16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
And round they went in the traditional manner,
except that Bonden, as Captain's coxswain,
accompanied them in case of a false
step on the blind side: for though Bonden's
ribs and breastbone had been exposed to
public view in the taking of the Alastor, his
wound had healed fast and his friends had
taken seamanlike steps to ensure that it should
not open again: first a girth of linen rubbed
with hog's lard, then two of number eight sailcloth,
then the same of number four, and over
all a span-broad white-marline plait ending in
stout knittels that could be and were hauled
taut with a heaver, so taut that he could
breathe only with his belly.
The afterguard and waisters under Slade
formed the first division, and here were most
of the Alastor's black slaves, naturally enough,
since they were the merest landsmen, useful
only for holystoning the deck in smooth