrysalis that so roundingly envelops it. This peculi- 
14783arity is strikingly evinced in the head, as in some part of 
14784this book will be incidentally shown. It is also very 
14785curiously displayed in the side fin, the bones of which 
14786almost exactly answer to the bones of the human hand, 
14787minus only the thumb. This fin has four regular bone- 
14788fingers, the index, middle, ring, and little finger. But all 
14789these are permanently lodged in their fleshy covering, 
14790as the human fingers in an artificial covering. ' However 
14791recklessly the whale may sometimes serve us/ said 
14792humorous Stubb one day, ' he can never be truly said to 
14793handle us without mittens.' 
14794
14795For all these reasons, then, any way you may look at it, 
14796you must needs conclude that the great leviathan is that 
14797one creature in the world which must remain unpainted 
14798to the last. True, one portrait may hit the mark much 
14799nearer than another, but none can hit it with any very 
14800considerable degree of exactness. So there is no earthly 
14801way of finding out precisely what the whale really looks 
14802like. And the only mode in which you can derive even 
14803a tolerable idea of his living contour, is by going a-whaling 
14804yourself ; but by so doing, you run no small risk of being 
14805eternally stove and sunk by him. Wherefore, it seems to 
14806me you had best not be too fastidious in your curiosity 
14807touching this leviathan. 
14808
14809
14810
14811CHAPTER LVI 
14812
14813OF THE LESS ERRONEOUS PICTURES OF WHALES, AND THE 
14814TRUE PICTURES OF WHALING SCENES 
14815
14816IN connection with the monstrous pictures of whales, I 
14817am strongly tempted here to enter upon those still more 
14818monstrous stories of them which are to be found in certain 
14819books, both ancient and modern, especially hi Pliny, 
14820Purchas, Hakluyt, Harris, Cuvier, etc. But I pass that 
14821matter by. 
14822
14823I know of only four published outlines of the great 
14824sperm whale : Colnett's, Huggins's, Frederick Cuvier 's, 
14825and Beale's. In the previous chapter Colnett and Cuvier 
14826have been referred to. Huggins's is far better than theirs ; 
14827but, by great odds, Beale's is the best. All Beale's draw- 
14828ings of this whale are good, excepting the middle figure 
14829in the picture of three whales in various attitudes, capping 
14830his second chapter. His frontispiece, boats attacking 
14831sperm whales, though no doubt calculated to excite the 
14832civil scepticism of some parlour men, is admirably correct 
14833and lifelike in its general effect. Some of the sperm 
14834whale drawings in J. Ross Browne are pretty correct in 
14835contour ; but they are wretchedly engraved. That is 
14836not his fault, though. 
14837
14838Of the right whale, the best outline pictures are in 
14839Scoresby ; but they are drawn on too small a scale to 
14840convey a desirable impression. He has but one picture 
14841of whaling scenes, and this is a sad deficiency, because it 
14842is by such pictures only, when at all well done, that you 
14843
14844VOL. I. Y 
14845
14846
14847
14848338 MOBY-DICK 
14849
14850can derive anything like a truthful idea of the living whale 
14851as seen by his living hunters. 
14852
14853But, taken for all in all, by far the finest, though in some 
14854details not the most correct, presentations of whales and 
14855whaling scenes to be anywhere found, are two large 
14856French engravings, well executed, and taken from paint- 
14857ings by one Garnery. Respectively, they represent 
14858attacks on the sperm and right whale. In the first en- 
14859graving a noble sperm whale is depicted in full majesty 
14860of might, just risen beneath the boat from the profundities 
14861of the ocean, and bearing high in the air upon his back the 
14862terrific wreck of the stoven planks. The prow of the boat 
14863is partially unbroken, and is drawn just balancing upon 
14864the monster's spine ; and standing in that prow, for that 
14865one single incomputable flash of time, you behold an oars- 
14866man, half shrouded by the incensed boiling spout of the 
14867whale, and in the act of leaping, as if from a precipice. 
14868The action of the whole thing is wonderfully good and true. 
14869The half -emptied line-tub floats on the whitened sea ; the 
14870wooden poles of the spilled harpoons obliquely bob in it ; 
14871the heads of the swimming crew are scattered about the 
14872whale in contrasting expressions of affright ; while hi the 
14873black stormy distance the ship is bearing down upon the 
14874scene. Serious fault might be found with the anatomical 
14875details of this whale, but let that pass ; since, for the life 
14876of me, I could not draw so good a one. 
14877
14878In the second engraving, the boat is in the act of draw- 
14879ing alongside the barnacled flank of a large running right 
14880whale, that rolls his black weedy bulk in the sea like some 
14881mossy rock-slide from the Patagonian cliffs. His jets 
14882are erect, full, and black like soot ; so that from so 
14883abounding a smoke in the chimney, you would think there 
14884must be a brave supper cooking in the great bowels below. 
14885Sea-fowls are pecking at the small crabs, shell-fish, and 
14886other sea-candies and macaroni, which the right whale 
14887
14888
14889
14890LESS ERRONEOUS PICTURES 339 
14891
14892sometimes carries on his pestilent back. And all the 
14893while the thick-lipped leviathan is rushing through the 
14894deep, leaving tons of tumultuous white curds in his wake, 
14895and causing the slight boat to rock in the swells like a 
14896skiff caught nigh the paddle-wheels of an ocean steamer. 
14897Thus, the foreground is all raging commotion ; but 
14898behind, in admirable artistic contrast, is the glassy 
14899level of a sea becalmed, the drooping unstarched sails 
14900of the powerless ship, and the inert mass of a dead 
14901whale, a conquered fortress, with the flag of capture 
14902lazily hanging from the whale-pole inserted into his 
14903spout -hole. 
14904
14905Who Garnery the painter is, or was, I know not. But 
14906my life for it he was either practically conversant with his 
14907subject, or else marvellously tutored by some experienced 
14908whaleman. The French are the lads for painting action. 
14909Go and gaze upon all the paintings of Europe, and where 
14910will you find such a gallery of living and breathing com- 
14911motion on canvas, as in that triumphal hall at Versailles ; 
14912where the beholder fights his way, pell-mell, through the 
14913consecutive great battles of France ; where every sword 
14914seems a flash of the Northern Lights, and the successive 
14915armed kings and emperors dash by, like a charge of 
14916crowned centaurs ? Not wholly unworthy of a place in 
14917that gallery, are those sea-battle pieces of Garnery. 
14918
14919The natural aptitude of the French for seizing the 
14920picturesqueness of things seems to be peculiarly evinced 
14921in what paintings and engravings they have of their 
14922whaling scenes. With not one tenth of England's experi- 
14923ence in the fishery, and not the thousandth part of that 
14924of the Americans, they have nevertheless furnished both 
14925nations with the only finished sketches at all capable 
14926of conveying the real spirit of the whale-hunt. For the 
14927most part, the English and American whale draughtsmen 
14928seem entirely content with presenting the mechanical 
14929
14930
14931
14932340 MOBY-DICK 
14933
14934outline of things, such as the vacant profile of the whale ; 
14935which, so far as picturesqueness of effect is concerned, is 
14936about tantamount to sketching the profile of a pyramid. 
14937Even Scoresby, the justly renowned right whaleman, 
14938after giving us a stiff full-length of the Greenland whale, 
14939and three or four delicate miniatures of narwhales and 
14940porpoises, treats us to a series of classical engravings of 
14941boat-hooks, chopping-knives, and grapnels ; and with the 
14942microscopic diligence of a Leuwenhoeck submits to the 
14943inspection of a shivering world ninety-six facsimiles of 
14944magnified Arctic snow crystals. I mean no disparagement 
14945to the excellent voyager (I honour him for a veteran), but 
14946in so important a matter it was certainly an oversight not 
14947to have procured for every crystal a sworn affidavit taken 
14948before a Greenland Justice of the Peace. 
14949
14950In addition to those fine engravings from Garnery, there 
14951are two other French engravings worthy of note, by some- 
14952one who subscribes himself ' H. Durand.' One of them, 
14953though not precisely adapted to our present purpose, 
14954nevertheless deserves mention on other accounts. It is a 
14955quiet noon-scene among the isles of the Pacific ; a French 
14956whaler anchored, inshore, in a calm, and lazily taking 
14957water on board ; the loosened sails of the ship, and the 
14958long leaves of the palms in the background, both drooping 
14959together in the breezeless air. The effect is very fine, 
14960when considered with reference to its presenting the hardy 
14961fishermen under one of their few aspects of oriental 
14962repose. The other engraving is quite a different affair : 
14963the ship hove-to upon the open sea, and in the very heart 
14964of the leviathanic life, with a right whale alongside ; the 
14965vessel (in the act of cutting -in) hove over to the monster 
14966as if to a quay ; and a boat, hurriedly pushing off from 
14967this scene of activity, is about giving chase to whales in 
14968the distance. The harpoons and lances lie levelled for 
14969use ; three oarsmen are just setting the mast in its hole ; 
14970
14971
14972
14973LESS ERRONEOUS PICTURES 341 
14974
14975while from a sudden roll of the sea, the little craft stands 
14976half -erect out of the water, like a rearing horse. From 
14977the ship, the smoke of the torments of the boiling whale 
14978is going up like the smoke over a village of smithies ; and 
14979to windward, a black cloud, rising up with earnest of 
14980squalls and rains, seems to quicken the activity of the 
14981excited seamen. 
14982
14983
14984
14985
14986
14987
14988CHAPTER LVII 
14989
14990OF WHALES IN PAINT ; IN TEETH ; IN WOOD ; IN SHEET- 
14991IRON ; IN STONE ; IN MOUNTAINS ; IN STARS 
14992
14993ON Tower Hill, as you go down to the London docks, you 
14994may have seen a crippled beggar (or kedger, as the sailors 
14995say) holding a painted board before him, representing 
14996the tragic scene in which he lost his leg. There are three 
14997whales and three boats ; and one of the boats (presumed 
14998to contain the missing leg in all its original integrity) is 
14999being crunched by the jaws of the foremost whale. Any 
15000time these ten years, they tell me, has that man held up 
15001that picture, and exhibited that stump to an incredulous 
15002world. But the time of his justification has now come. 
15003His three whales are as good whales as were ever published 
15004in Wapping, at any rate ; and his stump as unquestion- 
15005able a stump as any you will find in the Western clearings. 
15006But, though forever mounted on that stump, never a 
15007stump-speech does the poor whaleman make ; but, with 
15008downcast eyes, stands ruefully contemplating his own 
15009amputation. 
15010
15011Throughout the Pacific, and also in Nantucket, and 
15012New Bedford, and Sag Harbour, you will come across 
15013lively sketches of whales and whaling scenes, graven by 
15014the fishermen themselves on sperm whale-teeth, or ladies' 
15015busks wrought out of the right whalebone, and other like 
15016skrimshander articles, as the whalemen call the numerous 
15017little ingenious contrivances they elaborately carve out 
15018of the rough material, in their hours of ocean leisure. 
15019Some of them have little boxes of dentistical-looking 
15020
15021342 
15022
15023
15024
15025WHALES VARIOUSLY REPRESENTED 343 
15026
15027implements, specially intended for the skrimshandering 
15028business. But, in general, they toil with their jack- 
15029knives alone ; and, with that almost omnipotent tool of 
15030the sailor, they will turn you out anything you please, 
15031in the way of a mariner's fancy. 
15032
15033Long exile from Christendom and civilisation inevitably 
15034restores a man to that condition in which God placed him, 
15035i.e. what is called savagery. Your true whale-hunter is as 
15036much a savage as an Iroquois. I myself am a savage, 
15037owning no allegiance but to the King of the Cannibals ; 
15038and ready at any moment to rebel against him. 
15039
15040Now, one of the peculiar characteristics of the savage 
15041in his domestic hours, is his wonderful patience of industry. 
15042An ancient Hawaiian war-club or spear-paddle, in its full 
15043multiplicity and elaboration of carving, is as great a 
15044trophy of human perseverance as a Latin lexicon. For, 
15045with but a bit of broken sea-shell or a shark's tooth, that 
15046miraculous intricacy of wooden net work has been achieved ; 
15047and it has cost steady years of steady application. 
15048
15049As with the Hawaiian savage, so with the white sailor- 
15050savage. With the same marvellous patience, and with 
15051the same single shark's tooth, of his one poor jack-knife, 
15052he will carve you a bit of bone sculpture, not quite as 
15053workmanlike, but as close packed in its maziness of 
15054design, as the Greek savage, Achilles's shield ; and full 
15055of barbaric spirit and suggestiveness, as the prints of that 
15056fine old Dutch savage, Albert Durer. 
15057
15058Wooden whales, or whales cut in profile out of the 
15059small dark slabs of the noble South Sea war-wood, are 
15060frequently met with in the forecastles of American whalers. 
15061Some of them are done with much accuracy. 
15062
15063At some old gable-roofed country houses you will see 
15064brass whales hung by the tail for knockers to the roadside 
15065door. When the porter is sleepy, the anvil-headed whale 
15066would be best. But these knocking whales are seldom 
15067
15068
15069
15070344 MOBY-DICK 
15071
15072remarkable as faithful essays. On the spires of some old- 
15073fashioned churches you will see sheet-iron whales placed 
15074there for weather-cocks ; but they are so elevated, and 
15075besides that are to all intents and purposes so labelled 
15076with ' Hands off ! ' you cannot examine them closely 
15077enough to decide upon their merit. 
15078
15079In bony, ribby regions of the earth, where at the base 
15080of high broken cliffs masses of rock lie strewn in fantastic 
15081groupings upon the plain, you will often discover images 
15082as of the petrified forms of the leviathan partly merged 
15083in grass, which of a windy day breaks against them in a 
15084surf of green surges. 
15085
15086Then, again, in mountainous countries where the 
15087traveller is continually girdled by amphitheatrical 
15088heights ; here and there from some lucky point of view 
15089you will catch passing glimpses of the profiles of whales 
15090defined along the undulating ridges. But you must be a 
15091thorough whaleman, to see these sights ; and not only 
15092that, but if you wish to return to such a sight again, you 
15093must be sure and take the exact intersecting latitude and 
15094longitude of your first standpoint, else so chance-like are 
15095such observations of the hills, that your precise, previous 
15096standpoint would require a laborious rediscovery ; like 
15097the Soloma islands, which still remain incognita, though 
15098once high-ruffed Mendanna trod them and old Figuera 
15099chronicled them. 
15100
15101Nor when expandingly lifted by your subject, can you 
15102fail to trace out great whales in the starry heavens, and 
15103boats in pursuit of them ; as when long filled with 
15104thoughts of war the Eastern nations saw armies locked 
15105in battle among the clouds. Thus at the North have I 
15106chased leviathan round and round the Pole with the 
15107revolutions of the bright points that first defined him to 
15108me. And beneath the effulgent Antarctic skies I have 
15109boarded the Argo-Navis, and joined the chase against 
15110
15111
15112
15113WHALES VARIOUSLY REPRESENTED 345 
15114
15115the starry Cetus far beyond the utmost stretch of Hydras 
15116and the Flying Fish. 
15117
15118With a frigate's anchors for my bridle -bits and fasces 
15119of harpoons for spurs, would I could mount that whale 
15120and leap the topmost skies, to see whether the fabled 
15121heavens with all their countless tents really lie encamped 
15122beyond my mortal sight ! 
15123
15124
15125
15126CHAPTER LVII1 
15127
15128BRIT 
15129
15130STEERING north-eastward from the Crozetts, we fell in with 
15131vast meadows of brit, the minute, yellow substance upon 
15132which the right whale largely feeds. For leagues and 
15133leagues it undulated round us, so that we seemed to be 
15134sailing through boundless fields of ripe and golden wheat. 
15135
15136On the second day, numbers of right whales were seen, 
15137who, secure from the attack of a sperm whaler like the 
15138Pequod, with open jaws sluggishly swam through the brit, 
15139which, adhering to the fringing fibres of that wondrous 
15140Venetian blind in their mouths, was in that manner 
15141separated from the water that escaped at the lip. 
15142
15143As morning mowers, who side by side slowly arid 
15144seethingly advance their scythes through the long wet 
15145grass of marshy meads ; even so these monsters swam, 
15146making a strange, grassy, cutting sound ; and leaving 
15147behind them endless swaths of blue upon the yellow 
15148sea. 1 
15149
15150But it was only the sound they made as they parted 
15151the brit which at all reminded one of mowers. Seen from 
15152the mast-heads, especially when they paused and were 
15153stationary for a while, their vast black forms looked more 
15154like lifeless masses of rock than anything else. And as 
15155in the great hunting countries of India, the stranger at a 
15156
151571 That part of the sea known among whalemen as the ' Brazil Banks ' 
15158does not bear that name as the Banks of Newfoundland do, because of 
15159there being shallows and soundings there, but because of this remarkable 
15160meadow-like appearance, caused by the vast drifts of brit continually 
15161floating in those latitudes, where the right whale is often chased. 
15162346 
15163
15164
15165
15166BRIT 347 
15167
15168distance will sometimes pass on the plains recumbent 
15169elephants without knowing them to be such, taking them 
15170for bare, blackened elevations of the soil ; even so, often, 
15171with him who for the first time beholds this species of 
15172the leviathans of the sea. And even when recognised at 
15173last, their immense magnitude renders it very hard really 
15174to believe that such bulky masses of overgrowth can 
15175possibly be instinct, in all parts, with the same sort of life 
15176that lives in a dog or a horse. 
15177
15178Indeed, in other respects, you can hardly regard any 
15179creatures of the deep with the same feelings that you do 
15180those of the shore. For though some old naturalists have 
15181maintained that all creatures of the land are of their kind 
15182in the sea ; and though taking a broad general view of 
15183the thing, this may very well be ; yet coming to specialities, 
15184where, for example, does the ocean furnish any fish that 
15185in disposition answers to the sagacious kindness of the 
15186dog ? The accursed shark alone can in any generic 
15187respect be said to bear comparative analogy to him. 
15188
15189But though, to landsmen in general, the native in- 
15190habitants of the seas have ever been regarded with 
15191emotions unspeakably unsocial and repelling ; though we 
15192know the sea to be an everlasting terra incognita, so that 
15193Columbus sailed over numberless unknown worlds to 
15194discover his one superficial western one ; though, by vast 
15195odds, the most terrific of all mortal disasters have im- 
15196memorially and indiscriminately befallen tens and 
15197hundreds of thousands of those who have gone upon the 
15198waters ; though but a moment's consideration will teach, 
15199that however baby man may brag of his science and skill, 
15200and however much, in a flattering future, that science and 
15201skill may augment ; yet forever and forever, to the crack 
15202of doom, the sea will insult and murder him, and pulverise 
15203the stateliest, stiffest frigate he can make ; nevertheless, 
15204by the continual repetition of these very impressions, 
15205
15206
15207
15208348 MOBY-DICK 
15209
15210man has lost that sense of the full awfulness of the sea 
15211which aboriginally belongs to it. 
15212
15213The jirst boat we read of, floated on an ocean, that with 
15214Portuguese vengeance had whelmed a whole world with- 
15215out leaving so much as a widow. That same ocean rolls 
15216now ; that same ocean destroyed the wrecked ships of 
15217last year. Yea, foolish mortals, Noah's flood is not yet 
15218subsided ; two -thirds of the fair world it yet covers. 
15219
15220Wherein differ the sea and the land, that a miracle 
15221upon one is not a miracle upon the other ? Preternatural 
15222terrors rested upon the Hebrews, when under the feet of 
15223Korah and his company the live ground opened and 
15224swallowed them up forever ; yet not a modern sun ever 
15225sets, but in precisely the same manner the live sea swallows 
15226up ships and crews. 
15227
15228But not only is the sea such a foe to man who is an alien 
15229to it, but it is also a fiend to its own offspring ; worse than 
15230the Persian host who murdered his own guests ; sparing 
15231not the creatures which itself hath spawned. Like a 
15232savage tigress that tossing in the jungle overlays her 
15233own cubs, so the sea dashes even the mightiest whales 
15234against the rocks, and leaves them there side by side with 
15235the split wrecks of ships. No mercy, no power but its 
15236own controls it. Panting and snorting like a mad battle- 
15237steed that has lost its rider, the masterless ocean overruns 
15238the globe. 
15239
15240Consider the subtleness of the sea ; how its most 
15241dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the 
15242most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest 
15243tints of azure. Consider also the devilish brilliance and 
15244beauty of many of its most remorseless tribes, as the 
15245dainty embellished shape of many species of sharks. 
15246Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the 
15247sea ; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying 
15248on eternal war since the world began. 
15249
15250
15251
15252BRIT 349 
15253
15254Consider all this ; and then turn to this green, gentle, 
15255and most docile earth ; consider them both, the sea 
15256and the land ; and do you not find a strange analogy to 
15257something in yourself ? For as this appalling ocean 
15258surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there 
15259lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encom- 
15260passed by all the horrors of the half -known life. God 
15261keep thee ! Push not off from that isle, thou canst never 
15262return ! 
15263
15264
15265
15266
15267
15268
15269CHAPTER LIX 
15270
15271SQUID 
15272
15273SLOWLY wading through the meadows of brit, the Pequod 
15274still held on her way north-eastward toward the island 
15275of Java ; a gentle air impelling her keel, so that in the 
15276surrounding serenity her three tall tapering masts mildly 
15277waved to that languid breeze, as three mild palms on a 
15278plain. And still, at wide intervals in the silvery night, 
15279the lonely, alluring jet would be seen. 
15280
15281But one transparent blue morning, when a stillness 
15282almost preternatural spread over the sea, however un- 
15283attended with any stagnant calm ; when the long bur- 
15284nished sun-glade on the waters seemed a golden finger 
15285laid across them, enjoining some secrecy ; when the 
15286slippered waves whispered together as they softly ran on ; 
15287in this profound hush of the visible sphere a strange spectre 
15288was seen by Daggoo from the mainmast-head. 
15289
15290In the distance, a great white mass lazily rose, and rising 
15291higher and higher, and disentangling itself from the azure, 
15292at last gleamed before our prow like a snow-slide, new slid 
15293from the hills. Thus glistening for a moment, as slowly 
15294it subsided, and sank. Then once more arose, and silently 
15295gleamed. It seemed not a whale ; and yet is this Moby- 
15296Dick ? thought Daggoo. Again the phantom went down, 
15297but on reappearing once more, with a stiletto-like cry that 
15298startled every man from his nod, the negro yelled out 
152994 There ! there again ! there she breaches ! right ahead ! 
15300The White Whale, the White Whale ! ' 
15301
15302Upon this, the seamen rushed to the yard-arms, as in 
15303swarming-time the bees rush to the boughs. Bareheaded 
15304in the sultry sun, Ahab stood on the bowsprit, and with one 
15305
15306350 
15307
15308
15309
15310SQUID 351 
15311
15312hand pushed far behind in readiness to wave his orders to 
15313the helmsman, cast his eager glance in the direction indi- 
15314cated aloft by the outstretched motionless arm of Daggoo. 
15315
15316Whether the flitting attendance of the one still and 
15317solitary jet had gradually worked upon Ahab, so that he 
15318was now prepared to connect the ideas of mildness and 
15319repose with the first sight of the particular whale he 
15320pursued ; however this was, or whether his eagerness 
15321betrayed him ; whichever way it might have been, no 
15322sooner did he distinctly perceive the white mass, than with 
15323a quick intensity he instantly gave orders for lowering. 
15324
15325The four boats were soon on the water ; Ahab's in 
15326advance, and all swiftly pulling toward their prey. Soon 
15327it went down, and while, with oars suspended, we were 
15328awaiting its reappearance, lo ! in the same spot where it 
15329sank, once more it slowly rose. Almost forgetting for 
15330the moment all thoughts of Moby-Dick, we now gazed 
15331at the most wondrous phenomenon which the secret seas 
15332have hitherto revealed to mankind. A vast pulpy mass, 
15333furlongs in length and breadth, of a glancing cream-colour, 
15334lay floating on the water, innumerable long arms radiating 
15335from its centre, and curling and twisting like a nest of 
15336anacondas, as if blindly to clutch at any hapless object 
15337within reach. No perceptible face or front did it have ; 
15338no conceivable token of either sensation or instinct ; but 
15339undulated there on the billows, an unearthly, formless, 
15340chance-like apparition of life. 
15341
15342As with a low sucking sound it slowly disappeared again, 
15343Starbuck still gazing at the agitated waters where it had 
15344sunk, with a wild voice exclaimed ' Almost rather had 
15345I seen Moby-Dick and fought him, than to have seen thee, 
15346thou white ghost ! ' 
15347
15348' What was it, sir ? ' said Flask. 
15349
15350' The great live squid, which, they say, few whale-ships 
15351ever beheld, and returned to their ports to tell of it.' 
15352
15353
15354
15355352 MOBY-DICK 
15356
15357But Ahab said nothing ; turning his boat, he sailed 
15358back to the vessel ; the rest as silently following. 
15359
15360Whatever superstitions the sperm whalemen in general 
15361have connected with the sight of this object, certain it is, 
15362that a glimpse of it being so very unusual, that circum- 
15363stance has gone far to invest it with portent ousness. So 
15364rarely is it beheld, that though one and all of them declare 
15365it to be the largest animated thing in the ocean, yet very 
15366few of them have any but the most vague ideas concern- 
15367ing its true nature and form ; notwithstanding, they 
15368believe it to furnish to the sperm whale his only food. 
15369For though other species of whales find their food above 
15370water, and may be seen by man in the act of feeding, the 
15371spermaceti whale obtains his whole food in unknown 
15372zones below the surface ; and .only by inference is it 
15373that any one can tell of what, precisely, that food consists. 
15374At times, when closely pursued, he will disgorge what are 
15375supposed to be the detached arms of the squid ; some of 
15376them thus exhibited exceeding twenty and thirty feet in 
15377length. They fancy that the monster to which these arms 
15378belonged ordinarily clings by them to the bed of the ocean ; 
15379and that the sperm whale, unlike other species, is supplied 
15380with teeth in order to attack and tear it. 
15381
15382There seems some ground to imagine that the great 
15383Kraken of Bishop Pontoppodan may ultimately resolve 
15384itself into Squid. The manner in which the Bishop de- 
15385scribes it, as alternately rising and sinking, with some 
15386other particulars he narrates, in all this the two corre- 
15387spond. But much abatement is necessary with respect 
15388to the incredible bulk he assigns it. 
15389
15390By some naturalists who have vaguely heard rumours 
15391of the mysterious creature, here spoken of, it is included 
15392among the class of cuttle-fish, to which, indeed, in certain 
15393external respects it would seem to belong, but only as the 
15394Anak of the tribe. 
15395
15396
15397
15398CHAPTER LX 
15399
15400THE LINE 
15401
15402WITH reference to the whaling scene shortly to be de- 
15403scribed, as well as for the better understanding of all 
15404similar scenes elsewhere presented, I have here to speak 
15405of the magical, sometimes horrible whale-line. 
15406
15407The line originally used in the fishery was of the best 
15408hemp, slightly vapoured with tar, not impregnated with 
15409it, as in the case of ordinary ropes ; for while tar, as 
15410ordinarily used, makes the hemp more pliable to the rope- 
15411maker, and also renders the rope itself more convenient 
15412to the sailor for common ship use ; yet, not only would 
15413the ordinary quantity too much stiffen the whale-line for 
15414the close coiling to which it must be subjected ; but as 
15415most seamen are beginning to learn, tar in general by 
15416no means adds to the rope's durability or strength, how- 
15417ever much it may give it compactness and gloss. 
15418
15419Of late years the Manilla rope has in the American 
15420fishery almost entirely superseded hemp as a material 
15421for whale-lines ; for, though not so durable as hemp, it 
15422is stronger, and far more soft and elastic ; and I will add 
15423(since there is an aesthetics in all things), is much more 
15424handsome and becoming to the boat, than hemp. Hemp 
15425is a dusky, dark fellow, a sort of Indian ; but Manilla 
15426is as a golden-haired Circassian to behold. 
15427
15428The whale-line is only two-thirds of an inch in thickness. 
15429At first sight, you would not think it so strong as it really 
15430is. By experiment its one and fifty yarns will each sus- 
15431pend a weight of one hundred and twenty pounds ; so 
15432
15433VOL. i. z 
15434
15435
15436
15437354 MOBY-DICK 
15438
15439that the whole rope will bear a strain nearly equal to three 
15440tons. In length, the common sperm whale-line measures 
15441something over two hundred fathoms. Toward the 
15442stern of the boat it is spirally coiled away in the tub, not 
15443like the worm-pipe of a still though, but so as to form one 
15444round, cheese-shaped mass of densely bedded 'sheaves,' 
15445or layers of concentric spiralisations, without any hollow 
15446but the 'heart/ or minute vertical tube formed at the 
15447axis of the cheese. As the least tangle or kink in the 
15448coiling would, in running out, infallibly take somebody's 
15449arm, leg, or entire body off, the utmost precaution is 
15450used in stowing the line in its tub. Some harpooneers 
15451will consume almost an entire morning in this business, 
15452carrying the line high aloft and then reeving it downward 
15453through a block toward the tub, so as in the act of coiling 
15454to free it from all possible wrinkles and twists. 
15455
15456In the English boats two tubs are used instead of one ; 
15457the same line being continuously coiled in both tubs. 
15458There is some advantage in this ; because these twin -tubs 
15459being so small they fit more readily into the boat, and do 
15460not strain it so much ; whereas, the American tub, nearly 
15461three feet in diameter and of proportionate depth, makes 
15462a rather bulky freight for a craft whose planks are but 
15463one half-inch in thickness ; for the bottom of the whale- 
15464boat is like critical ice, which will bear up a considerable 
15465distributed weight, but not very much of a concentrated 
15466one. When the painted canvas cover is clapped on the 
15467American line-tub, the boat looks as if it were pulling off 
15468with a prodigious great wedding-cake to present to the 
15469whales. 
15470
15471Both ends of the line are exposed ; the lower end 
15472terminating in an eye -splice or loop coming up from the 
15473bottom against the side of the tub, and hanging over 
15474its edge completely disengaged from everything. This 
15475arrangement of the lower end is necessary on two accounts. 
15476
15477
15478
15479THE LINE 355 
15480
15481First : In order to facilitate the fastening to it of an 
15482additional line from a neighbouring boat, in case the 
15483stricken whale should sound so deep as to threaten to 
15484carry off the entire line originally attached to the har- 
15485poon. In these instances, the whale of course is shifted 
15486like a mug of ale, as it were, from the one boat to the 
15487other ; though the first boat always hovers at hand to 
15488assist its consort. Second : This arrangement is indis- 
15489pensable for common safety's sake ; for were the lower 
15490end of the line in any way attached to the boat, and were 
15491the whale then to run the line out to the end almost in a 
15492single, smoking minute as he sometimes does, he would 
15493not stop there, for the doomed boat would infallibly 
15494be dragged down after him into the profundity of the sea ; 
15495and in that case no town -crier would ever find her again. 
15496
15497Before lowering the boat for the chase, the upper end 
15498of the line is taken aft from the tub, and passing round the 
15499logger-head there, is again carried forward the entire 
15500length of the boat, resting crosswise upon the loom or 
15501handle of every man's oar, so that it jogs against his wrist 
15502in rowing ; and also passing between the men, as they 
15503alternately sit at the opposite gunwales, to the leaded 
15504chocks or grooves in the extreme pointed prow of the boat, 
15505where a wooden pin or skewer the size of a common quill, 
15506prevents it from slipping out. From the chocks it hangs 
15507in a slight festoon over the bows, and is then passed inside 
15508the boat again ; and some ten or twenty fathoms (called 
15509box-line) being coiled upon the box in the bows, it con- 
15510tinues its way to the gunwale still a little further aft, and 
15511is then attached to the short -warp the rope which is 
15512immediately connected with the harpoon ; but previous 
15513to that connection, the short -warp goes through sundry 
15514mystifications too tedious to detail. 
15515
15516Thus the whale-line folds the whole boat in its compli- 
15517cated coils, twisting and writhing around it in almost 
15518
15519
15520
15521356 MOBY-DICK 
15522
15523every direction. All the oarsmen are involved in its 
15524perilous contortions ; so that to the timid eye of the 
15525landsman, they seem as Indian jugglers, with the deadliest 
15526snakes sportively festooning their limbs. Nor can any 
15527son of mortal woman, for the first time, seat himself amid 
15528those hempen intricacies, and while straining his utmost 
15529at the oar, bethink him that at any unknown instant the 
15530harpoon may be darted, and all these horrible contortions 
15531be put in play like ringed lightnings ; he cannot be thus 
15532circumstanced without a shudder that makes the very 
15533marrow in his bones to quiver in him like a shaken jelly. 
15534Yet habit strange thing ! what cannot habit accom- 
15535plish ? Gayer sallies, more merry mirth, better jokes, 
15536and brighter repartees, you never heard over your 
15537mahogany, than you will hear over the half-inch white 
15538cedar of the whale-boat, when thus hung in hangman's 
15539nooses ; and, like the six burghers of Calais before King 
15540Edward, the six men composing the crew pull into the 
15541jaws of death, with a halter around every neck, as you 
15542may say. 
15543
15544Perhaps a very little thought will now enable you to 
15545account for those repeated whaling disasters some few 
15546of which are casually chronicled of this man or that man 
15547being taken out of the boat by the line, and lost. For, 
15548when the line is darting out, to be seated then in the boat 
15549is like being seated in the midst of the manifold whizzings 
15550of a steam-engine in full play, when every flying beam, 
15551and shaft, and wheel, is grazing you. It is worse ; for 
15552you cannot sit motionless in the heart of these perils, 
15553because the boat is rocking like a cradle, and you are 
15554pitched one way and the other, without the slightest 
15555warning ; and only by a certain self-adjusting buoyancy 
15556and simultaneousness of volition and action can you 
15557escape being made a Mazeppa of, and run away with where 
15558the all-seeing sun himself could never pierce you out. 
15559
15560
15561
15562THE LINE 357 
15563
15564Again : as the profound calm which only apparently 
15565precedes and prophesies of the storm is perhaps more 
15566awful than the storm itself ; for, indeed, the calm 
15567is but the wrapper and envelope of the storm ; and con- 
15568tains it in itself, as the seemingly harmless rifle holds the 
15569fatal powder, and the ball, and the explosion ; so the 
15570graceful repose of the line, as it silently serpentines about 
15571the oarsmen before being brought into actual play this 
15572is a thing which carries more of true terror than any other 
15573aspect of this dangerous affair. But why say more ? 
15574All men live enveloped in whale -lines. All are born with 
15575halters round their necks ; but it is only when caught 
15576in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realise 
15577the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life. And if you 
15578be a philosopher, though seated in the whale-boat, you 
15579would not at heart feel one whit more of terror, than 
15580though seated before your evening fire with a poker, and 
15581not a harpoon, by your side. 
15582
15583
15584
15585END OF VOL. I. 
15586
15587
15588
15589PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE 
15590CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET 
15591
15592UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY 
15593
15594
15595
15596PS Melville,, Herman 
15597
155982384 Moby-Dick 
15599
15600M6 
15601
156021922 
15603
15604v.l