Chapter 11: Nomads of the Sea
Contains spoilersOverview
The castaways forge a brief but vital alliance with the Kawésqar, who provide food, shelter, and critical survival knowledge. Mitchell’s faction’s thefts and predations rupture trust, prompting the Kawésqar to depart. Cheap loses a crucial lifeline, deepening the camp’s vulnerability and exposing the consequences of collapsing discipline.
Summary
Winter closes in as three Kawésqar canoes appear near the wreck before the blizzard. John Byron, John Bulkeley, and Alexander Campbell signal friendship and bring the visitors to Captain David Cheap, who offers gifts, including hats, red coats, and a mirror. After initial hesitation, the Kawésqar depart, then return with food, notably sheep and large mussels.
More Kawésqar families arrive—about fifty in all—and quickly build oval bark-covered huts. They observe an English burial with solemn respect, signaling a tentative coexistence. Their presence transforms the camp’s prospects.
The Kawésqar demonstrate remarkable subsistence skills. Women dive to great depths for sea urchins; families net fish with the help of trained dogs; they keep ever-burning fires even in canoes. Their steady provisioning becomes a lifeline for Cheap and the starving castaways.
Order frays as the carpenter’s mate, Mitchell, and other sailors defy Cheap’s authority—stealing liquor and weapons and attempting to seduce Kawésqar women, which causes offense. Rumors spread that Mitchell’s group plans to seize the canoes to escape.
Cheap dispatches Byron and allies to guard the canoes, but the Kawésqar, perceiving the mounting danger, dismantle their shelters and slip away by sea. Their sudden departure ends the castaways’ most reliable supply of food and knowledge, leaving Cheap’s camp more vulnerable and divided.
Who Appears
- John Byron
Midshipman; helps initiate contact with the Kawésqar, observes their skills, and later guards their canoes.
- John Bulkeley
Gunner; records the cold, Kawésqar practices, and the respectful burial; notes camp disorder.
- Captain David Cheap
Captain; courts Kawésqar aid with gifts, relies on their provisioning, orders protection of their canoes.
- Alexander Campbell
Officer present at first contact; comments on Kawésqar courtesy and the castaways’ dependence.
- Mitchell
Carpenter’s mate; leads thefts and carousing, offends Kawésqar women, and plots to steal their canoes.
- The Kawésqar
Indigenous canoe people; provision, build shelters, demonstrate fishing and diving, then withdraw amid rising English misconduct.