16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
seemed fated to be in the long run – perhaps
even today, since the Surprise was perceptibly
gaining. The range was now a thousand yards
or even a little less, and both Jack and Pullings
waited for just before the height of the roll
to send their shot racing over the broad stretch
of water.
'The Captain does not like it, however,' observed
Maturin, referring to the wine-dark sea.
'He says it is not natural. He admits the colour,
which we have all seen in the Mediterranean
on occasion; he admits the swell, which
though unusually broad is not rare but the
colour and the swell together...'
The crash and rumble of the Captain's gun,
followed with scarcely a pause by Pullings', cut
him short: smoke and smouldering scraps of
wad whistled about their heads, yet even before
they swept away to leeward Stephen had
his spyglass to his eye. He could not catch the