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“y.” “It’s off the Brazilian coast, seven hundred and fifty miles east-north-east of Rio de Janeiro and seven hundred from Bahia.”
    â€œDoes it belong to Spain or Portugal, sir?”
    â€œWhat I am going to tell you remains secret until you open your orders. At present it—I’m referring to the service upon which you are being sent—is known to the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State, myself and Nepean, who wrote the orders. As far as your family and your ship’s company are concerned, you are bound for the South Seas.”
    â€œBut forgive me, sir, is it Spain or Portugal?”
    â€œHave you read the full text of the new Treaty with Bonaparte?”
    â€œYes, sir. At least, what was published in the
Gazette.
There might have been secret clauses …”
    â€œThere were none,” St Vincent said shortly. “Did you see any reference to Trinidade?”
    â€œNo, sir, just Trinidad, which Spain loses and we keep.” “Yes, one of the few places Bonaparte allowed us,” St Vincent said with the first indication of his own views about the terms of the treaty, although it was quite clear to Ramage that he welcomed the peace. “Now, have you Trinidade placed in your mind?”
    â€œYes, sir. A thousand miles or so south of St Paul Rocks and Fernando de Noronha, and about the same distance west of St Helena.”
    â€œPrecisely. An isosceles triangle would have St Paul Rocks and Fernando de Noronha as its apex, Trinidade on the left of the base and St Helena on the right. Now, what strikes you about its position?”
    â€œIf it has water, then it is a perfect place for the King’s and John Company ships to call on their way to or from the Cape of Good Hope. At present—or, rather, in the war—the Honourable East India Company were very nervous of having their ships call at St Helena for water because both French national ships and privateers usually lurked close to it. Trinidade would be a good alternative.”
    St Vincent nodded with his rare wintry smile. “And a good rendezvous for the trade bound to or from Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Buenos Aires, as well as the Cape. It has water, by the way.”
    â€œWho owns it, then, sir?” Ramage asked for the third time, guessing from the spelling it had been named by the Portuguese.
    â€œNo one,” St Vincent said. “We used it occasionally in this late war and can claim to have captured it, but it belonged to Portugal before that. It is not mentioned in the Treaty.”
    â€œSo whoever notices the omission and gets there first …”
    â€œExactly,” St Vincent replied. “Speed and secrecy, my dear Ramage. You have a fast ship and a good crew. Now go and claim it for His Britannic Majesty.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    T HE HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE was simply a small room: Dalrymple sat on one side of a table and his assistant, Walker, on the other. One wall was taken up with what appeared to be tall chests of drawers, the drawers being wide but shallow, and each labelled. A small table at the far end of the room was piled high with volumes which Ramage recognized as masters’ logs, and he recalled a paragraph from the Regulations and Instructions concerning masters: “He is duly to observe the appearances of coasts; and if he discovers any new shoals, or rocks under water, to note them down in his journal, with their bearing and depth of water.”
    A conscientious master usually did better than that. Many were skilled with a paintbox, enjoying making sketches of unfrequented coastlines and preparing good line and wash illustrations. Often a master would make two sketches, one to go into his own collection of charts and views, the other to be inserted in his log, which had in due course to be sent to the Navy Office. One of Dalrymple’s most difficult tasks, Ramage guessed, was getting logs from the Navy Office: the Navy Board had a