The Ultimate Stonemage: A Modest Autobiography Read Online Free PDF Page A

were usually of the highest quality—tender, bloodied meat, with rich, thick sauces—and certainly as good as anything you will partake of in the feasting halls ofCyprus.
    So, before my departure from Luthen, I purchased large quantities of various salted meats, dried fruits, and some of my favourite preserves. I took enough for my intended stay in Ubari—in all, about six months’ supply. I had also purchased six vats of wine, five vats of strong Spanish ale, and one vat ofwince, a delicious fermented drink made from onions. I had intended these for trading, as I am not given to take large amounts of strong drink, but now they were assigned to the provisions for my voyage.
    So, in most respects my ship was well fitted for an ocean journey. In most respects, save this one: I had only a few days’ supply of fresh water. We had left Luthen with but a single barrel, and, since I place a high value on cleanliness, I had already used most of this in the natural course of my washing regimen.
    However, there are many in Luthen who drink nothing but ale, and I believed I could subsist in the same manner during the weeks ahead, provided I drank only moderately and was willing to endure a week or so of light-headedness (for after that long, I am told, the constitution adapts naturally to drunkenness, and the ill effects are no longer felt).
    The slaves also required small quantities of water. In their case, however, they could happily survive on sea water for a month or two. As for food, they needed only small quantities of the acorn paste which is favoured by their species, and I had plenty aboard.
    Therefore, my first instinct was to turn away from the Duck Islands and continue west, for it was possible enemy ships might be waiting for me there, as they had been at Ubari. But the head slave said that, for an ocean voyage at this time of the year (it was then late in the autumn), the ship’s chank hull should be treated withwillow wax. This wax could be bought on the Duck Islands, and at a good price too. It comes not from the willow tree as you might suppose, but from a species of fast-growing fern, and protects thechank from blistering in the cold water.
    “Could such blistering cause this ship to sink?” I asked.
    “Indeed no, sire,” he replied, “but the damage is unsightly, impossible to repair, and will certainly reduce the value of the vessel.”
    “The ship will have little enough value to me if I am caught and hanged,” I replied. “No, let us continue west.”
    “I am yours to command, sire,” he said. “Finally, I have recently been examining the dispositions of the clouds and seabirds, and these portend a great tempest, of the most powerful and destructive nature, within the next two days.”
    It is very typical of slaves to leave the most for the last. Since I had no wish to venture on in a storm if this could be avoided, I yielded and ordered the slaves to steer towards the Duck Islands. It was well I made the choice, for the storm struck just a few hours after our landing, and it was one of the most furious I have ever witnessed. It tore the roofs from houses and wrenched large trees from the ground, roots and all. Even sheltered down in the harbour, my ship suffered a broken mast, and I am quite certain that, had I not decided to seek shelter, we would have been destroyed at sea.
    As to the place itself, there is little enough to tell. The islands are small and rocky, with just a few hundred inhabitants apiece. From my conversations with the local folk, I learned that most were fishermen and fisherwomen, and the fish they caught were sold for a high price to those who lived in the lands to the east. However, since the trading ships from those lands arrived at the Duck Islands at the rate of perhaps one ocean trader every two or three months, and since the inhabitants of those islands never ventured more than a few hours’ sail from their own shores, I am at a complete loss to explain how this trade in