M&D Deep Duck: Section 4 summary

[alice malice]

Cope provides a brief description, adequate to Pynchon's narrative.
The departure day is not provided, only December 1760, the Arrival
day, 27th April. Cope says it took the whole month of January to
repair the damage, and that during this time, a number of spirited
letters were exchanged between Mason and Dixon and the Officers of the
RS, and that M&D had proposed a Near East station, but that such
proposal was rejected by the RS.

On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 8:09 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear historians: did M & D do this in real life? And same time?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 18, 2015, at 4:42 PM, <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.
>>
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l