275 
THE WHITE WHALE 
coal to it with the other ; that done, dish it ; d’ye hear ? And now to- 
morrow, cook, when we are cutting-in the fish, be sure you stand by to 
get the tips of his fins ; have them put in pickle. As for the ends of 
the flukes, have them soused, cook. There, now, you may go.” 
But Fleece had hardly got three paces off, when he was recalled. 
“Cook, give me cutlets for supper to-morrow night in the mid-watch. 
D’ye hear ? away you sail, then — Halloa ! stop ! make a how before you 
go — Avast heaving again ! Whale halls for breakfast — don’t forget.” 
“Wish, by Gor ! whale eat him, ’stead of him eat whale. I’m bressed 
if he ain’t more a shark dan Massa Shark hisself,” muttered the old 
man, limping away: with which sage ejaculation he went to his ham- 
mock. 
CHAPTER LXIY 
THE WHALE AS A DISH 
That mortal man should feed upon the creature that feeds his lamp, 
and like Stubb, eat him by his own light, as you may say; this seems 
so outlandish a thing that one must needs go a little into the history 
and philosophy of it. 
It is upon record, that three centuries ago the tongue of the Right 
Whale was esteemed a great delicacy in France, and commanded large 
prices there. Also, that in Henry vmth’s time, a certain cook of the 
court obtained a handsome reward for inventing an admirable sauce 
to be eaten with barbecued porpoises, which, you remember, are a 
species of whale. Porpoises, indeed, are to this day considered fine 
eating. The meat is made into balls about the size of billiard balls, 
and being well seasoned and spiced might be taken for turtle halls 
or veal balls. The old monks of Dunfermline were very fond of them. 
They had a great porpoise grant from the crown. 
The fact is, that among his hunters at least, the whale would by all 
hands be considered a noble dish, were there not so much of him; 
but when you come to sit down before a meat-pie nearly one hundred 
feet long, it takes away your appetite. Only the most unprejudiced 
of men like Stubb, nowadays partake of cooked whales ; but the Esqui- 
