No one but a madman would put to sea in such conditions. A blizzard cut visibility to yards. Long Island Sound was galloping whitecaps. But in this second year of the war of 1812, conditions like these spelled opportunity to Captain Josiah Peabody.
...
Loa was not just king of his Central African tribe, he was a god to his people. He controlled life and death in his village. Then he turned outward and conquered his neighbors. He felt very fierce.
But this was not to last. Europe was on the march...