Small sword, or broad sword, in all its exercises boasts nothing like it.
It is only indispensable with an inveterate running whale;
its grand fact and feature is the wonderful distance to which the long
lance is accurately darted from a violently rocking, jerking boat,
under extreme headway. Steel and wood included, the entire spear
is some ten or twelve feet in length; the staff is much slighter
than that of the harpoon, and also of a lighter material--pine. It is
furnished with a small rope called a warp, of considerable length,
by which it can be hauled back to the hand after darting.
But before going further, it is important to mention here, that though
the harpoon may be pitchpoled in the same way with the lance, yet it
is seldom done; and when done, is still less frequently successful,
on account of the greater weight and inferior length of the harpoon
as compared with the lance, which in effect become serious drawbacks.
As a general thing, therefore, you must first get fast to a whale,
before any pitchpoling comes into play.
Look now at Stubb; a man who from his humorous,
deliberate coolness and equanimity in the direst emergencies,
was specially qualified to excel in pitchpoling.
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