The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide.
The Nellie, a cruising yacht, settled at anchor peacefully, unaffected by the sails. The tide had risen, and the wind was nearly still, prompting the decision to pause and wait for the tidal change as they made their way down the river.
In this scene from "Heart of Darkness," Joseph Conrad illustrates the calm before a journey, emphasizing a moment of stillness in nature where the crew must simply wait for the river's natural rhythms to dictate their next move.
