small spars. I didn’t even hear them break. We lost the jib and all the topsails, even though they were in the gaskets. Two boats were blown to atoms — just shivered to pieces - and ... and two men were drowned. Another two were crushed by a falling yard, and another badly cut by a snapped bowline.’
‘A couple of matlows are neither here nor there. You can have some of mine. But the damage to the ship is more serious. You’ll have to put into Monte Video for new boats and running repairs.’
Otway’s tone mellowed, as he sensed FitzRoy’s distress. ‘Would you care for a glass of madeira? It’s a devilish fine wine.’
FitzRoy demurred.
‘Don’t censure yourself unduly, FitzRoy. The Adventure was laid right over on her side and lost her jolly-boat, and she was safe in harbour. The Adelaide didn’t go undamaged either. Sailors die all the time.’
‘I don’t understand it though, sir. The barometer gave no indication there was going to be such a blow.’
Otway grunted. ‘Still taking the advice of the little gentleman and lady in the weather-box? That machine of yours is little more than a novelty, and the sooner you appreciate it the better.
“When rain comes before the wind,
Halyard, sheets and braces mind,
But if wind comes before rain,
Set and trim your sails again.”
That’s the only wisdom I’ve ever needed in thirty years.’
FitzRoy remained silent.
‘Now. One other matter. This Midshipman Sulivan of yours. What sort of fellow is he?’
‘He’s a trump, sir. I never saw his equal for pluck and daring. He can be eager and hasty, it’s true, and he is, well, not the neatest of draughtsmen. But I’d say there’s not a finer fellow in the service, sir.’
‘Excellent, excellent.’
‘He’s a Cornishman, from Tregew, near Falmouth. He has the most extraordinary powers of eyesight. He can see the satellites of Jupiter with the naked eye. He’s also an exceptionally devout officer, sir.’
‘What sort of “devout”?’
‘Midshipman Sulivan is a sabbatarian, sir.’
A harrumph from Otway. ‘Can’t say I hold with evangelicals myself. The Church of England should be good enough for any civilized man. Still, he sounds just the fellow. A vacancy has arisen for an officer of the South American station to study for a lieutenant’s examination back in Portsmouth. He can join the Ganges for a week or two, then transfer to the North Star under Arabin. She’ll give him passage home. It’s a splendid opportunity for the boy.’
FitzRoy bit his lip. ‘Yes sir. Yes it is.’ As weary and exhausted as he felt, the spirit drained from FitzRoy more profoundly than it had at any point during the previous evening’s ordeal. They were taking away his only friend.
Sulivan found FitzRoy seated at the table of his tiny, sopping cabin, adrift on a sea of home-made charts and diagrams scribbled across salt-damp paper. The young man ducked his head to enter and rested his hand on the washstand; his body was still weak from the effects of dysentery.
FitzRoy gestured for him to sit. ‘You are supposed to be in the sick list, Mr Sulivan. I’m surprised the surgeon has allowed you up and about.’
‘He ... I didn’t really feel it necessary to tell him, sir. I’m really very much better.’
‘You don’t look it. But, as it happens, it was necessary for me to pay you a visit. The entire vessel owes you a vote of thanks for your bravery. Your foolhardy bravery, I should attest.’
Sulivan coloured. ‘Not a bit of it, sir. That’s why I came to see you ... I felt you should know that the crew are saying you saved their lives. The officers and the men. Nobody else could have navigated us through that maelstrom.’
‘I didn’t save anybody’s life. I cost two sailors theirs by my own incompetence.’
‘That’s not true!’ Sulivan blurted out.
‘At the first sign of those unusual cloud formations, I should have stood in to the shore, reefed the sails, struck the yards on
‘A couple of matlows are neither here nor there. You can have some of mine. But the damage to the ship is more serious. You’ll have to put into Monte Video for new boats and running repairs.’
Otway’s tone mellowed, as he sensed FitzRoy’s distress. ‘Would you care for a glass of madeira? It’s a devilish fine wine.’
FitzRoy demurred.
‘Don’t censure yourself unduly, FitzRoy. The Adventure was laid right over on her side and lost her jolly-boat, and she was safe in harbour. The Adelaide didn’t go undamaged either. Sailors die all the time.’
‘I don’t understand it though, sir. The barometer gave no indication there was going to be such a blow.’
Otway grunted. ‘Still taking the advice of the little gentleman and lady in the weather-box? That machine of yours is little more than a novelty, and the sooner you appreciate it the better.
“When rain comes before the wind,
Halyard, sheets and braces mind,
But if wind comes before rain,
Set and trim your sails again.”
That’s the only wisdom I’ve ever needed in thirty years.’
FitzRoy remained silent.
‘Now. One other matter. This Midshipman Sulivan of yours. What sort of fellow is he?’
‘He’s a trump, sir. I never saw his equal for pluck and daring. He can be eager and hasty, it’s true, and he is, well, not the neatest of draughtsmen. But I’d say there’s not a finer fellow in the service, sir.’
‘Excellent, excellent.’
‘He’s a Cornishman, from Tregew, near Falmouth. He has the most extraordinary powers of eyesight. He can see the satellites of Jupiter with the naked eye. He’s also an exceptionally devout officer, sir.’
‘What sort of “devout”?’
‘Midshipman Sulivan is a sabbatarian, sir.’
A harrumph from Otway. ‘Can’t say I hold with evangelicals myself. The Church of England should be good enough for any civilized man. Still, he sounds just the fellow. A vacancy has arisen for an officer of the South American station to study for a lieutenant’s examination back in Portsmouth. He can join the Ganges for a week or two, then transfer to the North Star under Arabin. She’ll give him passage home. It’s a splendid opportunity for the boy.’
FitzRoy bit his lip. ‘Yes sir. Yes it is.’ As weary and exhausted as he felt, the spirit drained from FitzRoy more profoundly than it had at any point during the previous evening’s ordeal. They were taking away his only friend.
Sulivan found FitzRoy seated at the table of his tiny, sopping cabin, adrift on a sea of home-made charts and diagrams scribbled across salt-damp paper. The young man ducked his head to enter and rested his hand on the washstand; his body was still weak from the effects of dysentery.
FitzRoy gestured for him to sit. ‘You are supposed to be in the sick list, Mr Sulivan. I’m surprised the surgeon has allowed you up and about.’
‘He ... I didn’t really feel it necessary to tell him, sir. I’m really very much better.’
‘You don’t look it. But, as it happens, it was necessary for me to pay you a visit. The entire vessel owes you a vote of thanks for your bravery. Your foolhardy bravery, I should attest.’
Sulivan coloured. ‘Not a bit of it, sir. That’s why I came to see you ... I felt you should know that the crew are saying you saved their lives. The officers and the men. Nobody else could have navigated us through that maelstrom.’
‘I didn’t save anybody’s life. I cost two sailors theirs by my own incompetence.’
‘That’s not true!’ Sulivan blurted out.
‘At the first sign of those unusual cloud formations, I should have stood in to the shore, reefed the sails, struck the yards on
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