{"id":"01KF7FPSDHEM1S675WSQ5W9ZJB","cid":"bafkreidv463aviodajpl6k2svsk77chs3jrlv5a3pubsfbucz4nuwdhxyq","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":15072,"extracted_at":"2026-01-18T02:42:20.406Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 3","source_file":"01KESYVB66H8YEVTN88DWE9W8D","start_line":15030,"text":"speed to rid himself of the iron leech that had fastened to him; as we\r\nthus tore a white gash in the sea, on all sides menaced as we flew, by\r\nthe crazed creatures to and fro rushing about us; our beset boat was\r\nlike a ship mobbed by ice-isles in a tempest, and striving to steer\r\nthrough their complicated channels and straits, knowing not at what\r\nmoment it may be locked in and crushed.\r\n\r\nBut not a bit daunted, Queequeg steered us manfully; now sheering off\r\nfrom this monster directly across our route in advance; now edging away\r\nfrom that, whose colossal flukes were suspended overhead, while all the\r\ntime, Starbuck stood up in the bows, lance in hand, pricking out of our\r\nway whatever whales he could reach by short darts, for there was no\r\ntime to make long ones. Nor were the oarsmen quite idle, though their\r\nwonted duty was now altogether dispensed with. They chiefly attended to\r\nthe shouting part of the business. “Out of the way, Commodore!” cried\r\none, to a great dromedary that of a sudden rose bodily to the surface,\r\nand for an instant threatened to swamp us. “Hard down with your tail,\r\nthere!” cried a second to another, which, close to our gunwale, seemed\r\ncalmly cooling himself with his own fan-like extremity.\r\n\r\nAll whaleboats carry certain curious contrivances, originally invented\r\nby the Nantucket Indians, called druggs. Two thick squares of wood of\r\nequal size are stoutly clenched together, so that they cross each\r\nother’s grain at right angles; a line of considerable length is then\r\nattached to the middle of this block, and the other end of the line\r\nbeing looped, it can in a moment be fastened to a harpoon. It is\r\nchiefly among gallied whales that this drugg is used. For then, more\r\nwhales are close round you than you can possibly chase at one time. But\r\nsperm whales are not every day encountered; while you may, then, you\r\nmust kill all you can. And if you cannot kill them all at once, you\r\nmust wing them, so that they can be afterwards killed at your leisure.\r\nHence it is, that at times like these the drugg, comes into\r\nrequisition. Our boat was furnished with three of them. The first and\r\nsecond were successfully darted, and we saw the whales staggeringly\r\nrunning off, fettered by the enormous sidelong resistance of the towing\r\ndrugg. They were cramped like malefactors with the chain and ball. But\r\nupon flinging the third, in the act of tossing overboard the clumsy\r\nwooden block, it caught under one of the seats of the boat, and in an\r\ninstant tore it out and carried it away, dropping the oarsman in the\r\nboat’s bottom as the seat slid from under him. On both sides the sea\r\ncame in at the wounded planks, but we stuffed two or three drawers and\r\nshirts in, and so stopped the leaks for the time.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 3"},"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":"01KF7FPSDQ81N3P4JBADA3KQEB","peer_label":"Chunk 4","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"},{"peer":"01KF7FPSDD9GXED672CR6QQACW","peer_label":"Chunk 2","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-18T02:42:20.774Z","ts":"2026-01-18T02:42:28.890Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KF7FCDA7SCSJ6A30TDPDSJQV"}}