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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On the morning of October sixteenth I was awakened long before daylight by sounds in Mr. Bligh’s room, next to mine. He was to be rowed down the river to go on board the Vlydte, and I could hear him, through the thin wall, directing his servant, Smith, how to pack the large camphorwood box he had purchased some days before.

In the gray light of dawn, Mr. Bligh knocked at my door and entered the room.

“Awake, Ledward?” he asked. I struggled to sit up, but he motioned me not to move.

“I’ve come to bid you good-bye,” he said.

“I wish I were sailing with you, sir!”

He laughed his short, harsh laugh. “Damme! I’m by no means sure you’re not the luckier of the two! You may have the good fortune to go home on an English ship. Yesterday I called on Captain Couvret, aboard the Vlydte; we had some talk concerning the manner of navigation. They carry no log, and scarcely steer within a quarter of a point. No wonder they frequently find themselves above ten degrees out in their reckoning! The state of discipline on board is appalling to an English seaman. It will be a miracle if we reach Table Bay; once there, I hope to transfer to an English ship.”