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MOBY-DICK; OR, THE WHALE
And how nobly it raises our conceit of the mighty, misty mon-
ster, to behold him solemnly sailing through a calm tropical sea; his
vast, mild head overhung by a canopy of vapor, engendered by his
incommunicable contemplations, and that vapor– as you will sometimes see it-glorifi ed by a rainbow, as if Heaven itself had put its
seal upon his thoughts. For d’ye see, rainbows do not visit the clear
air; they only irradiate vapor. And so, through all the thick mists of
the dim doubts in my mind, divine intuitions now and then shoot,
enkindling my fog with a heavenly ray. And for this I thank God; for
all have doubts; many deny; but doubts or denials, few along with
them, have intuitions. Doubts of all things earthly, and intuitions
of some things heavenly; this combination makes neither believer
nor infi del, but makes a man who regards them both with equal eye.
431
CHAPTER 86: THE TAIL
Other poets have warbled the praises of the soft eye of the an-
telope, and the lovely plumage of the bird that never alights; less
celestial, I celebrate a tail.
Reckoning the largest sized Sperm Whale’s tail to begin at that
point of the trunk where it tapers to about the girth of a man, it
comprises upon its upper surface alone, an area of at least fi fty
square feet. The compact round body of its root expands into two
broad, fi rm, fl at palms or fl ukes, gradually shoaling away to less than
an inch in thickness. At the crotch or junction, these fl ukes slightly
overlap, then sideways recede from each other like wings, leaving
a wide vacancy between. In no living thing are the lines of beauty
more exquisitely defi ned than in the crescentic borders of these
fl ukes. At its utmost expansion in the full grown whale, the tail will
considerably exceed twenty feet across.
The entire member seems a dense webbed bed of welded sinews;
but cut into it, and you fi nd that three distinct strata compose it:upper, middle, and lower. The fi bres in the upper and lower layers,
are long and horizontal; those of the middle one, very short, and
running crosswise between the outside layers. This triune structure,
as much as anything else, imparts power to the tail. To the student
of old Roman walls, the middle layer will furnish a curious parallel
to the thin course of tiles always alternating with the stone in those
wonderful relics of the antique, and which undoubtedly contribute
so much to the great strength of the masonry.
But as if this vast local power in the tendinous tail were not
enough, the whole bulk of the leviathan is knit over with a warp
432
MOBY-DICK; OR, THE WHALE
and woof of muscular fi bres and fi laments, which passing on either
side the loins and running down into the fl ukes, insensibly blend
with them, and largely contribute to their might; so that in the tail
the confl uent measureless force of the whole whale seems concentrated to a point. Could annihilation occur to matter, this were the
thing to do it.
Nor does this-its amazing strength, at all tend to cripple the
graceful fl exion of its motions; where infantileness of ease undulates through a Titanism of power. On the contrary, those motions
derive their most appalling beauty from it. Real strength never impairs beauty or harmony, but it often bestows it; and in everything
imposingly beautiful, strength has much to do with the magic. Take
away the tied tendons that all over seem bursting from the marble
in the carved Hercules, and its charm would be gone. As devout Eckerman lifted the linen sheet from the naked corpse of Goethe, he
was overwhelmed with the massive chest of the man, that seemed as
a Roman triumphal arch. When Angelo paints even God the Father
in human form, mark what robustness is there. And whatever they
may reveal of the divine love in the Son, the soft, curled, hermaphroditical Italian pictures, in which his idea has been most successfully
embodied; these pictures, so destitute as they are of all brawniness,
hint nothing of any power, but the mere negative, feminine one of
submission and endurance, which on all hands it is conceded, form
the peculiar practical virtues of his teachings.
Such is the subtle elasticity of the organ I treat of, that whether
wielded in sport, or in earnest, or in anger, whatever be the mood it
be in, its fl exions are invariably marked by exceeding grace. Therein
no fairy’s arm can transcend it.
Five great motions are peculiar to it. First, when used as a fi n for
progression; Second, when used as a mace in battle; Third, in sweeping; Fourth, in lobtailing; Fifth, in peaking fl ukes.
First: Being horizontal in its position, the Leviathan’s tail acts in
a different manner from the tails of all other sea creatures. It never
433
HERMAN MELVILLE
wriggles. In man or fi sh, wriggling is a sign of inferiority. To the
whale his tail is the sole means of propulsion. Scroll-wise coiled forwards beneath the body, and then rapidly sprung backwards, it is
this which gives that singular darting, leaping motion to the monster when furiously swimming. His side-fi ns only serve to steer by.
Second: It is a little signifi cant, that while one sperm whale only
fi ghts another sperm whale with his head and jaw, nevertheless, in
his confl icts with man, he chiefl y and contemptuously uses his tail.
In striking at a boat, he swiftly curves away his fl ukes from it, and the
blow is only infl icted by the recoil. If it be made in the unobstructed
air, especially if it descend to its mark, the stroke is then simply irresistible. No ribs of man or boat can withstand it. Your only salvation lies in eluding it; but if it comes sideways through the opposing
water, then partly owing to the light buoyancy of the whale-boat,
and the elasticity of its materials, a cracked rib or a dashed plank or
two, a sort of stitch in the side, is generally the most serious result.
These submerged side blows are so often received in the fi shery, that
they are accounted mere child’s play. Some one strips off a frock, and
the hole is stopped.
Third: I cannot demonstrate it, but it seems to me, that in the
whale the sense of touch is concentrated in the tail; for in this respect there is a delicacy in it only equalled by the daintiness of the
elephant’s trunk. This delicacy is chiefl y evinced in the action of
sweeping, when in maidenly gentleness the whale with a certain
soft slowness moves his immense fl ukes from side to side upon the
surface of the sea; and if he feel but a sailor’s whisker, woe to that
sailor, whiskers and all. What tenderness there is in that preliminary touch! Had this tail any prehensile power, I should straightway
bethink me of Darmonodes’ elephant that so frequented the fl owermarket, and with low salutations presented nosegays to damsels,
and then caressed their zones. On more accounts than one, a pity it
is that the whale does not possess this prehensile virtue in his tail;
for I have heard of yet another elephant, that when wounded in the
fi ght, curved round his trunk and extracted the dart.
434
MOBY-DICK; OR, THE WHALE
Fourth: Stealing unawares upon the whale in the fancied secu-
rity of the middle of solitary seas, you fi nd him unbent from the
vast corpulence of his dignity, and kitten-like, he plays on the ocean
as if it were a hearth. But still you see his power in his play. The
broad palms of his tail are fl irted high into the air! then smiting the
surface, the thunderous concussion resounds for miles. You would
almost think a great gun had been discharged; and if you noticed the
light wreath of vapor from the spiracle at his other extremity, you
would think that that was the smoke from the touch-hole.
Fifth: As in the ordinary fl oating posture of the leviathan the
fl ukes lies considerably below the level of his back, they are then
completely out of sight beneath the surface; but when he is about
to plunge into the deeps, his entire fl ukes with at least thirty feet
of his body are tossed erect in the air, and so remain vibrating a
moment, till they downwards shoot out of view. Excepting the
sublime breach– somewhere else to be described-this peaking of
the whale’s fl ukes is perhaps the grandest sight to be seen in all
animated nature. Out of the bottomless profundities the gigantic
tail seems spasmodically snatching at the highest heaven. So in
dreams, have I seen majestic Satan thrusting forth his tormented
colossal claw from the fl ame Baltic of Hell. But in gazing at such
scenes, it is all in all what mood you are in; if in the Dantean, the
devils will occur to you; if in that of Isaiah, the archangels. Standing at the mast-head of my ship during a sunrise that crimsoned
sky and sea, I once saw a large herd of whales in the east, all heading towards the sun, and for a moment vibrating in concert with
peaked fl ukes. As it seemed to me at the time, such a grand embodiment of adoration of the gods was never beheld, even in Persia,
the home of the fi re worshippers. As Ptolemy Philopater testifi ed
of the African elephant, I then testifi ed of the whale, pronouncing him the most devout of all beings. For according to King Juba,
the military elephants of antiquity often hailed the morning with
their trunks uplifted in the profoundest silence.
435
HERMAN MELVILLE
The chance comparison in this chapter, between the whale and
the elephant, so far as some aspects of the tail of the one and the trunk
of the other are concerned, should not tend to place those two opposite organs on an equality, much less the creatures to which they respectively belong. For as the mightiest elephant is but a terrier to Leviathan, so, compared with Leviathan’s tail, his trunk is but the stalk
of a lily. The most direful blow from the elephant’s trunk were as the
playful tap of a fan, compared with the measureless crush and crash
of the sperm whale’s ponderous fl ukes, which in repeated instances
have one after the other hurled entire boats with all their oars and
crews into the air, very much as an Indian juggler tosses his balls.*
*Though all comparison in the way of general bulk between the
whale and the elephant is preposterous, inasmuch as in that particular the elephant stands in much the same respect to the whale
that a dog does to the elephant; nevertheless, there are not wanting
some points of curious similitude; among these is the spout. It is well
known that the elephant will often draw up water or dust in his
trunk, and then elevating it, jet it forth in a stream.
The more I consider this mighty tail, the more do I deplore
my inability to express it. At times there are gestures in it, which,
though they would well grace the hand of man, remain wholly inexplicable. In an extensive herd, so remarkable, occasionally, are
these mystic gestures, that I have heard hunters who have declared
them akin to Free-Mason signs and symbols; that the whale, indeed,
by these methods intelligently conversed with the world. Nor are
there wanting other motions of the whale in his general body, full
of strangeness, and unaccountable to his most experienced assailant.
Dissect him how I may, then, I but go skin deep. I know him not, and
never will. But if I know not even the tail of this whale, how understand his head? much more, how comprehend his face, when face he
has none? Thou shalt see my back parts, my tail, he seems to say, but
my face shall not be seen. But I cannot completely make out his back
parts; and hint what he will about his face, I say again he has no face.
436
CHAPTER 87: THE GRAND
ARMADA
The long and narrow peninsula of Malacca, extending south-
eastward from the territories of Birmah, forms the most southerly
point of all Asia. In a continuous line from that peninsula stretch
the long islands of Sumatra, Java, Bally, and Timor; which, with
many others, form a vast mole, or rampart, lengthwise connecting
Asia with Australia, and dividing the long unbroken Indian ocean
from the thickly studded oriental archipelagoes. This rampart
is pierced by several sally-ports for the convenience of ships and
whales; conspicuous among which are the straits of Sunda and Malacca. By the straits of Sunda, chiefl y, vessels bound to China from
the west, emerge into the China seas.
Those narrow straits of Sunda divide Sumatra from Java; and
standing midway in that vast rampart of islands, buttressed by that
bold green promontory, known to seamen as Java Head; they not
a little correspond to the central gateway opening into some vast
walled empire: and considering the inexhaustible wealth of spices,
and silks, and jewels, and gold, and ivory, with which the thousand
islands of that oriental sea are enriched, it seems a signifi cant provision of nature, that such treasures, by the very formation of the
land, should at least bear the appearance, however ineffectual, of being guarded from the all-grasping western world. The shores of the
Straits of Sunda are unsupplied with those domineering fortresses
which guard the entrances to the Mediterranean, the Baltic, and the
Propontis. Unlike the Danes, these Orientals do not demand the
obsequious homage of lowered top-sails from the endless procession
437
HERMAN MELVILLE
of ships before the wind, which for centuries past, by night and by
day, have passed between the islands of Sumatra and Java, freighted
with the costliest cargoes of the east. But while they freely waive a
ceremonial like this, they do by no means renounce their claim to
more solid tribute.
Time out of mind the piratical proas of the Malays, lurking
among the low shaded coves and islets of Sumatra, have sallied out
upon the vessels sailing through the straits, fi ercely demanding
tribute at the point of their spears. Though by the repeated bloody
chastisements they have received at the hands of European cruisers,
the audacity of these corsairs has of late been somewhat repressed;
yet, even at the present day, we occasionally hear of English and
American vessels, which, in those waters, have been remorselessly
boarded and pillaged.
With a fair, fresh wind, the Pequod was now drawing nigh to
these straits; Ahab purposing to pass through them into the Java
sea, and thence, cruising northwards, over waters known to be frequented here and there by the Sperm Whale, sweep inshore by the
Philippine Islands, and gain the far coast of Japan, in time for the
great whaling season there. By these means, the circumnavigating
Pequod would sweep almost all the known Sperm Whale cruising
grounds of the world, previous to descending upon the Line in the
Pacifi c; where Ahab, though everywhere else foiled in his pursuit,
fi rmly counted upon giving battle to Moby Dick, in the sea he was
most known to frequent; and at a season when he might most reasonably be presumed to be haunting it.
But how now? in this zoned quest, does Ahab touch no land?
does his crew drink air? Surely, he will stop for water. Nay. For a long
time, now, the circus-running sun has raced within his fi ery ring, and
needs no sustenance but what’s in himself. So Ahab. Mark this, too,
in the whaler. While other hulls are loaded down with alien stuff,
to be transferred to foreign wharves; the world-wandering whaleship carries no cargo but herself and crew, their weapons and their
438
MOBY-DICK; OR, THE WHALE
wants. She has a whole lake’s contents bottled in her ample hold.
She is ballasted with utilities; not altogether with unusable pig-lead
and kentledge. She carries years’ water in her. Clear old prime Nantucket water; which, when three years afl oat, the Nantucketer, in
the Pacifi c, prefers to drink before the brackish fl uid, but yesterday
rafted off in casks, from the Peruvian or Indian streams. Hence it is,
that, while other ships may have gone to China from New York, and
back again, touching at a score of ports, the whale-ship, in all that
interval, may not have sighted one grain of soil; her crew having
seen no man but fl oating seamen like themselves. So that did you
carry them the news that another fl ood had come; they would only
answer-»Well, boys, here’s the ark!»
Now, as many Sperm Whales had been captured off the western
coast of Java, in the near vicinity of the Straits of Sunda; indeed, as
most of the ground, roundabout, was generally recognised by the
fi shermen as an excellent spot for cruising; therefore, as the Pequod
gained more and more upon Java Head, the look-outs were repeatedly hailed, and admonished to keep wide awake. But though the
green palmy cliffs of the land soon loomed on the starboard bow,
and with delighted nostrils the fresh cinnamon was snuffed in the
air, yet not a single jet was descried. Almost renouncing all thought
of falling in with any game hereabouts, the ship had well nigh entered the straits, when the customary cheering cry was heard from
aloft, and ere long a spectacle of singular magnifi cence saluted us.
But here be it premised, that owing to the unwearied activity
with which of late they have been hunted over all four oceans, the
Sperm Whales, instead of almost invariably sailing in small detached companies, as in former times, are now frequently met with
in extensive herds, sometimes embracing so great a multitude, that
it would almost seem as if numerous nations of them had sworn
solemn league and covenant for mutual assistance and protection.
To this aggregation of the Sperm Whale into such immense caravans, may be imputed the circumstance that even in the best cruis-
439
HERMAN MELVILLE
ing grounds, you may now sometimes sail for weeks and months
together, without being greeted by a single spout; and then be suddenly saluted by what sometimes seems thousands on thousands.
Broad on both bows, at the distance of some two or three miles,
and forming a great semicircle, embracing one half of the level horizon, a continuous chain of whale-jets were up-playing and sparkling
in the noon-day air. Unlike the straight perpendicular twin-jets of
the Right Whale, which, dividing at top, falls over in two branches,
like the cleft drooping boughs of a willow, the single forward-slanting spout of the Sperm Whale presents a thick curled bush of white
mist, continually rising and falling away to leeward.
Seen from the Pequod’s deck, then, as she would rise on a high
hill of the sea, this host of vapory spouts, individually curling up
into the air, and beheld through a blending atmosphere of bluish
haze, showed like the thousand cheerful chimneys of some dense
metropolis, descried of a balmy autumnal morning, by some horseman on a height.
As marching armies approaching an unfriendly defi le in the
mountains, accelerate their march, all eagerness to place that perilous passage in their rear, and once more expand in comparative
security upon the plain; even so did this vast fl eet of whales now
seem hurrying forward through the straits; gradually contracting
the wings of their semicircle, and swimming on, in one solid, but
still crescentic centre.
Crowding all sail the Pequod pressed after them; the harpooneers
handling their weapons, and loudly cheering from the heads of
their yet suspended boats. If the wind only held, little doubt had
they, that chased through these Straits of Sunda, the vast host would
only deploy into the Oriental seas to witness the capture of not a few
of their number. And who could tell whether, in that congregated
caravan, Moby Dick himself might not temporarily be swimming,
like the worshipped white-elephant in the coronation procession
of the Siamese! So with stun-sail piled on stun-sail, we sailed along,
440
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