The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

Despite his injury, Cheap oversaw the evacuation of the crew from the sinking ship. He insisted on following the rule that the captain be the last to leave a sinking ship, even if it endangers his life. Some of the crew, including the boatswain King and the carpenter’s mate Mitchell, refused to leave the ship and instead drank the ship’s supply of liquor, “preferring, it seemed, to die in one last orgy of revelry” (101). Bulkeley found that most of the ship’s logbooks had been deliberately destroyed, apparently to protect the crew’s leadership from possible prosecution back in Britain.

It was determined that, out of the original crew of 250, 145 survived (103). They had no idea on which island they were marooned. They took refuge in a building described as a “wigwam” (104), but they could find no inhabitants. Cheap tried to organize a rescue of the crewmen who had refused to leave the ship. They finally came, wearing expensive clothing stolen from the belongings of the senior officers. Cheap publicly struck King, who as the boatswain was held responsible for lack of discipline among the survivors.