Thrusting his head half-way into the binnacle, Ahab caught
one glimpse of the compasses; his uplifted arm slowly fell;
for a moment he almost seemed to stagger. Standing behind
him Starbuck looked, and lo! the two compasses pointed East,
and the Pequod was as infallibly going West.
But ere the first wild alarm could get out abroad among the crew, the old
man with a rigid laugh exclaimed, "I have it! It has happened before.
Mr. Starbuck, last night's thunder turned our compasses--that's all.
Thou hast before now heard of such a thing, I take it."
"Aye; but never before has it happened to me, sir," said the
pale mate, gloomily.
Here, it must needs be said, that accidents like this have
in more than one case occurred to ships in violent storms.
The magnetic energy, as developed in the mariner's needle, is,
as all know, essentially one with the electricity beheld in heaven;
hence it is not to be much marvelled at, that such things should be.
In instances where the lightning has actually struck the vessel,
so as to smite down some of the spars and rigging, the effect upon
the needle has at times been still more fatal; all its loadstone
virtue being annihilated, so that the before magnetic steel was of no
more use than an old wife's knitting needle.
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