More Master & Commander

So I am still reading Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian and I am having difficulties finding time to read any book whatsoever. I am in the marching band which eats up a lot of my time. On top of that, I have other homework assignments and feline distractions. I have three cats who like to meow a lot asking for my attention. If I do not answer them with a petting session, then they will sit on me and give me the "I'm cute and adorable so pet me now" face. I must comply. You do not ignore these cats. They have claws and teeth and know how to use them.

Anyways, an update about the story. I'm into Chapter Five now and it starts off with the Sophie's log. What was different this time was an entry about a death. A fifteen-year old crew member died from too much grog, which is the only alcohol that the crew has access to. The log made the event sound like something mechanical or normal occurred, it didn't seem human. "Its tone of semi-literate, official, righteous dullness never varied; it spoke of the opening of beef-cask no. 271 and the death of the loblolly-boy in exactly the same voice, and it never deviated into human prose even for the taking of the sloop's  first prize." This does not sit right with me. The death of a person should at least show some emotion as if somebody cared that a person died.

The log also reported the sighting of a ship. This ship seemed to be in distress. When the Sophie got close enough to see but still far enough away to be safe from attack, Dr. Stephen Maturin noticed a dead body on deck. Stephen got a telescope, in the book it is referred to as a glass, and was able to identify the cause of death. The person died from the plague. Stephen wanted to go on board the other ship and search for survivors but Captain Jack Aubrey forbade him from boarding the merchant ship. The threat of the plague entering the Sophie was greater than the reward of finding survivors. If the crew had the slightest worry about contracting the plague, then the entire crew would fall apart mentally. The crew would probably starting thinking that every symptom, such as a sneeze, could be diagnosed as the plague. Then the crew would develop illnesses that are all-in-their-head instead of the body physically being ill. It would be similar to the "House" episode "Airborne" where the Asian man on an airplane start reacting to the altitude change and then the other passengers get "sick" because they were panicked and easily suggestible, and everybody who had symptoms (except Mr. Peng the Asian man) was suffering from conversion disorder. Anyways, Jack refuses to let Stephen help the survivors. Stephen is appalled by his lack of compassion even after hearing Jack's tale of potential quarantine at Mahon. The log does not note that Stephen waved his fist at Captain Aubrey. I guess the log is not a 100% truthful record, it also is skewed.