Amazon.com description: Product Description: In the aftermath of a typhoon, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater brings His Britannic Majesty's frigate Patrician into the shelter of the Pearl River on the China coast. Seeking the means to refit, Captain Drinkwater finds himself caught up in the bizarre events following the British occupation of Macao and Admiral Drury' attack on Canton. Drinkwater is relieved to be assigned to escorting a convoy to Penang. The convoy's cargo includes a mysterious quantity of silver and a single passenger. Spite, treachery, greed, perversity, and cruelty lead to a climactic encounter in the remote tropical rain forest of Borneo.