Cod or clam chowder, these were the choices
at the Try Pots, the inn recommended
by Peter Coffin at the Spouter-Inn.

So Ishmael and Queequeg ordered chowder.
First the clam, by merit of questioning
its hardiness. Finding it delicious,

they next tried the cod. Now sated and quite
chowder-headed, they retired to their

room. But before they slept, Queequeg revealed
that his idols had decreed that Ishmael
alone would choose their captain and vessel.

Queequeg would spend the next day in fasting.