Читать книгу Mutiny on the Bounty. Historical Novel онлайн

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When we sat down to dine, Courtney seemed to have dismissed the incident from his mind. He tossed off a glass of sherry to Bligh’s health, and tasted his soup. “Cold!” he remarked ruefully. “Hardships of a seaman’s life, eh, Bligh?”

His guest took soup with a relish, and sounds better fitted to the forecastle than aft, for his manners at table were coarse. “Damme!” he said. “We fared worse aboard the old Belle Poule!”

“But not in Tahiti, I wager. I hear you are to pay the Indian ladies of the South Sea another call.”

“Aye, and a long one. We shall be some months in getting our load of breadfruit trees.”

“I heard of your voyage in Town. Cheap food for the West Indian slaves, eh? I wish I were sailing with you.”

“By God, I wish you were! I could promise you some sport.”

“Are the Indian women as handsome as Cook painted them?”

“Indeed they are, if you’ve no prejudice against a brown skin. They are wonderfully clean in person, and have enough sensibility to attract a fastidious man. Witness Sir Joseph; he declares that there are no such women in the world!”