He allows the enraged whale to exterminate all the crew of the Pequod except for Ishmael, who only has to float for 48 hours on Queequeg's coffin. Melville was more interested in the nature of the whale, and the characters of the men who hunted it, than in the human capacity for survival.To Chase, the value of the story, which he got a Harvard-educated schoolmate to set down for him, was its disclosure of "new and astonishing traits of human character" He plots emotions as well as facts "A desperate instinct bound us together," he reflects. The writing is full of startling images, as "Our sails almost whiten the distant confines of the Pacific". "More real chivalry is not often exhibited on the deck of a battleship," Chase concludes, "than is displayed by these hardy sons of the ocean in some of their gallant exploits among the whales".When I found myself popping the notes I attach to potential quotes to virtually every page, I realised I might as well just deliver a rousing injunction to read the book for yourselves.

The Pimlico edition, introduced by Tim Cahill, also includes two shorter narratives by other survivors and facsimile pages of Melville's notes.If Chase's account is so good, why should you read In the Heart of the Sea? For one thing, Nathaniel Philbrick - not just a native of Nantucket but director of its Institute of Maritime Studies - puts the Essex and her crew into broader historical and geographical perspective, adding extraordinary new dimensions, some ennobling, others less so, to the tale and its aftermath. I had not grasped that, when the leaky Essex sank in the most desolate part of the Pacific, her crew of 20 had already suffered a dismasting after leaving Nantucket and a three-month voyage westward to the Azores, south-eastward round the Horn, and then north-west.Philbrick points out the irony of their decision to sail thousands of miles south-east in order to avoid reputed cannibals a few days' sail to the west. He vividly recreates the atmosphere of the whaling community of Nantucket and of life aboard the Essex, and visits Henderson Island, the almost-desert coral atoll that afforded the crew a little succour. He also makes use of another little-known account: that of the youngest crew member, the 15-year-old cabin boy Thomas Nickerson. This reveals that Chase was at times more in charge than the ship's own captain.But no amount of scholarly questioning can lessen the most outstandingly memorable aspect of the story: the extraordinary good behaviour shown by all concerned. Most of the men who died were sewn into sails and dispatched overboard with prayers.

Only at the greatest extremity of need did the survivors stoop to cannibalism. "I have no language to paint the anguish of our souls in this dreadful dilemma," wrote Chase. He had nightmares about it for the rest of his life, eventually going insane.. Heathrow airport is turning away 10 million passengers a year, many of them tourists and holidaymakers, according to a report published yesterday.

Heathrow airport is turning away 10 million passengers a year, many of them tourists and holidaymakers, according to a report published yesterday. The world's busiest airport is "desperately" short of capacity and increasingly being flooded by business people prepared to pay extra to use it, according to the study for the British Air Transport Association.Within five years demand for flights from Heathrow and Gatwick will exceed capacity by over 18 million passengers annually, the BATA calculates, with Continental airports mopping up the extra services. The surplus could soar to more than 100m in 30 years' time.The two big London terminals are becoming "business airports" according to the report withholiday charter services being forced out.The association believes the lack of capacity will have a major impact on the economy. Regional "feeder" services using the two big airports in the capital are continuously being squeezed out, making the location of foreign businesses in the provinces less attractive, according to BATA.Roger Wiltshire secretary general of the association, welcomed a Government initiative to explore developing regional airports but warned that extra runways in Paris and Amsterdam would soon weaken the competitiveness of London. "While we in the UK are still considering what to do about more capacity, our neighbours in Europe are getting on with it."The report, compiled by Alan Stratford Associates, shows no-frills scheduled airlines such as EasyJet, Go and Ryanair have been the fastest growing part of the London passenger market during the past four years, now accounting for over half passenger traffic at Luton and Stansted.Officials at BATA, an organisation established by the main airlines, blames successive governments for the over-capacity.

Charles Miller, policy director of the association, said that ministers were not prepared to face the short term unpopularity of building new runways in order to solve longer term economic problems.The study says that even on an optimistic assumptions and assuming that Heathrow's fifth terminal will be built, the combined Heathrow/Gatwick overspill will rise from 18.2 million in 2005 to 91.2 million by 2030.. Railtrack's chief executive was said to be "incandescent with rage" yesterday after 18 managers allegedly went on a drunken rampage the day after the Paddington inquiry began. Railtrack's chief executive was said to be "incandescent with rage" yesterday after 18 managers allegedly went on a drunken rampage the day after the Paddington inquiry began. Staff at the infrastructure company apparently had to restrain Gerald Corbett from dismissing them all on the spot for what he said was "insensitive and disgusting" behaviour.Instead, Railtrack has ordered an inquiry into the "team-building" session held last Friday during a 12-hour drinking session at the £90-a-night Balmer Lawn Hotel in Brockenhurst, Hampshire.The managers, led by Paul White, a contracts manager, who has been suspended, allegedly ranted at staff, played loud music and outraged other guests. Perhaps most embarrassingly for Railtrack, the managers tried to force staff at the hotel to break safety rules and open a swimming-pool out of hours.Mr Corbett promised a full inquiry. "The behaviour was utterly outrageous and completely against company policy and we must ensure it never happens again," he said.Len Northcott, whose son, John, 24, died in the crash, said: "These people think they can get away with anything That was why Paddington happened. They should be sacked."Brenda Morelli, whose brother, Derek Antonowitz, 25, also died, said: "That they do these things doesn't surprise me in the slightest.