suffered much?’
‘Very little, sir, for such a brisk turn-to, short though it was. Four powder-burns; one gun overset, four pair of shrouds cut and damage to the running rigging. Some men hurt by falling blocks and timber. But our boats are all sound.’
‘Then pray lower them down. Pick up what survivors you can and recover our Marines. Land the prisoners at Ragusa- the new Ragusa up the coast - and then follow me to Spalato without the loss of a minute.’
During the later part of their voyage to Spalato, rendered tedious by capricious winds varying from a furious bora, shrieking down from the north and blowing the foretopmast staysail from its boltrope to very gentle breezes right aft that often died away to a flat calm, and by the hazardous nature of the Dalmatian coast with its many islands, not to say vile reefs, Stephen spent much of his time aloft, at the topmast cross-trees. With practice he had grown used to the climb to the maintop, though nobody liked to see him make the attempt, however smooth the calm; and he asserted that he could certainly rise even higher, to the cross-trees, with perfect safety. This however was never countenanced, and Jack required John Daniel to accompany the Doctor if ever he showed an inclination to view anything from a greater height than the carriage of a bow-chaser.
Daniel had sailed these waters in a ship belonging to Hoste’s squadron and once he had overcome his shyness he not only told Stephen the names of the various headlands, promontories and islands but also described some of the actions in which he had taken part, often giving an exact account of the number of round-shot fired and the weight of the powder expended.
Stephen liked the young man, open, friendly and candid, and one day, as they were sitting up there, he said, ‘Mr Daniel, I believe you attach a particular importance to number?’
‘Yes, sir, I do. Number seems to me to be at the heart of everything.’
‘I have heard others say so: and one gentleman I knew in India told me that there was a very special quality in primes.’
‘To be sure,’ said Daniel, nodding. ‘They give one great pleasure.’
‘Can you explain the nature of that pleasure?’
‘No, sir: but I feel it strongly.’
‘Number as the perception of quantity is no doubt a pitifully limited aspect of its true nature; but how many feet, would you say, is it from here to the deck?’
‘Why, sir,’ said Daniel, glancing down, ‘I should reckon a hundred and twelve. Or shall I say a hundred and thirteen, which is prime?’ He looked at Stephen’s face, expecting the pleasure he felt himself; but Stephen only shook his head.
‘There are some unfortunates to whom music brings no sort of delight: I fear that I am excluded not only from the joy of prime numbers and surds but from the mathematics as a whole. I could wish it were otherwise. I should like to join the company of mathematicians, of people like Pascal, Cardan...’
‘Oh, sir,’ cried Daniel, ‘I am no mathematician in that glorious sense. I just like to play with numbers - fix the ship’s position from a quantity of observations, with as small a cocked hat of error as possible, calculate the rate of sailing, the compound interest on ten pounds invested at two and three quarters per cent a thousand years ago, and games like that.’
‘In an early bestiary,’ said Stephen after a long pause, ‘an antiquarian of my acquaintance once showed me a picture of an amphisbaena, a serpent with a head at each end. I forget its moral significance but I do remember its form - its immensely enviable power of looking fore and aft’ - he slightly emphasized the nautical term and went on, ‘All this bell I have been twisting and turning like a soul in torment, trying to make out the Pomone behind and the Ringle, God bless her, together with the fabled city of Spalato in front. My buttocks are a grief to me.’
‘Well, sir,’ said Daniel. ‘I believe I could suggest a solution, was you to tell me which you had rather see first.’
‘Oh, Ringle without a doubt.’
‘Then I will turn about, facing aft; and should Pomone heave in sight before sunset, or whenever you choose to go down on deck, I will give you the word. But before I turn let me beg you to look at Brazza again, the big island well beyond the point of Lesina: then to the left of Brazza you have some low-lying land: and when we are a little closer you will see a narrow passage between it and Brazza. Indeed, you could see it now, with your glass.’
‘So I can: very dark and very narrow.’
‘Well, from the way he is trimming sail, I believe Mr Woodbine means to take us through in spite of the wind abeam. He knows these waters uncommon well. It is not
