Bare-headed in the sultry sun,
Ahab stood on the bowsprit, and with one hand pushed far behind
in readiness to wave his orders to the helmsman, cast his eager
glance in the direction indicated aloft by the outstretched
motionless arm of Daggoo.
Whether the flitting attendance of the one still and solitary
jet had gradually worked upon Ahab, so that he was now prepared
to connect the ideas of mildness and repose with the first sight
of the particular whale he pursued; however this was, or whether
his eagerness betrayed him; whichever way it might have been,
no sooner did he distinctly perceive the white mass, than with
a quick intensity he instantly gave orders for lowering.
The four boats were soon on the water; Ahab's in advance,
and all swiftly pulling towards their prey. Soon it went down,
and while, with oars suspended, we were awaiting its reappearance,
lo! in the same spot where it sank, once more it slowly rose.
Almost forgetting for the moment all thoughts of Moby Dick,
we now gazed at the most wondrous phenomenon which the secret
seas have hitherto revealed to mankind. A vast pulpy mass,
furlongs in length and breadth, of a glancing cream-color, lay
floating on the water, innumerable long arms radiating from
its centre, and curling and twisting like a nest of anacondas,
as if blindly to clutch at any hapless object within reach.
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