ARTHUR BROWNLEE Captain of the Volunteer. Brownlee’s recklessness led to the demise of his last ship, the Percival. It is a wonder how he became captain of another ship. “You know Brownlee has a great deal to prove—you heard about the Percival, I’m sure. He was lucky to get another ship after. If he fails this time, that will be the end of him.”
HENRY DRAX A harpooner on the Volunteer. Drax is a “squat” man with a “barnyard scent.” He acts on his primal instincts and sometimes seems more animal than man. “I’m a doer, not a thinker, me. I follow my own inclination.”
JACOB BAXTER Owner of the Volunteer. Jacob Baxter is a shrewd businessman who knows the whaling industry is dying—it’s all petroleum now. And, yet, he funds the Volunteer’s voyage. “And what do we think of Mr. Baxter.” “We think he’s rich,” the chemist answers, “and round these parts a man don’t generally get rich by being stupid.”
MICHAEL CAVENDISH First mate on the Volunteer. Though, given how poorly respected Cavendish is, it’s a wonder how he earned that position. “Cavendish is a great turd and a whoremonger, it’s true, but he will do whatever he’s told to.”
MR. BLACK Second mate on the Volunteer. Mr. Black is known as a decent, ambitious man with a good head on his shoulders. “I have a plan. Five years from now, or sooner if I get my share of luck, I’ll have my own command.”
OTTO A German harpooner on the Volunteer. He is a “broad-chested” man and a “deep thinker with a mystic bent.” “The light is what we truly are, that is our immortal essence. But only when the flesh falls away can the truth shine through.”
PATRICK SUMNER An ex-army surgeon. Sumner left his post in Delhi when he learned that he had inherited his uncle’s dairy farm in Ireland. Considering his good fortune, why did he apply for the miserable job of surgeon on a Greenland whaling ship? “Come,” he says, “every man has his history surely.” Sumner shakes his head. “Not me,” he says.
ARTHUR BROWNLEE
Captain of the Volunteer. Brownlee’s recklessness led to the demise of his last ship, the Percival. It is a wonder how he became captain of another ship.
“You know Brownlee has a great deal to prove—you heard about the Percival, I’m sure. He was lucky to get another ship after. If he fails this time, that will be the end of him.”
HENRY DRAX
A harpooner on the Volunteer. Drax is a “squat” man with a “barnyard scent.” He acts on his primal instincts and sometimes seems more animal than man.
“I’m a doer, not a thinker, me. I follow my own inclination.”
JACOB BAXTER
Owner of the Volunteer. Jacob Baxter is a shrewd businessman who knows the whaling industry is dying—it’s all petroleum now. And, yet, he funds the Volunteer’s voyage.
“And what do we think of Mr. Baxter.”
“We think he’s rich,” the chemist answers, “and round these parts a man don’t generally get rich by being stupid.”
MICHAEL CAVENDISH
First mate on the Volunteer. Though, given how poorly respected Cavendish is, it’s a wonder how he earned that position.
“Cavendish is a great turd and a whoremonger, it’s true, but he will do whatever he’s told to.”
MR. BLACK
Second mate on the Volunteer. Mr. Black is known as a decent, ambitious man with a good head on his shoulders.
“I have a plan. Five years from now, or sooner if I get my share of luck, I’ll have my own command.”
OTTO
A German harpooner on the Volunteer. He is a “broad-chested” man and a “deep thinker with a mystic bent.”
“The light is what we truly are, that is our immortal essence. But only when the flesh falls away can the truth shine through.”
PATRICK SUMNER
An ex-army surgeon. Sumner left his post in Delhi when he learned that he had inherited his uncle’s dairy farm in Ireland. Considering his good fortune, why did he apply for the miserable job of surgeon on a Greenland whaling ship?
“Come,” he says, “every man has his history surely.”
Sumner shakes his head.
“Not me,” he says.