The Wine Dark Sea by Patrick O'Brian


Tracing the Geography of the Wine Dark Sea by Patrick O'Brian



The Wine Dark Sea is the sixteenth book in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Like the others, this was the third time I have read it, the first time was in 1995. Earlier postings on this series begin here.
I have been trying to follow the geography this time through, with the help of Harbors and High Seas, by Dean King.
When the book starts, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are aboard the Surpise in the fictional island of Moahu, which is supposed to be located in between the Hawaiian Islands and Christmas Island. From there, they sail to Callao, a port in Peru. Callao is a port on the Pacific coast, located near Lima. This map is from livingtravel.com.


Maturin goes to Lima, and from there sets out on a long journey high into the Andes, travelling south. The exact route is difficult to follow, but it is clear that he does eventually get to the shores of Lake Titicaca, and between that Lake and the port of Arica he goes over a very high pass where he gets frostbite and loses a couple of toes. After this point, he is carried to Arica in far southern Peru. This map is from the University of Texas.


It is not explained how he gets from there to Valparaiso, Chile, but we are told that he meets Aubrey and the Surprise there. This map, showing Valparaiso's location on the coast of Chile, was found at the University of Texas.


At Valparaiso, Maturin joins the Surpise and they sail south, eventually getting to the Diego Ramirez Islands, located south of of Cape Horn.
According to 70south.com,

These Chilean islands were discovered by a Portuguese expedition on 12 February 1619, becoming the most southerly known land in the world at that time. They held that honour for more than 150 years, until 1775, when James Cook discovered the South Sandwich Islands. Islas Diego Ramirez are about 100 km south of Cape Horn.

They are just off these islands when the book ends.

Here are my earlier posts on books by Patrick O'Brian
HMS Surprise and The Mauritius Command
Desolation Island
The Fortune of War
The Surgeon's Mate
The Ionian Mission
Treason's Harbour
The Far Side of the World
The Reverse of the Medal
The Letter of Marque
The Thirteen Gun Salute
The Nutmeg of Consolation
The Truelove

Posted: Thu - February 5, 2004 at 07:58 PM          

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