http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris#In_culture
In Chapter 91 of Moby Dick, Stubb, one of the mates of the Pequod (captained by Ahab), cons the captain of a French whaler (Rose-bud) into abandoning the corpse of a sperm whale found floating in the sea. His plan is to recover the corpse himself in hopes that it contains ambergris. His hope proves well-founded, and the Pequod’s crew recovers a valuable quantity of the substance. Melville devotes the following chapter to a discussion of ambergris, with special attention to the irony that “fine ladies and gentlemen should regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale.”
I’m reading Moby Dick right now (very tough read...). Still don’t understand why the founder of Starbucks Coffee named it after Starbuck. I would have named it Stubbs Coffee!