Chatham Shipyard treated it as a priceless treasure and immediately began asking around everywhere about the origins of this miraculous timber.
The United Kingdom was, after all, an old naval power. It had countless sailors with experience in ocean voyages. Five or six days later, a shipowner who had once done business in the Caribbean Sea said he had seen the plant—a spice produced in Jamaica.
Sir Hope, director of Chatham Shipyard, immediately sent people to scour the market for Guaiac Wood. But he soon discovered that all of Europe only sold spice-grade Guaiac Wood—the thickest pieces were merely as thick as an arm, while Ship Axles required timber thicker than a wine barrel and at least 10 meters long.
Hope had no choice but to report the matter to the Navy Committee.
In the end, the Navy Committee decided to send people to Jamaica to purchase Guaiac Wood. A round trip to the Caribbean Sea would take three months, barely enough to keep up with the Steam Warship's schedule.
Five weeks later.
Major Robert Kane, dressed as a merchant, set foot on distant Jamaica Island with a group of attendants.
He was half Spanish by blood and bore almost none of an Englishman's features. That was why the Navy Committee had sent him—the former English Colony of Jamaica had gained independence during the Black slave liberation movement a year ago. The new regime was fiercely pro-French and anti-English, and ordinary Englishmen could scarcely take a step here.
Yet after Major Kane turned over every major Timber market on the island, he still could not find a single piece of Guaiac Wood that met the requirements.
Inside a Warehouse in Kingston, Jamaica's largest Timber merchant shook his head at Kane in halting French.
"You came too late. At this time