It was 1799, and French privateers lurked in the Atlantic and the Bay of Bengal. Yet Eleanor Reid, newly married and just twenty-one years old, made up her mind to sail with her husband, and share the colorful existence of a commander in the East Indies trade. Throughout her incident-packed voyage, with long spells ashore in penal New South Wales and exotic Calcutta, Eleanor kept a vivacious journal. Joan Druett embellishes this remarkable young woman's lively prose with a commentary that illuminates her strange adventures.