Captain Ford

Ford moves through the Dutch East Indies as a familiar, weathered presence, the kind of sailor who calls a master 'old pirate' as a courtesy and knows every anchorage worth knowing. He belongs to the same rough maritime world that made Lingard, and his comings and goings stitch Almayer's isolated river outpost to the wider trade routes. His easy competence throws Almayer's stagnation into relief, and his arrivals bring the outside world's judgments and rumors up the Pantai.