It introduces many future important characters from the series, such as the romantic Corto, the crazy Russian sailor Rasputin, and the young cousins Pandora and Cain.

[1] October 31, 1913, Halloween (called "Tarowean Day" in this story): the Pacific Ocean is calm after a terrible storm.

Together, they discuss their project to accomplish their mission, in the service of the "Monk", a mysterious pirate ruling the Pacific Ocean, whose identity is unknown.

Their mission is to loot coal ships of various nationalities on behalf of the German Empire, as World War I approaches.

Thus, they attack a Dutch cargo ship near Malaita and board a member of his crew, a young Maori sailor called Tarao.

While Rasputin deals with the Germans, Corto keeps the catamaran on the Ottilien-Fluss (Ramu River), with the cousins, who are prisoners, and the crew.

Finally, they are saved near the New Britain (Bismarck Archipelago) by the German soldier Christian Slütter, in his submarine.

On the spot, the Monk announces to his henchmen news dating from August 4, 1914: England declares war on Germany.

Rinald Groovesnore, Royal Australian Navy Officer and cousins' uncle, was notified and arrived on Bura Nea.

During the ceremony, desperate, the man torched the house where the lovers had spent time and made believe in his death.

Affected by the execution of his friend Slütter, Corto tries to blackmail Rinald Groovesnore with the letter to avenge him.

To pretend that this story is true, Pratt published, in addition, a fake letter from Cain's nephew, Obregan Carrenza, which he had to give to the cartoonist himself.

This document, dating from the middle of the 20th century évokes Corto's old age and his sadness following the death of his friend Tarao.

This letter is missing from many editions of this story, probably because some publishers refuse to let the reader imagine the aging hero.

[2] Hugo Pratt will reuse Corto Maltese for news adventures taking place in America, published for the first time in 1970 and collected in the volume Under the Sign of Capricorn.

In the last one, they imagined a prequel to The Ballad of the Salty Sea, All Saints Day, to explain why Corto was attached to the raft and how he worked for the Monk.

Escondida is a fictional island located in Western Oceania, the scene of an important part of this story.

For example, at the start, Rasputin is reading Voyage autour du monde, Louis Antoine de Bougainville's travel diary.

Thus, when he failed on a beach with Tarao, he compares themself to Robinson Crusoe and Friday (characters created by Daniel Defoe).

Later, in Slütter's submarine, he is reading "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", the long poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Finally, when he leaves Escondida with Pandora, he evokes the ship Argo and the character Jason, from Greek mythology.

It pays homage to the Irish writer Henry De Vere Stacpoole, who piqued Pratt's interest in the South Seas.

Hugo Pratt discreetly slides into his story various allusions to cultural elements of the different Oceanian peoples encountered, whether through their songs or their conversations.

Despite this realism, Pratt allows himself touches of fantasy, sometimes making his Oceanian characters speak in Venetian language (an element that translators leave as is).