Chapters 9 and 10 Summary

Boadicea takes the dismasted Africaine in tow. Maturin learns that the brutal Corbett is dead—had been killed by his own men, apparently, during the opening moments of combat, and his body thrown overboard. The ship subsequently valiantly fought led by the first lieutenant but to no avail. Aubrey faces bleak prospects of total defeat—the odds against the British forces are seemingly insurmountable.

Maturin enlists the assistance of Mr. Cotton to operate on a depressed fracture of the skull of a seaman named Colley. A piece of broken skull is removed and the hole is covered with a piece of silver fashioned from a British coin. The operation is difficult but successful and Aubrey secretly and superstitiously links the success of his overall command to the recovery of Colley. As Colley begins to recover so does Aubrey's luck...