noon
Queequeg believed strongly in anointing his boat , and one morning not long after the German ship Jungfrau disappeared , took more than customary pains in that occupation ; crawling under its bottom , where it hung over the side , and rubbing in the unctuousness as though diligently seeking to insure a crop of hair from the craft 's bald keel . He seemed to be working in obedience to some particular presentiment . Nor did it remain unwarranted by the event . Towards noon whales were raised ; but so soon as the ship sailed down to them , they turned and fled with swift precipitancy ; a disordered flight , as of Cleopatra 's barges from Actium . Nevertheless , the boats pursued , and Stubb 's was foremost . By great exertion , Tashtego at last succeeded in planting one iron ; but the stricken whale , without at all sounding , still continued his horizontal flight , with added fleetness . Such unintermitted strainings upon the planted iron must sooner or later inevitably extract it .