There was no third course.
The officers on board shared the opinion of their chief.

They were ever chatting, discussing, and calculating the various chances of a meeting, watching narrowly the vast surface of the ocean.

More than one took up his quarters voluntarily in the cross-trees, who would have cursed such a berth under any other circumstances.

As long as the sun described its daily course, the rigging was crowded with sailors, whose feet were burnt to such an extent by the heat of the deck as to render it unbearable; still the Abraham Lincoln had not yet breasted the suspected waters of the Pacific.

As to the ship's company, they desired nothing better than to meet the unicorn, to harpoon it, hoist it on board, and despatch it.