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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“Come up here in the sun, Mr. Ledward,” he said. “It will make a new man of you.”

I struggled to stand, but was unable to rise. Mr. Bligh helped me to the seat beside him. He made a sign to Hayward and Tinkler to help Nelson up. The botanist gave me a ghastly smile, designed to be cheerful.

“I feel better already,” he remarked in a weak voice.

The captain now addressed all hands. “Luck’s with us,” he said; “we’ve left the bad weather behind. Off with your cloathes, before the sun gets too high, and give them a drying while you’ve the chance. The sun on our bare hides will be as good as a glass of grog.... Mr. Samuel, issue a teaspoonful of rum all round!” He glanced about at the people appraisingly, and then added: “We’ll celebrate the good weather, lads! An ounce of pork with our bread and water!”

Our cloathing, reduced to rags by soaking in rain and wringing out in sea water, was hung along the gunwales to dry, and we now presented a strange and pitiful spectacle. Our skins, from long soaking in the rain, looked dead white, like the bellies of fish; some of the men were so reduced that I thought it a wonder they were able to stand. Nothing was more remarkable than their cheerfulness in bearing their afflictions. The warm sun, not yet high enough to scorch us, was exceedingly grateful, and our breakfast, enriched by a bit of pork, was a cheerful meal.