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"Mocha Dick," the White Whale of the Pacific

In 1839 Jeremiah N. Reynolds, an American newspaper editor, lecturer, explorer, and writer, published a curious tale of a famously fierce bull whale. The article, published in The Knickerbocker; or…

The article, published in The Knickerbocker; or, New-York Monthly Magazine, claimed this cetacean had foiled the murderous attacks of many whalers over the years and was notable not only for his size and pugnacity but also for his coloration: “He was white as wool!” As one history of ropemaking notes, “Originally a ropewalk was a level yard or field marked out with a series of pegged posts on which the yarn, strand or rope was hung as fast as it was spun, formed or laid.” At the end, an open door; Squares of sunshine on the floor Light the long and dusky lane; And the whirring of a wheel, Dull and drowsy, makes me feel All its spokes are in my brain

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