Moby Dick 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 kil