The Grand Armada — Moby-Dick

Ishmael describes the narrow straits near Java and Sumatra, where ships pass like travelers through a walled gate. Malay pirates still attack vessels and demand tribute. Captain Ahab drives the Pequod through these waters toward Japan, still planning to hunt Moby Dick in the Pacific. The whaling ship carries years of stored Nantucket water and needs no port stops. Her crew may see no land for years.

Near Java Head they smell cinnamon but see no whales at first. Then a huge semicircle of whale spouts fills half the horizon, like chimneys over a giant city. The Pequod chases with every sail up. Suddenly Tashtego spots Malay boats behind them. Ahab orders sailors to wet the sails for speed. He is chasing whales ahead while pirates chase him from behind. He looks worn out, caught between monsters and enemies in a narrow watery gate. After passing Cockatoo Point, the crew cares more about losing the whales than escaping the Malays.

The whales panic and become gallied, swimming in wild circles like frightened elephants. Boats launch. Queequeg harpoons a whale that drags them deep into the herd. Starbuck stands in the bow, using his lance to push blocking whales aside. They use drugged harpoons to slow extra whales, but one drugg tears a seat from the boat and water pours in. They stuff shirts into the leaks. They slip into a strange calm at the herd's center, where the sea turns smooth like satin. Friendly cow whales nuzzle the boat. Underwater, nursing mothers float with their babies, still tied by cords that look like harpoon lines. Ishmael feels a deep joy in that quiet place.

Peace ends when a wounded whale escapes with a cutting-spade tangled in his line. He swings the blade through the herd, killing other whales. The calm breaks. Starbuck shouts for oars as the boat squeezes between two giant whales in a narrow gap. Queequeg loses his hat in the escape. The herd flees. Flask kills one whale and marks it with a waif pole. Of all the drugged whales, the crew keeps only one. Ishmael notes the old fishery saying: the more whales, the less fish.