Surprise

Surprise is a private man-of-war, owned by Stephen Maturin, and captained by Jack Aubrey and then Tom Pullings. She was French-built and has previously been known as L'Unité, Retaliation, and Retribution. Her figure-head is a gilded woman with an ample bosom and a look of surprise on her face. She displaces about six hundred tons, has a crew of about two hundred men, and carries a main armament of twelve-pounder long guns. Her crew is composed of unusually able seamen including Awkward Davies and other named individuals.

Telescope

Aubrey has a telescope set up in his observatory, from which Aubrey can see individual ships in the harbour some distance away.

Violin

Maturin hears Aubrey playing the violin in the very early hours of morning. Maturin is awestruck at Aubrey's virtuosity on the instrument.

Coca Leaves

Maturin frequently chews coca leaves and maintains a massive stash of the...