Moby Dick Chapter 133

Chapter 133

The Chase- the First Day

That night, while Ahab is standing in his usual spot, he sniffs the air, and smells a whale; he changes the course to follow the smell.

The next day, all the men are roused to stand watch. Ahab is hoisted up the main mast, and is only two thirds of the way up when he sees Moby-Dick.

"'There she blows!- there she blows! A hump like a snow-hill! It is Moby-Dick!'" Chapter 133, pg. 454

Ahab shouts that the doubloon is his, and three boats (Starbuck's staying behind) are lowered. They chase after the whale, and it soon surfaces, only to attack the very center of Ahab's boat, biting his way through it. Ahab strikes at the jaws, and the boat is destroyed, leaving Ahab to float alone in the ocean. The Pequod sails up behind and sends Moby-Dick away, giving Ahab time to get aboard Stubb's boat. No men have been killed. They reboard the Pequod in order to make better chase, but the whale escapes them. Ahab tells the crew that the man to spot Moby-Dick on the day he is killed will receive the doubloon; and if Ahab himself spots the whale, ten times the amount of the doubloon will be divided among the crew.