411 
THE WHITE WHALE 
salt spray bursting down the forecastle scuttle, rather too much diluted 
and pickled it to my taste. 
The beef was fine — tough, but with body in it. They said it was 
bull-beef; others, that it was dromedary beef; but I do not know, for 
certain, how that was. They had dumplings too ; small, but substantial, 
symmetrically globular, and indestructible dumplings. I fancied that 
you could feel them, and roll them about in you after they were swal- 
lowed. If you stooped over too far forward, you risked their pitching 
out of you like billiard-balls. The bread — but that couldn’t be helped ; 
besides, it was an anti-scorbutic ; in short, the bread contained the only 
fresh fare they had. But the forecastle was not very light, and it was 
very easy to step over into a dark corner when you ate it. But all in all, 
taking her from truck to helm, considering the dimensions of the cook’s 
boilers, including his own live parchment boilers; fore and aft, I say, 
the Samuel Enderby was a jolly ship; of good fare and plenty; fine 
flip and strong; crack fellows all, and capital from boot heels to hat- 
band. 
But why was it, think ye, that the Samuel Enderby, and some other 
English whalers I know of — not all though — were such famous, hospit- 
able ships ; that passed round the beef, and the bread, and the can, and 
the joke; and were not soon weary of eating, and drinking, and laugh- 
ing? I will tell you. The abounding good cheer of these English 
whalers is matter for historical research. Nor have I been at all 
sparing of historical whale research, when it has seemed needed. 
The English were preceded in the whale fishery by the Hollanders, 
Zealanders and Danes; from whom they derived many terms still ex- 
tant in the fishery ; and what is yet more, their fat old fashions, touch- 
ing plenty to eat and drink. For, as a general thing, the English 
merchant ship scrimps her crew; but not so the English whaler. 
Hence, in the English, this thing of whaling good cheer is not normal 
and natural, but incidental and particular; and, therefore, must have 
some special origin, which is here pointed out, and will be still further 
elucidated. 
During my researches in the Levia.thanie histories, I stumbled upon 
an ancient Dutch volume, which, by the musty whaling smell of it, I 
