Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Cape of Good Hope

High seas

They had left Durban four days before and at that point no land was at sight . Alain had struck a circumstantial relationship with the steamer captain, a Greek called Dimitriou Ioannidis. Since at the ship he had not much to do and that his previous personal relationship with the sea had been sporadic, the Frenchman crammed his interlocutor with questions about winds, tides, birds and ocean dwellers. The Greek enjoyed sharing his knowledge about things he loved but sometimes had to confess ignorance about some particular subject.

One day, as he stepped to the precarious command booth Alain noticed that Ioannidis did not notice his presence and was instead focused on an old barometer, which was one of the few boat navigation instruments.

“I see you´re worried.” Said Garnier when he could get the seaman´s attention.

“The barometric pressure is falling, and what worries me most is that it is falling too quickly.”