16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
highly-valued clerk, 'but it wants less than a
minute to the hour.'
'Forgive me, Monsieur,' cried Jack, leaping
from his seat. 'I shall be back in a few moments.
Pray search for your paper.'
He and Adams had been carrying out a
chain of observations, always made at stated
intervals: wind direction and strength, estimated
current, barometrical pressure, compass
variations, humidity, temperature of the
air (both wet bulb and dry) and of the sea at
given depths together with the salinity at those
depths, and the blueness of the sky, a series
that was to be carried round the world and
communicated to Humboldt on the one hand
and the Royal Society on the other. It would
be a great pity to break its exact sequence at
such a very interesting point.
A long pause; nautical cries; the click-click-