16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
merchantmen bound for Valparaiso and to the
northward; the larger one, if she was really as
large as she sometimes seemed to be, a thousand
tons and more, possibly for the Philippines.
The row of gunports was neither here
nor there: even if they were real that did not
mean there were any guns behind them. Most
merchantmen had a full array, real or painted,
as some sort of a deterrent.
'Sail ho. Sail on the starboard bow, sir,'
called Norton. Jack whipped round, saw the
towering whiteness loom through the mist,
thinning over there, and heard Norton cry,
'Oh no, oh no, sir. I'm sorry. It's an ice-island.'
Yes. And there was another beyond it, with
more appearing in the south and the east as
the fog grew patchy; and now the particular
chill of a breeze blowing off ice was far more
pronounced.