so powerfully did the whole grim aspect of ahab affect me, and the livid brand which streaked it, that for the first few moments i hardly noted that not a little of this overbearing grimness was owing to the barbaric white leg upon which he partly stood. it had previously come to me that this ivory leg had at sea been fashioned from the polished bone of the sperm whale’s jaw. "aye, he was dismasted off japan," said the old gay-head indian once; "but like his dismasted craft, he shipped another mast without coming home for it. he has a quiver of ’em."