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Melville, Herman, 1819-1891

"Moby Dick: or, the White Whale"

"
--THOMAS EDGE'S TEN VOYAGES TO SPITZBERGEN, IN PURCHAS.
"In their way they saw many whales sporting in the ocean, and in
wantonness fuzzing up the water through their pipes and vents, which
nature has placed on their shoulders."
--SIR T. HERBERT'S VOYAGES INTO ASIA AND AFRICA. HARRIS COLL.
"Here they saw such huge troops of whales, that they were forced
to proceed with a great deal of caution for fear they should run their
ship upon them."
--SCHOUTEN'S SIXTH CIRCUMNAVIGATION.
"We set sail from the Elbe, wind N. E. in the ship called The
Jonas-in-the-Whale. ...
Some say the whale can't open his mouth, but that is a fable. ...
They frequently climb up the masts to see whether they can see a
whale, for the first discoverer has a ducat for his pains. ...
I was told of a whale taken near Shetland, that had above a barrel
of herrings in his belly. ...
One of our harpooneers told me that he caught once a whale in
Spitzbergen that was white all over."
--A VOYAGE TO GREENLAND, A.D. 1671 HARRIS COLL.
"Several whales have come in upon this coast (Fife) Anno 1652, one
eighty feet in length of the whale-bone kind came in, which (as I
was informed), besides a vast quantity of oil, did afford 500 weight
of baleen.


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