In this, the twentieth installment of the Aubrey/Maturin series, Napoleon has been defeated at Waterloo, and the ensuing peace takes on an ugly complexion for Captain Jack Aubrey: the desertion of nearly half his crew; and the sudden dimming of his own career prospects in a peacetime navy. To cap it off, the Surprise is nearly sunk in a shattering night collision on the first leg of her journey to South America where Jack and Stephen are to help Chile assert her independence from Spain. In the e