Herman Melville · 1851 · sea

Herman Melville's epic of obsession. The Pequod sails from Nantucket under Captain Ahab in pursuit of the white whale, working the Atlantic whaling grounds from the Azores to the Carrol Ground, round the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean, through the China seas to the Japan grounds and the Pacific Line, where the hunt comes to its ruin.

1. 1
   Nantucket

   Ishmael signs aboard the Pequod under the vengeful Captain Ahab.

2. 2
   The North Atlantic Ground

   Weeks out, on the grounds northeast of Bermuda, the first cry of Thar she blows goes up from the masthead.

3. 3
   The Azores Ground

   The ivory Pequod sweeps the first of her named cruising-grounds, off the Azores, under easy sail.

4. 4
   The Cape Verde Ground

   On past the grounds off the Cape de Verdes, working south down the African side of the Atlantic.

5. 5
   Rio de la Plata

   She zigzags west across the ocean to the Plate, off the mouth of the Rio de la Plata.

6. 6
   The Carrol Ground

   On the lonely Carrol Ground, southerly from St. Helena, the spectral spirit-spout is first seen by moonlight.

7. 7
   Cape of Good Hope

   The whaler rounds Africa into the Indian Ocean on Ahab's global hunt.

8. 8
   The Crozet Grounds

   In the far southern Indian Ocean the Pequod cruises the Crozet whaling grounds.

9. 9
   Straits of Sunda

   Passing the Sunda Strait, the ship is beset by a vast grand armada of whales.

10. 10
    Formosa and the Bashee Isles

    Through the China seas she draws nigh to Formosa and the Bashee Isles, an outlet into the broad Pacific.

11. 11
    The Japan Grounds

    On the Japanese cruising grounds a typhoon strikes and gams reveal the white whale's wake.

12. 12
    The Line

    On the Pacific equator the three-day chase ends as Moby Dick sinks the Pequod.