midnight
But granting all this ; yet , regarded discreetly and coolly , seems it not but a mad idea , this ; that in the broad boundless ocean , one solitary whale , even if encountered , should be thought capable of individual recognition from his hunter , even as a white-bearded Mufti in the thronged thoroughfares of Constantinople ? Yes . For the peculiar snow-white brow of Moby Dick , and his snow-white hump , could not but be unmistakable . And have I not tallied the whale , Ahab would mutter to himself , as after poring over his charts till long after midnight he would throw himself back in reveries -- tallied him , and shall he escape ? His broad fins are bored , and scalloped out like a lost sheep 's ear ! And here , his mad mind would run on in a breathless race ; till a weariness and faintness of pondering came over him ! and in the open air of the deck he would seek to recover his strength .