Kirkeby wounded his arm and developed a fever, he had to imbibe a mixture of gunpowder and vinegar. He was soon back on his feet!
In his dream John saw a new figure. At night the ocean suffused by moonlight became an image of itself. It reared up to a curled cloud of water circling round itself like a spiral growing larger and larger at the top, like a luxuriating plant, like a flickering and burning bush of water or a vortex created not by wind and current but by its own power. The sea gave itself its own body, being able to nod, to strike attitudes, to point the way. This gigantic figure grew effortlessly in his dream, emerging from the deceptively eternal expanse of the horizon; it was like a truth that would make everything different. A crater opened up towards heaven, a mouth or a gorge. Perhaps the whole thing was a leviathan, perhaps a dance of millions of tiny creatures. John often dreamed this dream. Sometimes far-ranging reflections followed him after awakening. Mary Rose in Portsmouth occurred to him, and the fact that what mattered to women was not an outer but a hidden, inner moment. Another time he mused about the trek of the children of Israel through the Red Sea and fancied that not God but the sea itself had arranged their rescue.
When he was lying in his hammock in the morning, pondering, having been awakened sometime before by the thuds of the holystones, he experienced moments of intoxicating clarity. He sensed that something new was beginning, still very slowly. Even his back sensed what the sea looked like that day. It would not be long before he was a seaman through and through.
7
Terra Australis
T he Investigator soon leaked again despite repairs, and more than ever. âNow she takes as much as five inches per hour, that old souse!â said the boatswainâs mate. âIf we donât get some caulking done again at the Cape, we might as well make ourselves at home in the lifeboats. One storm and weâll need no doctor.â But this was one of the few pessimistic sentences that were spoken. Mr Colpits had taken to meaningful silences, and the rest of the crew thought: weâll make it as far as the Cape.
The summer kept advancing, and it grew warmer and warmer. The season for shorts seemed to have stood still. Now it was October, which here was the beginning of summer. With its incessant heat, the perpetual summer changed people. Nothing on board was unimportant: everyone received a hearing. All this gave John the feeling that he was no longer as slow as he had been only a few months ago. Moreover, Trim couldnât shame him any more. John gave the tomcat a little morsel before he could use his claws to get it.
Matthew was irked because he couldnât find an island named Saxemberg. A certain Lindeman was supposed to have sighted it a good hundred years ago â he had given precise coordinates. But though three men had looked out for it day and night, no Saxemberg was seen. Perhaps Lindeman had been mad, or his chronometer had belonged to the devil. Or the island was too flat and so had remained below the horizon. Possibly they had sailed past it by a mere fifteen sea miles. âIf it isnât found by anyone, it belongs to me,â Sherard said. âIâll build a house on it that no one can take away from me.â
At the Cape of Good Hope, a squadron of British warshipslying at anchor helped out with carpenters and materials. Fresh caulk was squeezed into the damaged seams of the Investigator . Nathaniel Bell, more homesick than ever, was sent back on one of the frigates. To take his place, another midshipman came aboard, Denis Lacy, a fellow who talked a great deal about himself because he decided that the others had to know whom they dealt with. For the present, John could keep out of his way.
Since the astronomer had to be taken into Cape Town because of violent attacks of gout, Lieutenant Fowler and John had to set up an observatory. As their telescopes
In his dream John saw a new figure. At night the ocean suffused by moonlight became an image of itself. It reared up to a curled cloud of water circling round itself like a spiral growing larger and larger at the top, like a luxuriating plant, like a flickering and burning bush of water or a vortex created not by wind and current but by its own power. The sea gave itself its own body, being able to nod, to strike attitudes, to point the way. This gigantic figure grew effortlessly in his dream, emerging from the deceptively eternal expanse of the horizon; it was like a truth that would make everything different. A crater opened up towards heaven, a mouth or a gorge. Perhaps the whole thing was a leviathan, perhaps a dance of millions of tiny creatures. John often dreamed this dream. Sometimes far-ranging reflections followed him after awakening. Mary Rose in Portsmouth occurred to him, and the fact that what mattered to women was not an outer but a hidden, inner moment. Another time he mused about the trek of the children of Israel through the Red Sea and fancied that not God but the sea itself had arranged their rescue.
When he was lying in his hammock in the morning, pondering, having been awakened sometime before by the thuds of the holystones, he experienced moments of intoxicating clarity. He sensed that something new was beginning, still very slowly. Even his back sensed what the sea looked like that day. It would not be long before he was a seaman through and through.
7
Terra Australis
T he Investigator soon leaked again despite repairs, and more than ever. âNow she takes as much as five inches per hour, that old souse!â said the boatswainâs mate. âIf we donât get some caulking done again at the Cape, we might as well make ourselves at home in the lifeboats. One storm and weâll need no doctor.â But this was one of the few pessimistic sentences that were spoken. Mr Colpits had taken to meaningful silences, and the rest of the crew thought: weâll make it as far as the Cape.
The summer kept advancing, and it grew warmer and warmer. The season for shorts seemed to have stood still. Now it was October, which here was the beginning of summer. With its incessant heat, the perpetual summer changed people. Nothing on board was unimportant: everyone received a hearing. All this gave John the feeling that he was no longer as slow as he had been only a few months ago. Moreover, Trim couldnât shame him any more. John gave the tomcat a little morsel before he could use his claws to get it.
Matthew was irked because he couldnât find an island named Saxemberg. A certain Lindeman was supposed to have sighted it a good hundred years ago â he had given precise coordinates. But though three men had looked out for it day and night, no Saxemberg was seen. Perhaps Lindeman had been mad, or his chronometer had belonged to the devil. Or the island was too flat and so had remained below the horizon. Possibly they had sailed past it by a mere fifteen sea miles. âIf it isnât found by anyone, it belongs to me,â Sherard said. âIâll build a house on it that no one can take away from me.â
At the Cape of Good Hope, a squadron of British warshipslying at anchor helped out with carpenters and materials. Fresh caulk was squeezed into the damaged seams of the Investigator . Nathaniel Bell, more homesick than ever, was sent back on one of the frigates. To take his place, another midshipman came aboard, Denis Lacy, a fellow who talked a great deal about himself because he decided that the others had to know whom they dealt with. For the present, John could keep out of his way.
Since the astronomer had to be taken into Cape Town because of violent attacks of gout, Lieutenant Fowler and John had to set up an observatory. As their telescopes
Similar Books
