Ahab's Solitary White Whale

Ahab would not permit himself to rest all his hopes upon the one crowning fact above mentioned. The pequod had sailed from nantucket at the very beginning of the season on the line. No possible endeavour could enable her commander to make the great passage southwards, double cape horn and then, running down 60 degrees of latitude, arrive in the equatorial pacific in time to cruise there. Therefore, he must wait for the next ensuing season yet the premature hour of the pequod sailing had perhaps been selected by ahab with a view to this very complexion of things. An interval of 365 days and nights was before him, an interval which, instead of impatiently enduring