{"id":"01KF7FPRD7MAH0C3VK6A698SM2","cid":"bafkreid4nm5vo42y5gcvib4sqjsnthwmecn5s7wscgomsd37d54ev5aweu","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":9142,"extracted_at":"2026-01-18T02:42:19.358Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 6","source_file":"01KESYVB66H8YEVTN88DWE9W8D","start_line":9080,"text":"of the mate in the stern of the boat, they knew that the imminent\r\ninstant had come; they heard, too, an enormous wallowing sound as of\r\nfifty elephants stirring in their litter. Meanwhile the boat was still\r\nbooming through the mist, the waves curling and hissing around us like\r\nthe erected crests of enraged serpents.\r\n\r\n“That’s his hump. _There_, _there_, give it to him!” whispered\r\nStarbuck.\r\n\r\nA short rushing sound leaped out of the boat; it was the darted iron of\r\nQueequeg. Then all in one welded commotion came an invisible push from\r\nastern, while forward the boat seemed striking on a ledge; the sail\r\ncollapsed and exploded; a gush of scalding vapor shot up near by;\r\nsomething rolled and tumbled like an earthquake beneath us. The whole\r\ncrew were half suffocated as they were tossed helter-skelter into the\r\nwhite curdling cream of the squall. Squall, whale, and harpoon had all\r\nblended together; and the whale, merely grazed by the iron, escaped.\r\n\r\nThough completely swamped, the boat was nearly unharmed. Swimming round\r\nit we picked up the floating oars, and lashing them across the gunwale,\r\ntumbled back to our places. There we sat up to our knees in the sea,\r\nthe water covering every rib and plank, so that to our downward gazing\r\neyes the suspended craft seemed a coral boat grown up to us from the\r\nbottom of the ocean.\r\n\r\nThe wind increased to a howl; the waves dashed their bucklers together;\r\nthe whole squall roared, forked, and crackled around us like a white\r\nfire upon the prairie, in which, unconsumed, we were burning; immortal\r\nin these jaws of death! In vain we hailed the other boats; as well roar\r\nto the live coals down the chimney of a flaming furnace as hail those\r\nboats in that storm. Meanwhile the driving scud, rack, and mist, grew\r\ndarker with the shadows of night; no sign of the ship could be seen.\r\nThe rising sea forbade all attempts to bale out the boat. The oars were\r\nuseless as propellers, performing now the office of life-preservers.\r\nSo, cutting the lashing of the waterproof match keg, after many\r\nfailures Starbuck contrived to ignite the lamp in the lantern; then\r\nstretching it on a waif pole, handed it to Queequeg as the\r\nstandard-bearer of this forlorn hope. There, then, he sat, holding up\r\nthat imbecile candle in the heart of that almighty forlornness. There,\r\nthen, he sat, the sign and symbol of a man without faith, hopelessly\r\nholding up hope in the midst of despair.\r\n\r\nWet, drenched through, and shivering cold, despairing of ship or boat,\r\nwe lifted up our eyes as the dawn came on. The mist still spread over\r\nthe sea, the empty lantern lay crushed in the bottom of the boat.\r\nSuddenly Queequeg started to his feet, hollowing his hand to his ear.\r\nWe all heard a faint creaking, as of ropes and yards hitherto muffled\r\nby the storm. The sound came nearer and nearer; the thick mists were\r\ndimly parted by a huge, vague form. Affrighted, we all sprang into the\r\nsea as the ship at last loomed into view, bearing right down upon us\r\nwithin a distance of not much more than its length.\r\n\r\nFloating on the waves we saw the abandoned boat, as for one instant it\r\ntossed and gaped beneath the ship’s bows like a chip at the base of a\r\ncataract; and then the vast hull rolled over it, and it was seen no\r\nmore till it came up weltering astern. Again we swam for it, were\r\ndashed against it by the seas, and were at last taken up and safely\r\nlanded on board. Ere the squall came close to, the other boats had cut\r\nloose from their fish and returned to the ship in good time. The ship\r\nhad given us up, but was still cruising, if haply it might light upon\r\nsome token of our perishing,—an oar or a lance pole.\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 6"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KF7FPMEV8AEHCVET9MX553SR","peer_label":"Chapter 48","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KF7FPMEV8AEHCVET9MX553SR","peer_label":"Chapter 48","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"partOf"},{"peer":"01KF7FPKDT5SHSH1ZQV6ABHQCA","peer_label":"Moby Dick; Or, The Whale","peer_type":"book","predicate":"partOf"},{"peer":"01KESYJX0Z6XE0HWTS5N3SDG0B","peer_label":"The Classics","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KF7FPRDA6XG12DRYA16ESKEE","peer_label":"Chunk 5","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-18T02:42:19.752Z","ts":"2026-01-18T02:42:30.029Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KF7FCDA7SCSJ6A30TDPDSJQV"}}