Desolation Island - Patrick O'Brian - book

The Leopard's voyage is halted in the Sargasso Sea. The trade winds have died down. A calm sea immobilizes Captain Jack Aubrey's ship, while on board an unknown infection decimates the crew. Of the 343 sailors on board, only 200 are able-bodied. The ship's doctor, Stephen Maturin, fears the worst. They must dock urgently. So, when the flag of the Waakzaamheid, a Dutch ship with no fewer than 74 cannons, appears on the port side, Jack Aubrey understands that the situation is serious. His ship, a fourth-rate vessel, has only 50 artillery pieces and will not be able to repel a boarding. Would flight be the best course of action? But without a strong northeast wind, how can they escape the impending danger? The "Leopard" may well never reach Botany Bay and thus fail in the mission entrusted to it by the Admiralty: to deliver a cargo as precious as it is dangerous.