It will have been seen that the Heidelburgh Tun of the Sperm Whale
embraces the entire length of the entire top of the head;
and since--as has been elsewhere set forth--the head embraces
one third of the whole length of the creature, then setting
that length down at eighty feet for a good sized whale,
you have more than twenty-six feet for the depth of the tun,
when it is lengthwise hoisted up and down against a ship's side.
As in decapitating the whale, the operator's instrument is
brought close to the spot where an entrance is subsequently
forced into the spermaceti magazine; he has, therefore, to be
uncommonly heedful, lest a careless, untimely stroke should invade
the sanctuary and wastingly let out its invaluable contents.
It is this decapitated end of the head, also, which is at
last elevated out of the water, and retained in that position
by the enormous cutting tackles, whose hempen combinations,
on one side, make quite a wilderness of ropes in that quarter.
Thus much being said, attend now, I pray you, to that marvellous and--
in this particular instance--almost fatal operation whereby
the Sperm Whale's great Heidelburgh Tun is tapped.
CHAPTER 78
Cistern and Buckets
Nimble as a cat, Tashtego mounts aloft; and without altering his
erect posture, runs straight out upon the overhanging mainyard-arm,
to the part where it exactly projects over the hoisted Tun.
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