Tar is an agent with the British Intelligence.
We must assume it is Military Intelligence as Tar is definitely an officer (probable rank of Commander though Lt. Commander is possible) in the King's service during World War II. We are told in several places that his primary responsibility is counter-intelligence but there is no indication he is attached to an organization like MI5. What we do know is that he is the head man of a small attachment on a cay in the Caribbean responsible for monitoring enemy action, either German or more domestic, in that region.
Tar is not the man's real name - it is a nickname he has been given and it is sparingly used. What his real name is we never learn. Since he is the narrator of these adventures and the ones he deals with are for the most part subordinates, he gets addressed as 'Sir' by just about everyone. In fact, it is only his right-hand man and communications officer, Jimmy Lee, we ever see him actually use that nickname.
We learn very little about Tar the man from these tales. We get a pretty good idea of his set-up, though, and from that and the way they treat him and respond to his commands, there is no doubt he is widely respected and obeyed by not only the personnel under his command but also those who live on or pay visit to the island. This lack of intimate knowledge about Tar is not an issue with these stories as they deal more with what has happening than who was doing what. With two exceptions.
The first is the aforementioned Jimmy Lee. He is a British citizen of Chinese descent, born in Singapore but apparently raised either in the Chinese province of Yunnan or his parents came from there and he spoke like as well as he does English. This is an important factor because Jimmy has set up a wide communication network throughout all of the Caribbean and much of Central and northern South America, made up of fellow native speakers of a dialect of Yunnanese which is, according to Tar, virtually unspoken outside that region. Tar compares it to the American forces using Navaho speakers as code-talkers. It is a major factor in each story, though Tar often mentions it with a bit of humor wrapped in annoyance as Jimmy's fellow agents are all apparently named Wong.
The second, and most compelling, exception is Raies. This giant of a man, said by Tar to be at or near 7' tall and seemingly all muscle, is a Black Carib. This, Tar tells us, is the term used by everyone in the Caribbean for a small group of semi-nomadic people who ply whatever trade they feel like - smuggling, it seems, being particularly to their liking - all over the wide expanse of the Sea, moving about with impunity and near total silence in their wide canoes. These Black Caribs are of West African descent, brought to the islands a couple centuries before as slaves and now determined to do what they want when they want with little or no desired closeness to anyone outside their group. It is said, again by Tar, that these people do not much like any other black or brown skinned peoples, and even less anyone whose skin is white.
Which makes the relationship that arises between Tar and Raies - and Raies' sister - so interesting. Why Raies would decide that Tar was someone one to trust and even help, Tar never really fathoms. What Tar does know, and which he lets us aware of several times, is that if not for Raies, Tar would not be alive. And vice versa.
Good Lines:
- Said by Tar of the people in the area: "In the Caribbean nobody ever really knows why anybody in particular is anywhere at any particular time, yet nearly everybody knows almost every detail of everybody else's movement and just when they will be where."