16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
is twenty tons, or forty-four thousand eight
hundred pounds. Which is seven hundred and
sixteen thousand eight hundred ounces. What
is gold worth an ounce?'
'Three pounds seventeen and ten pence halfpenny,'
said Norton. That was what Mr Adams
reckoned when last prize money was shared
out; and all hands agreed.'
'Three, seventeen, ten and a half to be multiplied
by seven hundred and sixteen thousand
eight hundred,' said Reade. 'There ain't room
enough for it on the slate, and anyhow they
are avoirdupois ounces instead of Troy. But
whichever way you look at it the answer is well
over two millions of money. Can you imagine
two millions of money?'
Yes, they could – a deer-park, bow windows,
a pack of hounds, a private band in a genteel
conservatory – and so could others, before the