16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
per, and stowed in the hold; and apart from
the remarkable store of provisions Mr Adams
had laid in. He had had a free hand; he was
not bound by the pinch-penny rules of the
King's service, since in her present state the
Surprise was run on the privateer's tradition of
the ship's own money, her personal reserve to
be laid out in marine stores, food and drink, a
stated share of all the prizes – a very handsome
sum after the sale of the Franklin, the
Alastor and the whalers – and she was sailing
eastwards deep-laden with provisions of the
highest quality, enough to last another circumnavigation.
This was just as well, for after a few days of
the first icy blow, when the deathly chill had
worked right into the whole ship from keelson
to cabin, all hands began to eat with far more
than usual eagerness. Their hunger persisted,
since the roaring westerly storm had sent the