The Mauritius Command (UK HB in Barbosa DJ - 1986)

A maritime adventure featuring Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. Aubrey is ashore on half-pay without a command, until Maturin arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope, under a Commodore's pennant. He accepts the order but soon runs into difficulties with two of his crew - a drunkard and a mutinous captain.

Ashore without a command--and on half-pay to boot--Jack Aubrey's prayers are answered when Stephen Maturin shows up with a secret mission for him. The two men have been ordered to the Cape of Good Hope. There they hope to dislodge the French garrisons on the islands of Mauritius and La Reunion. Alas, two of their own colleagues--a dilettante and a martinet--prove to be nearly as great an obstacle as the French themselves.