After surviving a great typhoon in the South China Sea, Captain Jack Aubrey, ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, and the crew of the HMS Diane attempt to rebuild their ship to leave the small desert island where they have been shipwrecked.

Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin of the Royal Navy, are sent to the fever-ridden Gulf of Guinea to disrupt the slave trade. But their ultimate destination is Ireland where the French are mounting an invasion, a mission that will test Aubrey's seamanship and Maturin's talents as a secret agent.

Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin sail to Australia with a hold full of convicts, including a dangerous spy, while the crew is decimated by disease and their ship, the "Leopard," is pursued by a Dutch man-of-war.