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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“The land!” he whispered eagerly. “Yonder, dead ahead! Take care! Don’t waken Mr. Bligh!”

I struggled with some difficulty into a position which enabled me to look forward. Peckover and the others sat sleeping, bowed on the thwarts. Ahead of the launch was only the vast moonlit sea, and an horizon empty save for a few scattered clouds.

“Timor,” whispered Elphinstone, triumphantly. “God’s with us, Mr. Ledward! He caused the wind to shift to the northeast, so we’re dead before it still. You see it now, eh? The mountains and the great valleys? A fine island, I’ll be bound, where we’ll find all we need!”

He spoke with such sincerity that I looked ahead once more, beginning to doubt my own eyes; but I saw only the roll of the empty sea under the moon. Bligh stirred and struggled to a sitting position. He took in the situation at a glance.

“What’s this, Mr. Elphinstone?” he said in a harsh voice. “Who ordered you to change the course?”

“The land, Captain Bligh! Look ahead! I steered for it when I sighted the mountains an hour ago.”