noon
He said we were bound to a fine cruising ground , scarcely known to other whalemen , which he had himself discovered when commanding a small brig upon a former voyage . Here , the sea was alive with large whales , so tame that all you had to do was to go up and kill them : they were too frightened to resist . A little to leeward of this was a small cluster of islands , where we were going to refit , abounding with delicious fruits , and peopled by a race almost wholly unsophisticated by intercourse with strangers . In order , perhaps , to guard against the possibility of anyone finding out the precise latitude and longitude of the spot we were going to , Jermin never revealed to us the ship 's place at noon , though such is the custom aboard of most vessels . Meanwhile , he was very assiduous in his attention to the invalids . Doctor Long Ghost having given up the keys of the medicine-chest , they were handed over to him ; and , as physician , he discharged his duties to the satisfaction of all . Pills and powders , in most cases , were thrown to the fish , and in place thereof , the contents of a mysterious little quarter cask were produced , diluted with water from the `` butt . ''