A trim black schooner drifts on a calm Pacific under Captain Gascoyne, a trader in fragrant sandal-wood whose crew and motives are not quite what they seem. Among his company is the fiery, philosophical seaman Bumpus, and the voyage soon brings them to a missionary’s household on an island where suspicion, ambush and open battle with hostile islanders lie ahead.
Ballantyne at full sail, with sea fights, island intrigue and a captain worth puzzling over; its view of Pacific islanders is that of a Victorian evangelical. Download the free EPUB.