estoffe" was fortunate
for Nelson. The ship was destined to the West Indies--or, to speak
more precisely, to Jamaica, which was a command distinct from that of
the eastern Caribbean, or Lesser Antilles, officially styled the
Leeward Islands Station. Great Britain was then fully embarked in the
war with her North American colonies, which ended in their
independence; and the course of events was hastening her to the
rupture with France and Spain that followed within a year. In this
protracted contest the chief scene of naval hostilities was to be the
West Indies; but beyond even the casualties of war, the baneful
climate of that region insured numerous vacancies by prostration and
death, with consequent chances of promotion for those who escaped the
fevers, and found favor in the eyes of their commander-in-chief. The
brutal levity of the old toast, "A bloody war and a sickly season,"
nowhere found surer fulfilment than on those pestilence-stricken
coasts. Captain Locker's health soon gave way. Arriving at Jamaica on
the 19th of July, 1777, we find Nelson in the following month writing
to him from the ship during an absence produced by a serious illness,
from which fatal results were feared. The letter, like all those to
Locker, was marked by that tone of quick, eager sympathy, of genial
inclination always to say the kindest thing, that characterized his
correspondence, and, generally, his intercourse with others,--traits
that through life made him, beyond most men, acceptable and beloved.
He was, from first to last, not merely one of those whose services are
forced upon others by sheer weight of ability, because
indispensable,--though this, too, he was,--but men wanted him because,
although at times irritable, especially after the wounds received in
later years, he was an easy yoke-fellow, pleasant to deal with,
cordial and ready to support those above him, a tolerant and
appreciative master to subordinates. It may even be said that, in
matters indifferent to him, he too readily reflected the feelings,
views, and wishes of those about him; but when they clashed with his
own fixed convictions, he was immovable. As he himself said in such a
case, "I feel I am perfectly right, and you know upon those occasions
I am not famous for giving up a point."

Of his connection with the "Lowestoffe" he himself, in the short
autobiographical sketch before quoted, mentions two circumstances,
which, from the very fact of their remaining