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1So far as what there may be of a narrative in this book; and, indeed, as indirectly touching one or two very interesting
2and curious particulars in the habits of sperm whales, the foregoing chapter, in its earlier part, is as important a one
3as will be found in this volume; but the leading matter of it requires to be still further and more familiarly enlarged
4upon, in order to be adequately understood, and moreover to take away any incredulity which a profound ignorance of the
5entire subject may induce in some minds, as to the natural verity of the main points of this affair. I care not to
6perform this part of my task methodically; but shall be content to produce the desired impression by separate citations
7of items, practically or reliably known to me as a whaleman; and from these citations, I take it--the conclusion aimed
8at will naturally follow of itself. First: I have personally known three instances where a whale, after receiving a
9harpoon, has effected a complete escape; and, after an interval (in one instance of three years), has been again struck
10by the same hand, and slain; when the two irons, both marked by the same private cypher, have been taken from the body.
11In the instance where three years intervened between the flinging of the two harpoons; and I think it may have been
12something more than that; the man who darted them happening, in the interval, to go in a trading ship on a voyage to
13Africa, went ashore there, joined a discovery party, and penetrated far into the interior, where he travelled for a
14period of nearly two years, often endangered by serpents, savages, tigers, poisonous miasmas, with all the other common
15perils incident to wandering in the heart of unknown regions. Meanwhile, the whale he had struck must also have been on
16its travels; no doubt it had thrice circumnavigated the globe, brushing with its flanks all the coasts of Africa; but to
17no purpose. This man and this whale again came together, and the one vanquished the other. I say I, myself, have known
18three instances similar to this; that is in two of them I saw the whales struck; and, upon the second attack, saw the
19two irons with the respective marks cut in them, afterwards taken from the dead fish. In the three-year instance, it so
20fell out that I was in the boat both times, first and last, and the last time distinctly recognised a peculiar sort of
21huge mole under the whale's eye, which I had observed there three years previous. I say three years, but I am pretty
22sure it was more than that. Here are three instances, then, which I personally know the truth of; but I have heard of
23many other instances from persons whose veracity in the matter there is no good ground to impeach. Secondly: It is well
24known in the Sperm Whale Fishery, however ignorant the world ashore may be of it, that there have been several memorable
25historical instances where a particular whale in the ocean has been at distant times and places popularly cognisable.
26Why such a whale became thus marked was not altogether and originally owing to his bodily peculiarities as distinguished
27from other whales; for however peculiar in that respect any chance whale may be, they soon put an end to his
28peculiarities by killing him, and boiling him down into a peculiarly valuable oil. No: the reason was this: that from
29the fatal experiences of the fishery there hung a terrible prestige of perilousness about such a whale as there did
30about Rinaldo Rinaldini, insomuch that most fishermen were content to recognise him by merely touching their tarpaulins
31when he would be discovered lounging by them on the sea, without seeking to cultivate a more intimate acquaintance. Like
32some poor devils ashore that happen to know an irascible great man, they make distant unobtrusive salutations to him in
33the street, lest if they pursued the acquaintance further, they might receive a summary thump for their presumption. But
34not only did each of these famous whales enjoy great individual celebrity--Nay, you may call it an ocean-wide renown;
35not only was he famous in life and now is immortal in forecastle stories after death, but he was admitted into all the
36rights, privileges, and distinctions of a name; had as much a name indeed as Cambyses or Cæsar. Was it not so, O Timor
37Tom! thou famed leviathan, scarred like an iceberg, who so long did'st lurk in the Oriental straits of that name, whose
38spout was oft seen from the palmy beach of Ombay? Was it not so, O New Zealand Jack! thou terror of all cruisers that
39crossed their wakes in the vicinity of the Tattoo Land? Was it not so, O Morquan! King of Japan, whose lofty jet they
40say at times assumed the semblance of a snow-white cross against the sky? Was it not so, O Don Miguel! thou Chilian
41whale, marked like an old tortoise with mystic hieroglyphics upon the back! In plain prose, here are four whales as well
42known to the students of Cetacean History as Marius or Sylla to the classic scholar. But this is not all. New Zealand
43Tom and Don Miguel, after at various times creating great havoc among the boats of different vessels, were finally gone
44in quest of, systematically hunted out, chased and killed by valiant whaling captains, who heaved up their anchors with
45that express object as much in view, as in setting out through the Narragansett Woods, Captain Butler of old had it in
46his mind to capture that notorious murderous savage Annawon, the headmost warrior of the Indian King Philip. I do not
47know where I can find a better place than just here, to make mention of one or two other things, which to me seem
48important, as in printed form establishing in all respects the reasonableness of the whole story of the White Whale,
49more especially the catastrophe. For this is one of those disheartening instances where truth requires full as much
50bolstering as error. So ignorant are most landsmen of some of the plainest and most palpable wonders of the world, that
51without some hints touching the plain facts, historical and otherwise, of the fishery, they might scout at Moby Dick as
52a monstrous fable, or still worse and more detestable, a hideous and intolerable allegory. First: Though most men have
53some vague flitting ideas of the general perils of the grand fishery, yet they have nothing like a fixed, vivid
54conception of those perils, and the frequency with which they recur. One reason perhaps is, that not one in fifty of the
55actual disasters and deaths by casualties in the fishery, ever finds a public record at home, however transient and
56immediately forgotten that record. Do you suppose that that poor fellow there, who this moment perhaps caught by the
57whale-line off the coast of New Guinea, is being carried down to the bottom of the sea by the sounding leviathan--do you
58suppose that that poor fellow's name will appear in the newspaper obituary you will read to-morrow at your breakfast?
59No: because the mails are very irregular between here and New Guinea. In fact, did you ever hear what might be called
60regular news direct or indirect from New Guinea? Yet I tell you that upon one particular voyage which I made to the
61Pacific, among many others we spoke thirty different ships, every one of which had had a death by a whale, some of them
62more than one, and three that had each lost a boat's crew. For God's sake, be economical with your lamps and candles!
63not a gallon you burn, but at least one drop of man's blood was spilled for it. Secondly: People ashore have indeed some
64indefinite idea that a whale is an enormous creature of enormous power; but I have ever found that when narrating to
65them some specific example of this two-fold enormousness, they have significantly complimented me upon my facetiousness;
66when, I declare upon my soul, I had no more idea of being facetious than Moses, when he wrote the history of the plagues
67of Egypt. But fortunately the special point I here seek can be established upon testimony entirely independent of my
68own. That point is this: The Sperm Whale is in some cases sufficiently powerful, knowing, and judiciously malicious, as
69with direct aforethought to stave in, utterly destroy, and sink a large ship; and what is more, the Sperm Whale has done
70it.
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