Ramage & the Dido by Dudley Pope

Author:Dudley Pope [Pope, Dudley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Historical Naval Fiction
ISBN: 9781590130247
Google: Y3BLPgAACAAJ
Amazon: 1590130243
Goodreads: 1077356
Publisher: Fontana Press
Published: 1989-06-14T12:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Ramagehad written a brief but tactful letter to Admiral Cameron outlining the capture of theVolageand describing the new plants,mangoes, that she had on board. Without mentioning Captain Bligh or breadfruit, he had tried to draw the admiral's attention to the fact that the mango might become an important fruit in the West Indies-a welcome change from the usual round of oranges and bananas and pawpaw. How did one tell an admiral that the mangoes in theVolagemight be as important to the West Indies as the breadfruit, and obtained without having to send a special ship all the way to India to collect them?

Had the French split the journey up, first taking them from India to Mauritius and planting them out there, then a year or so later taking plants from Mauritius and bringing them here, thus cutting the length of the voyage almost in half?

How could one persuade an admiral in a letter to have the plants brought ashore and planted out, instead of throwing them overboard and fitting the frigate out with more guns, because he was so short of frigates? Better still, send theVolageonto Jamaica, the biggest British island and the most suitable, he thought, for experiments. They had big botanical gardens there: the staff would be just the right people to plant the mango and see how it prospered in the West Indies.

Anyway, theVolagewas now carrying the letter to Admiral Cameron. If the admiral was really interested, there must be someone on the station who spoke French and could question Furneaux further.

Southwick, whoRamagesuspected was a frustrated gardener, gave a sniff and said: 'If anything comes of this plant business,they'll probably call you "MangoRamage" -you'll be as famous as

"Breadfruit Bligh".'

'Bligh is famous for theBounty, not the breadfruit,'Ramagesaid sourly, 'so I'll thank you for not making any comparison.'

'Well, mangoes sound tastier than breadfruit, so perhaps it won't be too bad.'

'Martinique,'Ramagesaid, to change the subject. 'Is the current playing tricks with us?'

'There's a bit o' west-going current here, but not enough to worry about. We should have Diamond Rock abeam in about three hours. That'll bring back some memories, eh?'

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