Overview
Chapter 84 of Moby-Dick, titled "Pitchpoling," opens with Queequeg carefully greasing the bottom of his whaleboat, acting on what seems to be a premonition. Shortly after the German ship Jungfrau has disappeared from sight, whales are spotted around noon, and the boats give chase. However, the whales flee with great speed, compared memorably to Cleopatra's barges retreating from the Battle of Actium.
The Chase and the Problem
Stubb's boat takes the lead in the pursuit. Tashtego manages to plant a harpoon in one of the fleeing whales, but the animal refuses to sound and instead continues its rapid horizontal flight. The relentless strain on the planted iron threatens to pull it free, and the crew faces a dire choice: lance the whale from a distance or lose it entirely. Hauling the boat close enough for a conventional strike proves impossible given the whale's furious speed.
The Art of Pitchpoling
Melville pauses the action to explain pitchpoling, a technique he considers unmatched among all whaling maneuvers. The pitchpoling lance is ten to twelve feet long with a slender pine staff, lighter than a standard harpoon. A thin rope called a warp is attached so the lance can be retrieved after each throw. The technique is reserved exclusively for "inveterate running whales" and demands extraordinary accuracy from a violently rocking boat at full speed. Melville likens the skill to swordsmanship and juggling, elevating the practical act of whaling into something resembling artistry.
Stubb's Masterful Execution
Stubb, whose cool temperament and humor under pressure make him ideally suited for pitchpoling, stands upright in the tossing bow and balances the long lance on his palm like a juggler with a staff on his chin. With a swift, almost instinctive motion, he hurls the bright steel in a superb arc across forty feet of foaming sea, striking the whale in its life spot. The whale begins spouting red blood, and Stubb celebrates with characteristic wit, comparing the crimson fountain to Fourth of July revelry and wishing the spray were whiskey. The lance is thrown again and again, always returning to Stubb like a greyhound on a leash, until the whale goes into its death flurry and Stubb quietly watches it die.