{"id":"01KF7FPSK27DGRS8D8K8ZDG504","cid":"bafkreihztha6fv6ipulraoobhcoqazzyhsr7ohb5rubrg3rzdrwv53vjcy","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":14942,"extracted_at":"2026-01-18T02:42:20.405Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 0","source_file":"01KESYVB66H8YEVTN88DWE9W8D","start_line":14884,"text":"Java, in the near vicinity of the Straits of Sunda; indeed, as most of\r\nthe ground, roundabout, was generally recognised by the fishermen as an\r\nexcellent spot for cruising; therefore, as the Pequod gained more and\r\nmore upon Java Head, the look-outs were repeatedly hailed, and\r\nadmonished to keep wide awake. But though the green palmy cliffs of the\r\nland soon loomed on the starboard bow, and with delighted nostrils the\r\nfresh cinnamon was snuffed in the air, yet not a single jet was\r\ndescried. Almost renouncing all thought of falling in with any game\r\nhereabouts, the ship had well nigh entered the straits, when the\r\ncustomary cheering cry was heard from aloft, and ere long a spectacle\r\nof singular magnificence saluted us.\r\n\r\nBut here be it premised, that owing to the unwearied activity with\r\nwhich of late they have been hunted over all four oceans, the Sperm\r\nWhales, instead of almost invariably sailing in small detached\r\ncompanies, as in former times, are now frequently met with in extensive\r\nherds, sometimes embracing so great a multitude, that it would almost\r\nseem as if numerous nations of them had sworn solemn league and\r\ncovenant for mutual assistance and protection. To this aggregation of\r\nthe Sperm Whale into such immense caravans, may be imputed the\r\ncircumstance that even in the best cruising grounds, you may now\r\nsometimes sail for weeks and months together, without being greeted by\r\na single spout; and then be suddenly saluted by what sometimes seems\r\nthousands on thousands.\r\n\r\nBroad on both bows, at the distance of some two or three miles, and\r\nforming a great semicircle, embracing one half of the level horizon, a\r\ncontinuous chain of whale-jets were up-playing and sparkling in the\r\nnoon-day air. Unlike the straight perpendicular twin-jets of the Right\r\nWhale, which, dividing at top, fall over in two branches, like the\r\ncleft drooping boughs of a willow, the single forward-slanting spout of\r\nthe Sperm Whale presents a thick curled bush of white mist, continually\r\nrising and falling away to leeward.\r\n\r\nSeen from the Pequod’s deck, then, as she would rise on a high hill of\r\nthe sea, this host of vapory spouts, individually curling up into the\r\nair, and beheld through a blending atmosphere of bluish haze, showed\r\nlike the thousand cheerful chimneys of some dense metropolis, descried\r\nof a balmy autumnal morning, by some horseman on a height.\r\n\r\nAs marching armies approaching an unfriendly defile in the mountains,\r\naccelerate their march, all eagerness to place that perilous passage in\r\ntheir rear, and once more expand in comparative security upon the\r\nplain; even so did this vast fleet of whales now seem hurrying forward\r\nthrough the straits; gradually contracting the wings of their\r\nsemicircle, and swimming on, in one solid, but still crescentic centre.\r\n\r\nCrowding all sail the Pequod pressed after them; the harpooneers\r\nhandling their weapons, and loudly cheering from the heads of their yet\r\nsuspended boats. If the wind only held, little doubt had they, that\r\nchased through these Straits of Sunda, the vast host would only deploy\r\ninto the Oriental seas to witness the capture of not a few of their\r\nnumber. And who could tell whether, in that congregated caravan, Moby\r\nDick himself might not temporarily be swimming, like the worshipped\r\nwhite-elephant in the coronation procession of the Siamese! So with\r\nstun-sail piled on stun-sail, we sailed along, driving these leviathans\r\nbefore us; when, of a sudden, the voice of Tashtego was heard, loudly\r\ndirecting attention to something in our wake.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 0"},"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":"01KF7FPSB23QEJ9M85SRCZ5210","peer_label":"Chunk 1","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-18T02:42:21.029Z","ts":"2026-01-18T02:42:28.842Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KF7FCDA7SCSJ6A30TDPDSJQV"}}