Barney And the Secret of the Whales (2016)
“The ship still shuddered in the waves and wind. I could hear men stamp and yell above me. There was a new smell now, like when the bush burned far off or Sally scorched the meat, but worse.
I clambered up on deck and stared. Two great fires had been lit on the massive brick platform on the deck. Flames rose half as high as the main mast and heat pulsed through the wind. For the first time in days I felt warm. Above the fires two great cauldrons dangled from a thick iron rod.
Two sailors — impos...sible to tell who in the blaze of red and blackness — hooked squares of whale skin onto the fire, while others pushed blubber into the pots. Two more used wooden hooks to tip hot oil into barrels tethered ready on the deck. As soon as one cauldron was empty, more blubber was piled into it, while other hands hooked crumpled black things out of the barrels, like burned sheets of paper but big as a cabbage, and threw them into the fire.
The fire snatched them up, burning higher yet, the flame tops turning blue, and I remembered what Captain Melvill had told me back in Sydney Town.MoreLess
I clambered up on deck and stared. Two great fires had been lit on the massive brick platform on the deck. Flames rose half as high as the main mast and heat pulsed through the wind. For the first time in days I felt warm. Above the fires two great cauldrons dangled from a thick iron rod.
Two sailors — impos...sible to tell who in the blaze of red and blackness — hooked squares of whale skin onto the fire, while others pushed blubber into the pots. Two more used wooden hooks to tip hot oil into barrels tethered ready on the deck. As soon as one cauldron was empty, more blubber was piled into it, while other hands hooked crumpled black things out of the barrels, like burned sheets of paper but big as a cabbage, and threw them into the fire.
The fire snatched them up, burning higher yet, the flame tops turning blue, and I remembered what Captain Melvill had told me back in Sydney Town.MoreLess
Read book Barney And the Secret of the Whales for free
Write Review:
Guest
Read Also
7.75 / 10
9 / 10
8 / 10
User Reviews: