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Riotous and disordered as the universal commotion now was , it soon resolved itself into what seemed a systematic movement ; for having clumped together at last in one dense body , they then renewed their onward flight with augmented fleetness . Further pursuit was useless ; but the boats still lingered in their wake to pick up what drugged whales might be dropped astern , and likewise to secure one which Flask had killed and waifed . The waif is a pennoned pole , two or three of which are carried by every boat ; and which , when additional game is at hand , are inserted upright into the floating body of a dead whale , both to mark its place on the sea , and also as token of prior possession , should the boats of any other ship draw near . The result of this lowering was somewhat illustrative of that sagacious saying in the Fishery , — the more whales the less fish . Of all the drugged whales only one was captured . The rest contrived to escape for the time , but only to be taken , as will hereafter be seen , by some other craft than the Pequod . CHAPTER 88 . Schools and Schoolmasters . The previous chapter gave account of an immense body or herd of Sperm Whales , and there was also then given the probable cause inducing those vast aggregations . Now , though such great bodies are at times encountered , yet , as must have been seen , even at the present day , small detached bands are occasionally observed , embracing from twenty to fifty individuals each . Such bands are known as schools . They generally are of two sorts ; those composed almost entirely of females , and those mustering none but young vigorous males , or bulls , as they are familiarly designated . In cavalier attendance upon the school of females , you invariably see a male of full grown magnitude , but not old ; who , upon any alarm , evinces his gallantry by falling in the rear and covering the flight of his ladies . In truth , this gentleman is a luxurious Ottoman , swimming about over the watery world , surroundingly accompanied by all the solaces and endearments of the harem . The contrast between this Ottoman and his concubines is striking ; because , while he is always of the largest leviathanic proportions , the ladies , even at full growth , are not more than one - third of the bulk of an average - sized male . They are comparatively delicate , indeed ; I dare say , not to exceed half a dozen yards round the waist . Nevertheless , it cannot be denied , that upon the whole they are hereditarily entitled to en bon point .
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