This is an excerpt from my published novel "ALIWAL"
He looked around the tiny, stuffy, windowless cabin that he would have to share with five other men for several weeks, and noticed the sailor pointing at one of six narrow shelves that lined the walls.
“That’s your bunk.”
“Bunk? Must I my bag place there?”
“Nah, that’s where you sleep: it’s yer bed.”
And, as he left Heinrich staring at it with disbelief wondering why he had had to part with so much money for quarters that even a squirrel would have found cramped, the sailor muttered under his breath:
“Wot’s ‘e wanting? Lord Nelson’s cabin on the Victory? These landlubbers, they make ya want to puke!”
Mr Gladstone had told Heinrich that the Actaeon would set sail early that morning, but it did not. Instead, it remained moored in theThames until well after midday. Heinrich whiled away the time by standing on deck, surveying the scene around him. Throughout the morning, small boats conveyed goods and other passengers from the shore to the ship. At midday, Heinrich unpacked his sketch pad and started to draw the outlines of the buildings he could see as he looked upstream towards the city: the walls and turrets of the Tower, the dome of St Pauls’, the slender column that he had climbed a couple of days ago, and the arches of London Bridge. He thought that this picture would make a splendid souvenir to send to his parents. Any hopes that he might entertained about finishing it were dashed when, without warning, there was a loud rumbling sound accompanied by vibrations that he felt through the deck. Heinrich looked around, and saw four sailors strenuously turning the capstan that raised the anchor.
Trapped in the Channel
The Actaeon slipped slowly down theThames. Heinrich watched men scrambling up the masts to unfurl the sails. When they caught the breeze they billowed outwards until they were fully stretched. He thought that this magnificent sight, more than anything else, marked the true beginning of his adventures in a new world. He remained on deck watching the city ofLondon dissolving into the mist and gradually disappearing from sight. He ran from one side of the boat to the other, not wanting to miss anything of interest on the shore. From the port side of the boat, there was little to see apart from occasional, isolated buildings. Warehouses and small factories, and occasional trees punctuated the otherwise flat and featurelessEssex shore. He remained at the starboard deck rail for a while as he they passed the palatial buildings atGreenwich. For several hours, the Actaeon sailed downstream so close to the dullEssex coast that he could barely see the opposite bank of the ever widening river through the patches of mist that hung low over the water. He thought that it would not be long before they reached the open sea, but he was mistaken.
It was twilight when Heinrich realised that the boat had crossed the wide estuary. The Actaeon was heading towards the twinkling lights of a town on the southern shore. The little port was dominated by the silhouette of a huge windmill high up on a hill behind it. The boat slowed down. The deck began vibrating again, and hearing the clanking of the anchor chain, he asked one of the sailors:
“What makes we here?”
“We’re docking atGravesendto pick up provisions. Things is much cheaper ‘ere than inLondon.”
“For long we stop?”
“Two or three days, me young friend.
Night fell. He retired to his cabin, and shook hands with the four other men in it. One bunk was empty. He thought that this would make a good place to store his bag.
