eight o'clock
said I. `` A whale with the strength of a cavalry regiment would be a pretty whale ! '' _ II . -- The Attack and After _ Everything was in readiness to attack with the coming of the dawn , and Ned Land was calmly sharpening his great harpoon , but by six in the morning the thing had again disappeared , and a thick sea-fog made it impossible to observe its further movements . At eight o'clock , however , the mist had begun to clear , and then , as suddenly as on the night before , Ned Land 's voice was heard calling : `` The thing on the port-quarter ! '' There it was , surely enough , a mile and a half away , now a large black body showing above the waves , and leaving a track of dazzling white as its great tail beat the water into foam . Moving rapidly , it approached within twenty feet of the frigate . Ned stood ready at the bow to hurl his harpoon , and the monster was now shining again with that strange light which dazzled our eyes .