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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A shout went up. With an oath, Mr. Bligh pushed the tiller into the master’s hands and sprang to the side. “Hold me!” he shouted to Elphinstone, as he plunged his arms into the sea, straining every muscle to hold fast to Lebogue, whom he had seized by the collar of his frock. Three of us heaved the man in over the stern. He thought nothing of the wetting, but cursed his bad luck in not having captured the tortoise. Bligh praised his tenacity, and blamed the men seated near him for not holding fast to their mate.

“Had you acted promptly,” he said, “instead of sitting there all agape, we should have had a feast to-night, and a supply of meat for many days! ... Get forward, Lebogue.... Samuel, give him a spoonful of rum! He has earned it, by God!”

Warmed by his sup of spirit, Lebogue sat with Peckover and Cole, lamenting his lack of success, and planning what to do should another tortoise appear. “A monster,” I heard him remark; “all of two hundredweight! Hold fast to my legs if we raise another—I’ll never let go! Damn my eyes! To think of the grub we’ve lost! Did ’ee ever taste a bit of calipee?”