To The Ends of the Earth

Young Edmund Talbot is sailing to Australia to take up a government post, on a decrepit old ship skippered by Captain Anderson, who is hostile to Edmund until he realizes that he has important relatives. Far more admirable to Edmund are Lieutenants Summer, who has worked his way up through the ranks, and the dashing Deverel.

The ship is becalmed and another vessel is sighted, which turns out to be British - the Alcyone, whose commander announces that the war with France is over. The two vessels anchor alongside and a ball is held for the passengers.

Edmund acts as a witness to the wedding between the injured Prettiman and Miss Granham, with flowers grown by the captain in his window boxes. Despite initial animosity towards him Edmund starts to show some admiration for the older man's liberal ideas.