The second novel in Golding's sea trilogy continues the voyage of an aging warship to Australia in the Napoleonic era. Edmund Talbot, still keeping his journal, is now more aware of the ship's tensions and his own place within it. The crowded vessel is tested by weather, the dangers of the sea, and awkward relations among passengers, officers and crew. A romantic interest also gives Talbot new feelings to puzzle over. The book blends comedy of manners with a patient account of life at sea, and it deepens the themes begun in the first volume.