The Gam — Moby-Dick

Ishmael explains why Ahab did not go aboard the ship they hailed. The weather looked stormy. But even in calm seas Ahab would not visit another captain unless that captain could tell him something about the White Whale.

To understand that, Ishmael describes how whaling ships behave when they meet far from home. Two lonely travelers on land would stop and talk. Whalers do the same at sea.

When whalers meet, they often hold a gam. That is their special custom. They exchange letters, newspapers, and news from the whaling grounds.

Merchant ships may pass in silence. Men-of-war bow stiffly. Pirates ask how many skulls they have taken. Whalers are more friendly.

In a gam, boat crews visit back and forth. The two captains trade ships for a while. Each chief mate stays on the other vessel.

Whaleboats are not like fancy captain's gigs. They have no cushioned stern seat and no tiller. The harpooneer steers.

So when a captain visits another ship, he must stand upright in the boat like a pine tree. The whole crew watches. He keeps his hands in his pockets to look dignified.

The steering oar bumps his back and knees. In a sudden squall, Ishmael says, some captains have grabbed an oarsman's hair to keep from falling.

Ishmael ends by defining gam for landsmen who will never find the word in ordinary dictionaries.