Chapter 9 Summary

As Leopard continues to take on water a third fothering-sail is passed under the rear of the keel and—fortunately—staunches the influx of seawater. The pumps gain on the water and for the next several days the crew struggles to keep the ship afloat. It is killing labor and many men drop from exhaustion, only to be roused after perhaps a few hours of respite. Even Maturin takes extensive shifts at the pumps. He is surprised to learn, however, that the remaining ship's company is in high spirits—during the near-sinking, Larkin—the murderous man believed by most of the crew to be a Jonah—drowns. With Larkin's death the crew believes the ship has been changed from unlucky to lucky—and hence they uniformly expect to survive.

Aubrey supervises the rigging of a huge steering...