Pursuing its hunt for whales, and especially for the great white whale, Moby Dick, the Pequod ploughed her way steadily to that area where Captain Aheb felt sure they would sight the object of his deadly pursuit. He was cheered and grimly amused by the prophecy of Fedallah, his Chinese harpooner, who predicted that Aheb could not die until two hearses were seen on the waters. The first, not made by mortal hands, and the wood of the second, grown in America - for according to Fedallah, only Hemp could kill Aheb...