‘Well. You do not find this sense of constant hurry oppressive – jading?’ ‘Lord, no. It is as much part of our life as salt pork – even more so in tide-flow waters. Anything can happen, in five minutes’ time, at sea – ha, ha, you should hear Lord Nelson! In this case of gunnery, a single broadside can bring down a mast and so win a fight; and there’s no telling, from one hour to the next, when we may have to fire it. There is no telling, at sea.’
