What happened during Joseph Conrad’s first command of the Otago?

In 1888, Joseph Conrad unexpectedly received his first command on the Otago while in Bangkok. He took over the ship under difficult circumstances, as his predecessor had died at sea.1

The voyage from Bangkok to Singapore was arduous, taking three weeks to cover 800 miles (1,300 km) due to a lack of wind. By the time the Otago reached Singapore, Conrad and the cook were the only members of the ship's company who were not suffering from fever. Furthermore, Conrad discovered that the previous captain had sold nearly the entire supply of quinine, leaving the crew without the necessary medicine to treat their illness.1

Conrad later drew upon these challenging experiences to write the stories "The Shadow-Line" and "Falk".1