Helena.
It was while gliding through these latter waters that one
serene and moonlight night, when all the waves rolled by like
scrolls of silver; and, by their soft, suffusing seethings,
made what seemed a silvery silence, not a solitude; on such a
silent night a silvery jet was seen far in advance of the white
bubbles at the bow. Lit up by the moon, it looked celestial;
seemed some plumed and glittering god uprising from the sea.
Fedallah first descried this jet. For of these moonlight nights,
it was his wont to mount to the main-mast head, and stand
a look-out there, with the same precision as if it had been day.
And yet, though herds of whales were seen by night, not one
whaleman in a hundred would venture a lowering for them.
You may think with what emotions, then, the seamen beheld
this old Oriental perched aloft at such unusual hours;
his turban and the moon, companions in one sky. But when,
after spending his uniform interval there for several successive
nights without uttering a single sound; when, after all this silence,
his unearthly voice was heard announcing that silvery, moon-lit jet,
every reclining mariner started to his feet as if some winged
spirit had lighted in the rigging, and hailed the mortal crew.
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