Hornblower's early exploits are many and varied. He joins the Royal Navy as a midshipman where he is horribly bullied and tries to resolve the matter with a duel. He is then transferred to under Edward Pellew and distinguishes himself. He fends off fire ships which interrupt his (failing) first examination for promotion to lieutenant. He is given command of the sloop "Le Rêve" while still only an acting lieutenant; the vessel blunders into a Spanish fleet in the fog, resulting in Hornblower's capture and imprisonment in Ferrol. During his captivity, he acquires a fluent knowledge of both Galician and Spanish, which proves highly useful in several further adventures, and is finally confirmed as a commissioned lieutenant. He leads a daring rescue of Spanish civilians from a shipwreck under extremely hazardous conditions, which leads to his being picked up by a British warship patrolling offshore; but since he had given his Spanish captors his parole that he would not escape, he insists upon being returned to captivity. The Spanish, admiring his sense of honour, release him in recognition of his "courage and self-sacrifice in saving life at the peril of own".