Captain’s Log, epilogue
Extract from conversation.
Friend: So… Higgins is captain in effect, and has tricked this dude into a mutiny, but what is his wife doing?
Me: No, it’s all his wife’s game. Higgins is furious that his wife has locked herself in with a man she fancied. It’s not even clear that there is a mutiny, because the narrator is getting all his info from her
Friend: And the shots are Higgins
Me: Yup. Also Higgins’ wife is a really vicious babe. They really did kill the Captain and chuck him overboard.
…
Me: …I found out some more about this backstory: Mrs Higgins’ diary came to light. It’s not pretty.
Higgins persuaded his wife to come on board as being adept with a needle, and a fair cook should the ship’s Cook require support. She accepted innocently. However, she was really brought on board as a sex slave, in particular for the Captain. She never was a naturalist, royally-appointed or otherwise: that was a fancy she imagined for herself.
The Captain raped her, several times. Quite brutally. Her husband stood watch, smiling, and he and the Captain began to discuss (with considerable laughter) which of the men should have a chance, and what they would need to do to earn it. As if that weren’t bad enough, she also discovered that Ned the cabin boy served a similar purpose for the petty officers. He really was twelve.
One night, weeping in her cell after a particularly vicious attack, she conceived her scheme: to kill the Captain and humiliate her husband. She knew she would need an accomplice, of course. She chose the narrator because of his naivete; he seemed also to be innocent of crime against Ned. He was reasonably powerful, which would have helped the success of the scheme. (She did hint that he wasn’t the worst-looking individual, which must have made things easier for her: or at least cemented how the humiliation part of her plan would play out.)
I haven’t finished reading the diary yet, so I don’t know the end of the story, but it’s clear they got back safely to England or the diary wouldn’t be here. It’s possible that there are news reports from the period that add to the story: I haven’t searched, but if you find anything, please let me know.