Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I

Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I by Herman Melville

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At Ravavai I had stepped ashore some few months previous; and now was embarked on a cruise for the whale, whose brain enlightens the world. And from Ravavai we sail for the Gallipagos, otherwise called the Enchanted Islands, by reason of the many wild currents and eddies there met.

Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I (of 2) by Herman Melville: Chapter 1

Now, round about those isles, which Dampier once trod, where the Spanish bucaniers once hived their gold moidores, the Cachalot, or sperm whale, at certain seasons abounds. But thither, from Ravavai, your craft may not fly, as flies the sea-gull, straight to her nest. For, owing to the prevalence of the trade winds, ships bound to the northeast from the vicinity of Ravavai are fain to take something of a circuit; a few thousand miles or so.

First, in pursuit of the variable winds, they make all haste to the south; and there, at length picking up a stray breeze, they stand for the main: This round-about way did the Arcturion take; and in all conscience a weary one it was. Never before had the ocean appeared so monotonous; thank fate, never since. Out of the gray of the morning, and right ahead, as we sailed along, a dark object rose out of the sea; standing dimly before us, mists wreathing and curling aloft, and creamy breakers frothing round its base.

With a glass, we spied two or three hermit goats winding down to the sea, in a ravine; and presently, a signal: Well knowing, however, that there was nobody on the island but two or three noose-fulls of runaway convicts from Chili, our captain had no mind to comply with their invitation to land. Though, haply, he may have erred in not sending a boat off with his card.

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A few days more and we "took the trades. In good time making the desired longitude upon the equator, a few leagues west of the Gallipagos, we spent several weeks chassezing across the Line, to and fro, in unavailing search for our prey. For some of their hunters believe, that whales, like the silver ore in Peru, run in veins through the ocean.

So, day after day, daily; and week after week, weekly, we traversed the self-same longitudinal intersection of the self-same Line; till we were almost ready to swear that we felt the ship strike every time her keel crossed that imaginary locality.

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At length, dead before the equatorial breeze, we threaded our way straight along the very Line itself. Westward sailing; peering right, and peering left, but seeing naught. It was during this weary time, that I experienced the first symptoms of that bitter impatience of our monotonous craft, which ultimately led to the adventures herein recounted. Not a word against that rare old ship, nor its crew.

The sailors were good fellows all, the half, score of pagans we had shipped at the islands included.

Nevertheless, they were not precisely to my mind. There was no soul a magnet to mine; none with whom to mingle sympathies; save in deploring the calms with which we were now and then overtaken; or in hailing the breeze when it came. Under other and livelier auspices the tarry knaves might have developed qualities more attractive. Had we sprung a leak, been "stove" by a whale, or been blessed with some despot of a captain against whom to stir up some spirited revolt, these shipmates of mine might have proved limber lads, and men of mettle.

But as it was,. There were other things, also, tending to make my lot on ship-board very hard to be borne. True, the skipper himself was a trump; stood upon no quarter-deck dignity; and had a tongue for a sailor.

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Let me do him justice, furthermore: But what of that? Could he talk sentiment or philosophy? His library was eight inches by four: Bowditch, and Hamilton Moore.

And what to me, thus pining for some one who could page me a quotation from Burton on Blue Devils; what to me, indeed, were flat repetitions of long-drawn yams, and the everlasting stanzas of Black-eyed Susan sung by our full forecastle choir? Staler than stale ale. I say it in no malice, but thou wast exceedingly dull. Not only at sailing: The days went slowly round and round, endless and uneventful as cycles in space. Time, and time- pieces; How many centuries did my hammock tell, as pendulum-like it swung to the ship's dull roll, and ticked the hours and ages.

Recent Forum Posts on Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I (of 2)

Sacred forever be the Areturion's fore-hatch--alas! Nevertheless, ye lost and leaden hours, I will rail at ye while life lasts.

Bill Marvel's stories were told over and over again, till the beginning and end dovetailed into each other, and were united for aye. Ned Ballad's songs were sung till the echoes lurked in the very tops, and nested in the bunts of the sails. My poor patience was clean gone.

Chapter 96

But, at last after some time sailing due westward we quitted the Line in high disgust; having seen there, no sign of a whale. To the broiling coast of Papua? That region of sun- strokes, typhoons, and bitter pulls after whales unattainable. We were going, it seemed, to illustrate the Whistonian theory concerning the damned and the comets;--hurried from equinoctial heats to arctic frosts.

To be short, with the true fickleness of his tribe, our skipper had abandoned all thought of the Cachalot. To the uninitiated in the business of whaling, my feelings at this juncture may perhaps be hard to understand. But this much let me say: Now, this most unforeseen determination on the part of my captain to measure the arctic circle was nothing more nor less than a tacit contravention of the agreement between us. That agreement needs not to be detailed. John H Bishop rated it it was amazing Sep 09, Lyndy Fleming rated it it was ok Aug 17, Leon rated it it was ok Nov 15, Nickole Schlapkohl rated it it was ok Nov 20, Roland Staiger rated it really liked it Jul 20, David rated it really liked it Oct 04, Torey rated it really liked it Jan 09, Rebekah Kensington rated it it was ok Jul 13, Bruce Heinzman added it Dec 28, Kyndra added it Dec 29, Sherry marked it as to-read Jun 16, Michael Gushue added it Aug 26, Brian Beyer marked it as to-read Jul 22, Marko Mehner marked it as to-read Aug 30, Anders marked it as to-read Dec 12, Mitch marked it as to-read Jun 02, Alexander marked it as to-read Mar 15, Jesserichards added it May 09, Cody marked it as to-read Jan 18, John marked it as to-read Apr 20, Melis marked it as to-read Aug 23, Fullcycle marked it as to-read Apr 17, Suhasini added it Jun 10, DZMM added it Aug 26, Jhonnel added it Nov 17, Graziano marked it as to-read Dec 23, Robert added it Jul 04, Jared marked it as to-read Nov 27, Adele marked it as to-read Dec 25, Ecgtheow marked it as to-read Feb 27, David Anthony Sam marked it as to-read Jun 14, Aileen Polanski marked it as to-read Jul 16, Melissa Blanz marked it as to-read Dec 20, Katie Warren marked it as to-read Feb 13, Stephen Robertson marked it as to-read Nov 15, Blow Pop marked it as to-read Jan 04,

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