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Beyond the DUODECIMO , this system does not proceed , inasmuch as the Porpoise is the smallest of the whales . Above , you have all the Leviathans of note . But there are a rabble of uncertain , fugitive , half - fabulous whales , which , as an American whaleman , I know by reputation , but not personally . I shall enumerate them by their fore - castle appellations ; for possibly such a list may be valuable to future investigators , who may complete what I have here but begun . If any of the following whales , shall hereafter be caught and marked , then he can readily be incorporated into this System , according to his Folio , Octavo , or Duodecimo magnitude : — The Bottle - Nose Whale ; the Junk Whale ; the Pudding - Headed Whale ; the Cape Whale ; the Leading Whale ; the Cannon Whale ; the Scragg Whale ; the Coppered Whale ; the Elephant Whale ; the Iceberg Whale ; the Quog Whale ; the Blue Whale ; etc . From Icelandic , Dutch , and old English authorities , there might be quoted other lists of uncertain whales , blessed with all manner of uncouth names . But I omit them as altogether obsolete ; and can hardly help suspecting them for mere sounds , full of Leviathanism , but signifying nothing . Finally : It was stated at the outset , that this system would not be here , and at once , perfected . You cannot but plainly see that I have kept my word . But I now leave my cetological System standing thus unfinished , even as the great Cathedral of Cologne was left , with the crane still standing upon the top of the uncompleted tower . For small erections may be finished by their first architects ; grand ones , true ones , ever leave the copestone to posterity . God keep me from ever completing anything . This whole book is but a draught — nay , but the draught of a draught . Oh , Time , Strength , Cash , and Patience ! CHAPTER 33 . The Specksnyder . Concerning the officers of the whale - craft , this seems as good a place as any to set down a little domestic peculiarity on ship - board , arising from the existence of the harpooneer class of officers , a class unknown of course in any other marine than the whale - fleet . The large importance attached to the harpooneer’s vocation is evinced by the fact , that originally in the old Dutch Fishery , two centuries and more ago , the command of a whale ship was not wholly lodged in the person now called the captain , but was divided between him and an officer called the Specksnyder . Literally this word means Fat - Cutter ; usage , however , in time made it equivalent to Chief Harpooneer . In those days , the captain’s authority was restricted to the navigation and general management of the vessel ; while over the whale - hunting department and all its concerns , the Specksnyder or Chief Harpooneer reigned supreme . In the British Greenland Fishery , under the corrupted title of Specksioneer , this old Dutch official is still retained , but his former dignity is sadly abridged . At present he ranks simply as senior Harpooneer ; and as such , is but one of the captain’s more inferior subalterns . Nevertheless , as upon the good conduct of the harpooneers the success of a whaling voyage largely depends , and since in the American Fishery he is not only an important officer in the boat , but under certain circumstances ( night watches on a whaling ground ) the command of the ship’s deck is also his ; therefore the grand political maxim of the sea demands , that he should nominally live apart from the men before the mast , and be in some way distinguished as their professional superior ; though always , by them , familiarly regarded as their social equal .
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