HAZARDS AND COMPENSATIONS 205 



of the boat oflF — I've hon'd my lance d — n her — give me a chance, 

 won't ye; do haul me on, will ye — there's the flag, She Spouts 

 Blood — stern, I tell ye — lie — give us a set upon her — thick as 

 tar, there she clotters — stern, she's going in her flurry — stern all 

 — there, she's fin up; pass the spade forward, let's haul up to her, get 

 harness on, and tow her alongside. 



It is only in Herman Melville's immortal "Moby Dick," 

 however, that the quintessence, the very soul of whaling is 

 laid bare. Melville was both a whaleman and a writer who 

 at times neared genius j and in consequence his epic of whaling 

 life, while admittedly a work of fiction, contains many descrip- 

 tive passages which combine accuracy of detail with a graphic 

 portrayal of the spirit of the fishery far more successfully than 

 any piece of historical scholarship. Witness the following 

 description of "The First Lowering." 



"There she blows! there! there! there! she blows! she blows!" 



"Where — away?" 



"On the lee-beam, about two miles off! a school of them!" 



Instantly all was commotion. 



The sperm whale blows as a clock ticks, with the same undeviating 

 and reliable uniformity. And thereby whalemen distinguish this fish 

 from other tribes of his genus. 



"There go flukes!" was now the cry from Tashtego; and the 

 whales disappeared. 



"Quick, steward!" cried Ahab. "Time! time!" 



Dough-Boy hurried below, glanced at the watch, and reported the 

 exact minute to Ahab. 



The ship was now kept away from the wind, and she went gently 

 rolling before it. Tashtego reporting that the whales had gone 

 down heading to leeward, we confidently looked to see them again 

 directly in advance of our bows. For that singular craft at times 

 evinced by the sperm whale when, sounding with his head in one di- 

 rection, he nevertheless, while concealed beneath the surface, mills 

 round, and swiftly swims oflr in the opposite quarter — this deceitful- 

 ness of his could not now be in action; for there was no reason to sup- 

 pose that the fish seen by Tashtego had been in any way alarmed, or 

 indeed knew at all of our vicinity. One of the men selected for 

 shipkeepers — that is, those not appointed to the boats, by this time 

 relieved the Indian at the mainmast head. The sailors at the fore and 

 mizzen had come down; the line tubs were fixed in their places; the 

 cranes were thrust out; the mainyard was backed, and the three boats 

 swung over the sea like three samphire baskets over high clifiFs. Out- 



