Chapter 14: Affections of the People
Contains spoilersOverview
Captain Cheap shoots Henry Cozens, briefly averts open revolt by reasserting command, and moves Cozens to the sick tent. With the chief surgeon absent, the surgeon’s mate performs two risky operations. Cheap refuses Cozens’s transfer and threatens him; Cozens dies after fourteen days, deepening resentment and eroding Cheap’s authority.
The burial on day forty-one cements the crew’s loss of faith, accelerating the breakdown of naval order among the castaways.
Summary
At the gunshot, John Byron rushes out to find Henry Cozens on the ground, bleeding but alive, grasping Byron’s hand. Onlookers gather uneasily. Though John Bulkeley notes Cheap might suspect mutiny, Cozens is unarmed, and Byron deems Captain Cheap’s shooting indefensible.
Captain Cheap summons the men to assemble, flanked by surgeon Elliot and Lieutenant Hamilton. After Bulkeley indicates his group is unarmed, Cheap lowers his pistol and declares he remains their commander, defusing an incipient revolt. The men disperse, and Cozens is carried to the sick tent.
Bulkeley visits as the surgeon’s mate, Robert, examines a bullet that entered Cozens’s left cheek and lodged near his right eye. A planned operation proceeds without Elliot, whose absence spurs rumors—some claim Cheap prevented him, while Midshipman Campbell disputes this. Perceived inhumanity erodes Cheap’s standing. Robert conducts a dangerous, unanesthetized surgery and extracts the main bullet piece.
Cozens asks to be moved to Bulkeley’s house; Cheap refuses, calling him mutinous and vowing to deliver him in chains to the Commodore and hang him if he lives. On June 17 Robert performs a second operation, removing a fragment and jawbone. Cozens asks Robert to give Bulkeley the extracted pieces as evidence. On June 24, after fourteen days’ suffering, Cozens dies. The castaways bury him as decently as conditions allow on their forty-first day ashore, while Cheap’s loss of the people’s affections deepens the collapse of order.
Who Appears
- Captain Cheap
Shoots Cozens, asserts command at assembly, allegedly blocks surgeon, refuses transfer, threatens hanging; loses the crew’s affections.
- Henry Cozens
Midshipman shot in the head; undergoes two surgeries, requests evidence be kept, dies after fourteen days.
- Robert
Surgeon’s mate who performs both operations, extracts bullet and bone, and delivers the evidence package.
- John Bulkeley
Gunner who gauges men’s mood, visits Cozens, records events, receives the bullet and bone, notes Cheap’s waning support.
- John Byron
Midshipman witness; comforts Cozens, observes near-revolt and the crew’s growing resentment toward Cheap.
- Elliot
Chief surgeon absent from the scheduled operation; aligned with Cheap; his absence fuels damaging rumors.
- Hamilton
Marine lieutenant standing with Cheap during the assembly to bolster the captain’s authority.
- Midshipman Campbell
Disputes claims that Cheap blocked Elliot, suggesting rumors are inflaming tensions.
- Cummins
Carpenter who hears that Cheap may have prevented Elliot from treating Cozens.