16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
castle, guns that pointed almost directly forward.
The gun-crews in question were commanded
by Captain Aubrey himself, who
pointed and fired the windward chaser, a long
brass nine-pounder called Beelzebub, and by
Captain Pullings, who did the same for the
leeward gun: they both had much the same
style of firing, which was not surprising, since
Captain Pullings had been one of Jack's midshipmen
in his first command, a great while
ago in the Mediterranean, and had learnt all
his practical gunnery from him. They were now
very carefully aiming their pieces at the Franklin's
topsail yards with the intent of cutting halyards,
backstays and the whole nexus of cordage
at the level of the mainyard and even with
luck of wounding the mainyard itself: in any
case of delaying her progress without damage
to her hull. There was no point in battering the
hull of a prize, and a prize the Franklin