noon
But even stripped of these supernatural surmisings , there was enough in the earthly make and incontestable character of the monster to strike the imagination with unwonted power . For , it was not so much his uncommon bulk that so much distinguished him from other sperm whales , but , as was elsewhere thrown out -- a peculiar snow-white wrinkled forehead , and a high , pyramidical white hump . These were his prominent features ; the tokens whereby , even in the limitless , uncharted seas , he revealed his identity , at a long distance , to those who knew him . The rest of his body was so streaked , and spotted , and marbled with the same shrouded hue , that , in the end , he had gained his distinctive appellation of the White Whale ; a name , indeed , literally justified by his vivid aspect , when seen gliding at high noon through a dark blue sea , leaving a milky-way wake of creamy foam , all spangled with golden gleamings . Nor was it his unwonted magnitude , nor his remarkable hue , nor yet his deformed lower jaw , that so much invested the whale with natural terror , as that unexampled , intelligent malignity which , according to specific accounts , he had over and over again evinced in his assaults . More than all , his treacherous retreats struck more of dismay than perhaps aught else . For , when swimming before his exulting pursuers , with every apparent symptom of alarm , he had several times been known to turn around suddenly , and , bearing down upon them , either stave their boats to splinters , or drive them back in consternation to their ship .