In argument with men a woman ever / Goes by the worſe, whatever be her cauſe.

It is amazing how easy it is, in the distracting environment of a boat under way, to misplot a bearing by 10°; to write down the wrong time for something; to misidentify charted features used for range; to copy the wrong number out of a table.

There is no simple answer to corruption.

She looked like a raven about to take flight, half bird, half woman, like she'd sprouted wings from her shoulders. I couldn't see where her arms ended and the cape began. It was stunning and scaresome all at the same time.