The two men go over from New Bedford to Nantucket, and there sign on to the Quaker whaling ship, the _Pequod._ It is all strangely fantastic, phantasmagoric. The voyage of the soul. Yet curiously a real whaling voyage, too. We pass on into the midst of the sea with this strange ship and its incredible crew. The Argonauts were mild lambs in comparison. And Ulysses went _defeating_ the Circes and overcoming the wicked hussies of the isles. But the _Pequod's_ crew is a collection of maniacs fanatically hunting down a lonely, harmless white whale. As a soul history, it makes one angry. As a sea yarn, it is marvellous: there is always something a bit over the mark, in sea yarns. Should be. Then again the masking up of actual seaman's experience with sonorous mysticism sometimes gets on one's nerves. And again, as a revelation of destiny the book is too deep even for sorrow. Profound beyond feeling. You are some time before you are allowed to see the captain, Ahab: the mysterious Quaker. Oh, it is a God-fearing Quaker ship. Ahab, the captain. The captain of the soul. "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul!" Ahab! "Oh, captain, my captain, our fearful trip is done." The gaunt Ahab, Quaker, mysterious person, only shows himself after some days at sea. There's a secret about him? What? Oh, he's a portentous person. He stumps about on an ivory stump, made from sea-ivory. Moby Dick, the great white whale, tore off Ahab's leg at the knee, when Ahab was attacking him. Quite right, too. Should have tom off both his legs, and a bit more besides. But Ahab doesn't think so. Ahab is now a monomaniac. Moby Dick is his monomania. Moby Dick must DIE, or Ahab can's live any longer. Ahab is atheist by this. All right. This _Pequod_, ship of the American soul, has three mates. 1. Starbuck: Quaker, Nantucketer, a good responsible man of reason, forethought, intrepidity, what is called a dependable man. At the bottom, afraid. 2. Stubb: "Fearless as fire, and as mechanical." Insists on being reckless and jolly on every occasion. Must be afraid too, really. 3. Flask: Stubborn, obstinate, without imagination. To him "the wondrous whale was but a species of magnified mouse, or water-rat----" There you have them: a maniac captain and his three mates, three splendid seamen, admirable whale-men, first class men at their job. America! It is rather like Mr. Wilson and his admirable, "efficient" crew, at the Peace Conference. Except that none of the Pequodders took their wives along. A maniac captain of the soul, and three eminently practical mates. America! Then such a crew. Renegades, castaways, cannibals: Ishmael, Quakers. America! Three giant harpooners, to spear the great white whale. 1. Queequeg, the South Sea Islander, all tattooed, big and powerful. 2. Tashtego, the Red Indian of the sea-coast, where the Indian meets the sea. 3. Daggoo, the huge black negro.