'Stephen, have you forgot breakfast?'
'I have not. My mind has been toying with thoughts of coffee, stirabout, white pudding, bacon, toast, marmalade and more coffee, for some considerable time.'
'Yet you would never have had it until well after dinner, you know, because your boat is stranded and I doubt you could swim so far.'
'The sea has receded!' cried Stephen. 'I am amazed.'
'They tell me it does so twice a day in these parts,' said Jack. 'It is technically known as the tide.'
–The Letter of Marque, Patrick O'Brian
















