Chapter 1 Summary

His Majesty's hired ship Surprise chases Franklin, an American privateer, in the South Pacific. The ships head east and south away from the island of Moahu, where they were recently engaged in political intrigue and military battle. Franklin, smaller and lighter armed, runs and attempts numerous methods of escape. Surprise's canny and experienced commander, Captain Jack Aubrey, predicts the Franklin's movements with seeming omniscience. For days the chase ensues, occasional gunfire being exchanged when range permits. Captain Aubrey's personal friend and the ship's surgeon, Stephen Maturin, is aboard and anxious to travel to Peru. Maturin is an intelligence agent for the British Crown and has a mission to perform in Peru—to stir up anti-Spanish feeling and hopefully to help bring about a revolution for local independence. In addition, Maturin greatly desires to lay in a private and considerable stock of coca...