Whelhen had been a castaway mariner who survived the waters and ended up on Jacuruku. He spent ten to twelve years living in the jungle with native villagers, and wrote of these times in "Narrative of a Shipwreck and Captivity within a Mythical Land".[1]
After spending ten to twelve years on Jacuruku, he escaped when the Lance was forced to put in for water on the coast. Before the ship departed he was able to row to it in a simple dugout. At the time he was described by the captain of the Lance as "painted and mostly naked after the barbarous fashion."[2]
Known work[]
Narrative of a Shipwreck and Captivity within a Mythical Land[]
- Excerpt one
- "I am amused by the attitude of these people of Jakal Uku towards antiques and the possessions of any deceased person generally. Childishly, they absolutely do not wish to possess such objects and have no desire for them. I once noted a wonderful pugal (a carved low sitting table) left in an abandoned hut. ‘What a fine piece of the woodcarver’s art!’ I exclaimed to my local friend. ‘Why is it thrown aside?’
‘I would not touch it,’ he answered. ‘I would think of the persons who sat at it before me and whether their lives were happy and if they are happy now watching me sit where they once did.’" - ―Whelhen Mariner
- Excerpt two
- "After having lived among these tribes for many years now I have formed the considered opinion that but for all the differing ritual, accoutrements, myths and attributes of their religious practices, we both seek answers to the same profound questions universal to the human condition: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?"
- ―Whelhen Mariner
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Blood and Bone, Chapter 4, UK MMPB p.204
- ↑ Blood and Bone, Chapter 12, UK MMPB p.628