Ramage handed Southwick the nightglass. "We'll go down to meet the Santa Barbara. The sooner our prisoners are transferred to her the better. I'm going below to finish reading the Spanish orders."
"Ah, we might find a few prizes to take back with us, " Southwick said cheerfully.
"The Jocasta's enough, " Ramage said crossly.
"Yes, sir, but don't forget that Isla de Margarita is the pearl island, and they find emeralds farther along the coast."
"We'll collect enough oysters to make a crown of pearls for you, " Ramage said sarcastically, "then hurry back to English Harbour for the coronation." With that he went below, hearing Southwick beginning the string of orders which would take the Jocasta down to the Santa Barbara.
Captain Velasquez had the irritating habit of putting the earliest letters at the top and the latest at the bottom, but Ramage was curious about the way the Captain-General had handled the Jocasta affair. Here, written at great length, was the first letter to Velasquez describing how English mutineers had brought the ship to La Guaira - "under the command of an officer named Summers" - and handed her over to "the municipality". Clearly the Captain-General was determined not to take any personal responsibility even at that early stage. The junta had ordered the ship to be taken round to Santa Cruz because the port was well defended and there, the junta directed, Velasquez would take command.
That letter alone would have hanged Summers, Ramage thought, and the very next one again referred to the seaman, saying he would act as master for the voyage, and when he handed over the frigate to Velasquez he was to be allowed to return to La Guaira, unless Velasquez had any use for him in refitting the ship "in view of his particular skills".
Then came a series of orders dealing with fitting out the ship. The English were always so short-handed that they sailed the ship with fewer than two hundred men, the junta noted, but it regarded three hundred as the absolute minimum. The master shipwright had assured the junta that the frigate could carry more guns without endangering her stability, so Velasquez was to consider fitting six more, but the junta did not specify the size of the guns, nor whether they were to be mounted on the quarterdeck and fo'c'sle or on the main deck.
In later letters there were complaints - obviously referring to reports by Velasquez - about the amount of work and cost of commissioning the ship. Then, the most flowery letter so far, the junta's unanimous decision on the ship's new name, La Perla. This, the Captain-General ordered (for once he took the credit for it), was to be painted or carved on the ship's transom after all traces of the original English name had been removed, the letters painted in red on a gold background, "to match the glorious flag of Spain". The Pearl, Ramage thought, was hardly a suitable name for a ship of war.
Further letters reported that Spanish merchant seamen had been pressed and were being sent to Santa Cruz to man the ship. Another told Velasquez that soldiers were being used to make up the number, volunteers from two regiments recently arrived from Panama. These men would make excellent seamen, the Captain-General assured Velasquez.
There were more letters about provisions - mostly saying that various things were not available - and, at last, an urgent warning to Velasquez that an English "corsair" had been sighted and was probably bound for Santa Cruz to attempt to recapture the frigate. From the date of the letter Ramage saw that it referred to Captain Eames's arrival on the Main.
Several letters had mentioned dates by which Velasquez should have the ship ready, and then came the first to mention Havana. This was an order telling Velasquez that because of instructions just received from the Ministry of Marine in Madrid - "from the hand of the Secretary of State for the Navy, His Excellency Don Juan de Langara" - La Perla was to proceed to Spain by way of Havana, and Velasquez was to prepare for the voyage accordingly "and report at once if the ship has any needs".
A letter dated twelve days later and referring to one from Velasquez seemed to show that La Perla's captain had suddenly found a dozen excellent reasons why the frigate could not sail for Spain, but the Captain-General, obviously mindful of the order from Madrid, dismissed them all: the ship would sail as soon as one or two ships bound for Havana were assembled so that La Perla could escort them and "protect them from English corsairs".
Ramage saw from successive letters that as the days passed the idea of a convoy to Havana grew in the minds of the junta: obviously the businessmen in the province of Caracas were thankful for this rare opportunity to send goods from La Guaira to Cuba and Spain under the protection of a frigate. Then came more specific information for Velasquez: ships from Vera Cruz, Cartagena and La Guaira would assemble in Havana, ready to sail as a convoy for Spain, escorted by a 74-gun ship and four frigates, of which La Perla would be one. Ramage sighed as he struggled with the handwriting. The letters were full of abbreviations, and the clerks obviously cared little if blots of ink obscured words providing the big wax seals were perfect. He was tired of phrases like "very magnificent, sir" used by almost anyone when writing to a superior; he was bored with the decisions of the "Real Audiencia y Chancilleria".
The convoy for Spain was due to sail from Havana "any time after the first day of August" in one letter; another put the date back at least two weeks. Velasquez was to sail from Santa Cruz to arrive at La Guaira by the beginning of July - except that the next letter from the Captain-General delayed it two weeks. Then came a definite order: La Perla was to be ready to sail from La Guaira on 26 June, escorting one ship.
One ship? Ramage read the paragraph again. From the previous references he had understood there would be at least four or five ships. The next paragraph told Velasquez that the junta was awaiting orders from His Excellency the Viceroy of the Indies, in Panama, concerning this particular ship, but the Captain-General trusted that in any case La Perla was ready to sail.
Why on earth would the Viceroy - the man who ruled the whole of the Spanish Main and Central America in the name of His Most Catholic Majesty - be concerning himself with one ship? Was she going to carry important passengers? Was he travelling in her himself?
Ramage had been conscious of a lot of bustle on deck, and the sentry's call warned him that Southwick was coming to see him.
"We're all ready to begin sending the prisoners over, sir, " the Master reported. "Wagstaffe had the sense to send Marines over with his two boats to help guard them. I'm using two of our boats as well. Two trips for each boat."
"Very well. Tell Wagstaffe to come over and bring his sea bag with him. And Captain Velasquez will go over to the Santa Barbara in the last boat. I want to see him first."
"Aye, aye, sir. I'll be glad to see the back of 'em and get the lower deck scrubbed out and aired. You wouldn't credit the mess they've made."
Ramage went back to the letters. His eyes ached, his head buzzed with weariness. Only two more letters remained of the bundle from the Captain-General, and he cursed the time he had wasted. It was, he admitted, sheer curiosity: it mattered not a damn when the Captain-General of Caracas or the Mayor of Santa Cruz ordered Velasquez to sail for La Guaira and Havana: the ship was back in the Royal Navy and half a ton of Spanish correspondence and a ton of His Most Catholic Majesty's sealing wax could not affect that.
Wearily he wriggled in his chair: the candle in the lantern was burning low and he turned the letter to catch more light. The junta had received a communication from His Excellency the Viceroy, and as a result it had been decided to entrust "a particular cargo" to the ship which La Perla would escort. His Excellency the Viceroy had further ordered that another "particular cargo" from the province of Columbia should also be dispatched to Spain in the same ship. This valuable cargo had already been sent round from Cartagena in smaller vessels and was now safely on board the ship at La Guaira, and the ship would be ready to sail when La Perla arrived on 23 June.