H.M.S Dreadful- part the first.

Following the Portuguese abandonment of Tome- Tome in 1689 there was very little activity on the island. It was an occasional stopping off point for shipping, but there were no permanent inhabitants.
Early in 1776 H.M.S Dreadful, a three masted bark mounted with twelve light 6-pounder guns and twelve swivel guns, was sent on a mission to survey the coast of Chile.
For this fateful voyage The Dreadful was manned by 83, (71 ship's company,12 Royal Marines) and also carried 5 civilians.
The captain, Harvey Stokes R.N, was a notoriously ineffectual man who was inconsistent in his approach to discipline, protocol and the day to day running of the ship and was reportedly prone to mood swings and periods of high excitement.
Stokes baulked at the prospect of rounding Cape Horn, and took the ship on a futile three month circuit of the South Atlantic before turning East.

Capt. Stokes

The crew had by now lost faith in his leadership, and proposed to mutiny and replace him with the popular Lieutenant Summers. The final straw came when Stokes insisted on the daily craft group being held even in the most exacting circumstances. The sailors resented the enforced basket weaving and knitting, and the marines were sympathetic to their cause. Stokes and a dozen sympathisers were set down in an open boat. Remarkably Stokes and three other survivors reached Dahomey 3 months later, only to become prisoners of the Sultan for a further few months.
The Dreadful was presumed lost, but in fact had undertaken a remarkable voyage, finally reaching Tome- Tome six months later.
Tome- Tome would have been known to some of those on board, as ships of the line often stopped there to stock up on fresh water, turtles and other provisions.
It was only on arrival at Tamba- Tamba (as the island was known in the argot of the British sailors) that the real drama began to unfold.