Читать книгу Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters - Daniel Stashower, Исмаил Шихлы - Страница 120

Here goes by the aid of a quill pen and a pot of ink to let you know all the news from the North: The mail steamer came in yesterday with your letter and a very kind one from that dear girl Letty, who seems to have a vague idea that I am going to Greenland to pass an examination or face some medical board, judging from her wishes for my success and talk about coming back quite a finished doctor. What a jolly little soul she is though! The Scotsman came too as also did the forceps. Now as to your inquiries I’ll answer them as best I can.

1^st I got your letters, parcels, etc.

2^nd I have not got my ms but want it.

3^rd I was not sick

4^th I have answered Mrs Hoare’s letter

5^th I went and saw the Rodgers like a good little boy as I am. And the baby too, at least I saw a pair of enormous watery eyes staring at me from a bundle of clothes, a sort of female octopus with four tentacles (Octopus Dumplingiformis). It was far from dumb though ‘Son et oculi et prosterea nihil’, except a slightly mawkish odour. Oh yes Beelzebub is a fine child—I beg its pardon—Christabel.

And now that I have satisfied your perturbed spirit by soothing answers, let me fish about for something to interest you. And first of all you will be glad to hear that I never was more happy in my life. I’ve got a strong Bohemian element in me, I’m afraid, and the life just seems to suit me. Fine honest fellows the men are and such a strapping lot. You’ve no idea how self-educated some of them are. The chief engineer came up from the coal hole last night & engaged me upon Darwinism, in the moonlight on deck. I overthrew him with great slaughter but then he took me on to Colensa’s objections to the Pentateuch and got rather the best of me there. The captain is a well informed man too.

There are nearly 30 sail of whalers in Lerwick Bay now. There are only 2 Peterhead ships, ‘The Windward’ & ‘Hope’; there is a lot of bad blood between the two sets, Gray and Murray being both looked upon as aristocrats. Colin McLean our 1^st Mate was at the Queen’s on Saturday when half a dozen Dundee officers began to run down the Hope. Colin is a great red bearded Scotchman of few words, so he got up slowly and said ‘I’m a Hope man mysel’,’ and began to run amuck through the assembly. He floored a doctor & maimed a captain & got away in triumph. He remarked to me in the morning ‘It’s lucky I was sober, Doctor, or there might have been a row.’ I wonder what Colin’s idea of a row may be.

Lerwick is the town of crooked streets, and ugly maidens, and fish. A most dismal hole, with 2 hotels & 1 billiard table. Country round is barren & ugly. No trees in the island. Went to Tait our agent for dinner on Friday, heavy swell feed, champagne & that sort of thing, but rather tiresome. By the way we carry capital champagne & every wine on board, & feed like prize pigs. I haven’t known what it was to eat with an appetite for a long time, I want some more exercise, that’s what I want. I box a little but that is positively all.

We just got in in time to avoid the full fury of that gale the other day. The captain says if we had stayed out we would have lost our boats and bulwarks, possibly our masts. The weather is better now, I fancy we will sail about Thursday.

There, my dear, that’s about my sum total of news. God bless you all while I’m away. You’ll hear from me in little more than a couple of months. There is an Act of Parliament forbidding us to kill a seal before April 2^nd, so that is why we are kicking about here.

[P.S.] I’ve got the Captain’s leave to go with a few of the biggest of the petty officers to the Queen’s today to see if we can’t have a row.