16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
with the utmost accuracy time out of mind,
while in the brilliantly clear air miles of the
great Cordillera could be seen, the peak of
Aconcagua a perfect compass-bearing to the
north-east; but as far as Jack Aubrey was concerned
this was neither here nor there. He
liked to run a man-of-war as men-of-war had
always been run, with the ship's day beginning
at noon; and this was a particularly important
day, the last of the month and the first on
which he could hope to find Stephen Maturin
in Valparaiso. He therefore wished nothing to
be done that might break the established pattern
or bring ill-luck. It was true that a few
years ago some wild enthusiast, a Whiggish
civilian no doubt, had decreed that day
should start at midnight; but Jack, though a
scientific, forward-looking officer, agreed with
many of his fellow-captains in giving this foolish
innovation no countenance whatsoever: