Chapter 58: Chapter 58

Te Awaiti Whaling Station, Marlborough Sounds

The smell hit Dickie like a brick; he"d been away from here too long and was no longer accustomed to the stench that pervaded everything. It repulsed him more now than at any time before. Perhaps it was age, he thought. As a younger man, the stink had not bothered him much at all - no, he decided, he wasn"t old, just getting soft.

The two men accompanying Dickie, his associates, had never been to a whaling station and they looked uncomfortable. The smell assaulted the newcomers to this land with the subtlety of a right cross - something they were familiar with.

"Harden up lads, better get used to it. But we"ll only be here a couple of days at the most," said Dickie, trudging up the beach laughing.