M&D Deep Duck: Section 4 summary

Mon Jan 19 13:41:56 CST 2015

On the contrary, Bekah, this is very interesting info. Thanks.

On Mon, Jan 19, 2015 at 2:11 PM, Becky Lindroos <bekker2 at icloud.com> wrote:

> England’s loss of control over the Channel was rare but when it happened
> it was ugly for awhile,  and England remembered.  The Channel is the
> easiest way to get down the west coast of Europe without going all the
> stormy way around the whole British Isles.  The southwest coast of England
> has much better coastline for landing and invading.
>
> So-ooo,  historically,  first came the Celts (I think),  then the Romans,
> then the Vikings, and then the French who all conquered England or parts of
> it - for awhile anyway.
>
> But in the 11-14th centuries the England solidified and they and the
> French went back and forth at each other via the Channel vying for control
> of the parts (Normandy, Gascony, Brittany, more, and Scotland, ).  But they
> also battled for control of the Channel because that was the key.  Piracy
> and village raids were common in these centuries - piracy even partially
> sanctioned.
>
> In 1588 the Spanish Armada hit the channel to be able to access Holland
> and there was swift and immediate reaction by the English via Sir Francis
> Drake and the weather.  This was remembered.
>
> Between  1754 to 1763 the 7-Years War (fought for 9 years - heh) was
> fought and the French dearly wanted to seize the Channel because of the
> easy access to the ocean.  They actually thought it was a good idea to just
> invade and take over England in general.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_French_invasion_of_Britain_(1759)
>
> The American French and Indian War kicked off the 7-Years War.  It was
> France against England for parts of North America.  Then France and her
> allies went up against England and her allies and they escalated everything
> until it was fought in Central Europe, Portugal, India, South America, and
> West Africa.
>
> Mason & Dixon were out in that in 1761 - only 2 years after the French
> lost some major battle and decided not to actually attack England.
>
> Btw, the value of the Channel has not changed - Napoleon wanted it badly,
> but was discouraged by losses elsewhere, because it’s not very wide.  The
> submarines of Germany in WWI tried (and failed) to use it and then tried to
> take the ports to the Channel (Flanders).  Also, because of the distance,
> airplanes (including bombers) could manage their way across the Channel.
> Drones can probably do it now.
>
> Bekah
> with more than you wanted to know -
>
>
>
>
> > On Jan 19, 2015, at 9:37 AM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:
> >
> > The Seahorse was in defensive mode, the l'Grand the aggressor. It's hard
> to get any sense of how attuned, at the time, anyone was to the likelihood
> of attacks in the Channel, as opposed to out in the open seas. The British
> Navy had trounced the French on numerous occasions, and France was not
> about to cross the Channel to mount any invasion. Also, the fact that this
> was a scientific expedition implied (regardless of later paranoia by
> Pynchon's characters) that Captain Smith wasn't spoiling for a fight.
> >
> > The Channel doesn't seem to be a site of many naval skirmishes. Anyone
> who knows more history than me able to confirm or deny this?
> >
> > Laura
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net>
> >> Sent: Jan 18, 2015 11:13 PM
> >> To: P-list List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> >> Subject: Re: M&D Deep Duck: Section 4 summary
> >>
> >> I love chapter summaries. Huzzah! The only question I would have would
> be whether the fight was that one-sided. The next chapter has them
> speculating that the French were hard after them possibly because of the
> transit mission.  The battle is told from their POV and says little about
> damage to the French vessel, but the L'Grand did give up after a serious
> attack. Maybe I am missing a textual clue here. Tere was also something
> about Smith hiring skilled rear gunners.
> >>
> >> Interesting tidbit about the Captain being required to pay for his own
> victuals.
> >>
> >>
> >> On Jan 18, 2015, at 4:42 PM, <kelber at mindspring.com> <
> kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> My summary. Please, everyone, point out and attack my misreads.
> >>>
> >>> Part 4:
> >>>
> >>> Cherrycoke reminisces to his assembled audience -- which includes his
> niece Tenebrae, her brothers Pitt and Pliny, their father LeSpark, who we
> now learn made his fortune in weapon sales, and LeSpark's nephew Ethelmer
> -- on break from Princeton. Cherrycoke is reminiscing about traveling with
> Mason and Dixon on the frigate Seahorse, en route to Sumatra, to observe
> the Transit of Venus. But an event occurs -- well-known already to
> Cherrycoke's assembled audience -- which he now relates to us.
> >>>
> >>> Mason and Dixon are annoyed to discover that they're apparently being
> charged for their passage by Captain Smith. It turns out to be a
> misunderstanding, and Dixon warms up to the Captain when he discovers he
> enjoys a drink. But there's impending doom on the horizon -- we and
> Cherrycoke's immediate audience know that the French warship l'Grand is
> lurking in the Channel. Mason, in particular, seems to sense it. It turns
> out Ben Coolen (their destination on Sumatra) has fallen to the French, and
> the Captain's been warned by the Admiralty not to sail for it. So they’re
> going to head for the Cape of Good Hope instead.
> >>>
> >>> As the ship sails through the Channel -- considered the most dangerous
> body of water in the world by some of its sailors -- we learn something of
> both the captain and his ship. Smith, captain of a near-warship (it lacks
> the full complement of guns) is, himself, no man of war. He'd prefer to be
> sharing a drink and having a philosophical chat with the two Men of Science
> on board. The ship, though, has a proud military record, having served with
> distinction in Quebec. While the sailors sing a chanty wherein they rhyme
> Sumatra with Cleopatra, Cherrycoke discourses on the meaning of the ship's
> motto, Eques Sit AEques, which he translates as "Let the Sea-Knight who
> would command this Sea-Horse be ever fair-minded." At which point the
> l'Grand appears on the horizon, and, being a French ship, its intentions
> are clearly hostile.
> >>>
> >>> The l'Grand proceeds to kick the shit out of the Seahorse. Cherrycoke,
> Mason and Dixon, terrified, are dispatched below to serve as makeshift
> medical aides as the casualties pile up. Finally, the l'Grand stops the
> mayhem and moves on. Cherrycoke's never been sure what transpired, and he
> speculates that either the French captain realized there were men of
> science aboard, signaling: France is not at war with the sciences. Or maybe
> he just realized that the Seahorse was not a worthy foe: You are leetluh
> meennow -- I throw you back. Captain Smith, distraught over the dead and
> wounded lashes out at M and D: Are you two really that important? On deck,
> Mason and Dixon commune over a couple of bottles of grog. Dixon: More like
> a Transit of Mars ...? And the Seahorse limps back to the dockyard.
> >>>
> >>> -
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> >>
> >> -
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