 were, reconciled to the
fact, he jumped out upon the floor, and by certain signs and sounds gave me to
understand that, if it pleased me, he would dress first and then leave me to
dress afterward, leaving the whole apartment to myself. Thinks I, Queequeg,
under the circumstances, this is a very civilised overture; but, the truth is,
these savages have an innate sense of delicacy, say what you will; it is
marvellous how essentially polite they are. I pay this particular compliment to
Queequeg, because he treated me with so much civility and consideration, while I
was guilty of great rudeness; staring at him from the bed, and watching all his
toilet motions; for the time my curiosity getting the better of my breeding.
Nevertheless, a man like Queequeg you don't see every day, he and his ways were
well worth unusual regarding.
    He commenced dressing at top by donning his beaver hat, a very tall one, by
the by, and then - still minus his trowsers - he hunted up his boots. What under
the heavens he did it for, I cannot tell, but his next movement was to crush
himself - boots in hand, and hat on - under the bed; when, from sundry violent
gaspings and strainings, I inferred he was hard at work booting himself; though
by no law of propriety that I ever heard of is any man required to be private
when putting on his boots. But Queequeg, do you see, was a creature in the
transition state - neither caterpillar nor butterfly. He was just enough
civilised to show off his outlandishness in the strangest possible manner. His
education was not yet completed. He was an undergraduate. If he had not been a
small degree civilised, he very probably would not have troubled himself with
boots at all; but then, if he had not been still a savage, he never would have
dreamt of getting under the bed to put them on. At last, he emerged with his hat
very much dented and crushed down over his eyes, and began creaking and limping
about the room, as if, not being much accustomed to boots, his pair of damp,
wrinkled cowhide ones - probably not made to order either - rather pinched and
tormented him at the first go off of a bitter cold morning.
    Seeing, now, that there were no curtains to the window, and that the street
being very narrow, the house opposite commanded a plain view into the room, and
observing more and more the indecorous figure that Queequeg made, staving about
with little else but
