16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
night, which he spent in the crow's nest, kept if
not warm then at least preserved from death
by a sequence of whalers and refreshed every
other hour by the truly devoted Killick or his
mate who came aloft in mittens, holding a villainous
tin pot of coffee, slung by a loop, in
their teeth.
A fairly clear night, particularly at ten or
twenty feet above the surface; a moderate
swell for these parts; and above all the blessed
moon, only just past the full and as brilliant as
extreme cold could make her. The watch on
deck, muffled in their Magellan jackets, with
flannel shirts over their heads, stood by to
shove off floating slabs of ice with what spars
the ship still possessed; and so, with the whalers
advising what lanes to take, the Surprise
groped her way cautiously eastwards and as
far north of east as ever she could manage. In
spite of the stout bow-grace and the zeal of