16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
gaiety at all (by no means uncommon in the
Surprise, that happy ship) he attributed it to
the freshening of the breeze, which was now
sending the two ships along at close on five
knots with promise of better to come. He had
had to make his morning rounds alone, Martin
having remained in bed with what he described
as a sick headache; Jack's breakfast
and Stephen's had for once failed to coincide,
and they had exchanged no more than a
wave from the sea to the deck before Stephen
sat down to his collection. Some of the cephalopods
were dried, some were in spirits, one
was fresh: having ranged the preserved
specimens in due order and checked the labels
and above all the spirit level (a necessary
precaution at sea, where he had known jars
drained dry, even those containing asps and
scorpions) he turned to the most interesting
and most recent creature, a decapod that had