“These things are reciprocal; the ball rebounds, only to bound forward again; for now in laying open the haunts of the whale, the whalemen seem to have indirectly hit upon new clues to that same mystic Northwest Passage.”
“It is impossible to meet a whale-ship on the ocean without being struck by her near appearance. The vessel under short sail, with lookouts at the mastheads, eagerly scanning the wide expanse around them, has a totally different air from those engaged in regular voyage.”
“Pedestrians in the vicinity of London and elsewhere may recollect having seen large curved bones set upright in the earth, either to form arches over gateways, or entrances to alcoves, and they may perhaps have been told that these were the ribs of whales.”
“It was not till the boats returned from the pursuit of these whales, that the whites saw their ship in bloody possession of the savages enrolled among the crew.”
“It is generally well known that out of the crews of Whaling vessels (American) few ever return in the ships on board of which they departed.”
“Suddenly a mighty mass emerged from the water, and shot up perpendicularly into the air. It was the whale.”
“The Whale is harpooned to be sure; but bethink you, how you would manage a powerful unbroken colt, with the mere appliance of a rope tied to the root of his tail.”