{"id":"01KF7FPSD0M611K12RJX8EEVG3","cid":"bafkreiaiemckuq7iam2hipxc37p3nohto4j3e5b3shbdetqh36mr6mlpie","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":15436,"extracted_at":"2026-01-18T02:42:20.409Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 10","source_file":"01KESYVB66H8YEVTN88DWE9W8D","start_line":15379,"text":"member of the harem school, and her companions swim around her with\r\nevery token of concern, sometimes lingering so near her and so long, as\r\nthemselves to fall a prey.\r\n\r\n\r\nCHAPTER 89. Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish.\r\n\r\nThe allusion to the waif and waif-poles in the last chapter but one,\r\nnecessitates some account of the laws and regulations of the whale\r\nfishery, of which the waif may be deemed the grand symbol and badge.\r\n\r\nIt frequently happens that when several ships are cruising in company,\r\na whale may be struck by one vessel, then escape, and be finally killed\r\nand captured by another vessel; and herein are indirectly comprised\r\nmany minor contingencies, all partaking of this one grand feature. For\r\nexample,—after a weary and perilous chase and capture of a whale, the\r\nbody may get loose from the ship by reason of a violent storm; and\r\ndrifting far away to leeward, be retaken by a second whaler, who, in a\r\ncalm, snugly tows it alongside, without risk of life or line. Thus the\r\nmost vexatious and violent disputes would often arise between the\r\nfishermen, were there not some written or unwritten, universal,\r\nundisputed law applicable to all cases.\r\n\r\nPerhaps the only formal whaling code authorized by legislative\r\nenactment, was that of Holland. It was decreed by the States-General in\r\nA.D. 1695. But though no other nation has ever had any written whaling\r\nlaw, yet the American fishermen have been their own legislators and\r\nlawyers in this matter. They have provided a system which for terse\r\ncomprehensiveness surpasses Justinian’s Pandects and the By-laws of the\r\nChinese Society for the Suppression of Meddling with other People’s\r\nBusiness. Yes; these laws might be engraven on a Queen Anne’s farthing,\r\nor the barb of a harpoon, and worn round the neck, so small are they.\r\n\r\nI. A Fast-Fish belongs to the party fast to it.\r\n\r\nII. A Loose-Fish is fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it.\r\n\r\nBut what plays the mischief with this masterly code is the admirable\r\nbrevity of it, which necessitates a vast volume of commentaries to\r\nexpound it.\r\n\r\nFirst: What is a Fast-Fish? Alive or dead a fish is technically fast,\r\nwhen it is connected with an occupied ship or boat, by any medium at\r\nall controllable by the occupant or occupants,—a mast, an oar, a\r\nnine-inch cable, a telegraph wire, or a strand of cobweb, it is all the\r\nsame. Likewise a fish is technically fast when it bears a waif, or any\r\nother recognised symbol of possession; so long as the party waifing it\r\nplainly evince their ability at any time to take it alongside, as well\r\nas their intention so to do.\r\n\r\nThese are scientific commentaries; but the commentaries of the whalemen\r\nthemselves sometimes consist in hard words and harder knocks—the\r\nCoke-upon-Littleton of the fist. True, among the more upright and\r\nhonorable whalemen allowances are always made for peculiar cases, where\r\nit would be an outrageous moral injustice for one party to claim\r\npossession of a whale previously chased or killed by another party. But\r\nothers are by no means so scrupulous.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 10"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KF7FPMFSMJT6NVJR448ANF6Z","peer_label":"Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KF7FPMFSMJT6NVJR448ANF6Z","peer_label":"Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish","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":"01KF7FPSE0NAZVHCJY02C5EJBN","peer_label":"Chunk 11","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"},{"peer":"01KF7FPSCZF07W1BZBGESE2N4J","peer_label":"Chunk 9","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-18T02:42:20.888Z","ts":"2026-01-18T02:42:28.978Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KF7FCDA7SCSJ6A30TDPDSJQV"}}