Читать книгу Men Against the Sea – Book Set. The Greatest Maritime Adventure Novels: The Bounty Trilogy, Lost Island, The Hurricane, Botany Bay, The Far Lands, Tales of the South Seas… онлайн

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He fell silent and sat for some time with his head in his hands, staring at the deck between his feet. At length I forced myself to say, “What chance do you think Bligh has of reaching England?”

“Little enough. Timor is the nearest place where they could expect help. It is twelve hundred leagues from the place where the launch was cast adrift.... When I seized the ship my only thought was that I would carry Bligh home in irons. The men wouldn’t have it; you saw that for yourself. I was forced to give way on that point. Then came the question of who was to go with him. My plan was, at first, to send only Fryer, Samuel, Hallet, and Hayward, but I could not refuse to let any others go with him who wished to; in fact, not to have done so would have been highly dangerous. Fryer, Purcell, Cole, and Peckover would, I knew, make every effort to form a party for retaking the ship, if kept with us.... Well, enough of this. What is done can’t be undone. I now have to think of the men who are with me. The least I can do is to prevent them from being taken.”