Brit is a yellow substance upon which the right whale feeds. Ishmael talks about the whales and what they eat for a while, then moves on to comparing the land and the sea.  In the sea, there are hidden horrors and continuous danger, but while on land, all is visible and therefore manageable. He applies his idea to the human soul, which he believes contains a small island of “peace and joy” surrounded by an ocean of horrors.  I thought his little assessment of the land and sea to the body was really weird because i have never thought about it that way before.