# Captain P⸺ — The Cruise of the Alerte character guide

> Captain P⸺ in The Cruise of the Alerte by E. F. Knight.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** young P⸺

**First appearance:** 0000-i-the-history-of-the-treasure

## Snapshot

A soft-hearted skipper whose hospital visits to a dying sailor yielded a secret worth a fortune and a lifetime of wondering.

## Who they are

Captain P⸺ is the human hinge on which the expedition turns: he took a liking to the reserved, scarred quartermaster known aboard as 'the pirate,' tended him through dysentery, and was rewarded on the man's deathbed with a plan of Trinidad and the location of plundered Peruvian plate. His character is defined by that act of kindness and by the uneasy responsibility of a secret that may be true. Without his testimony, the narrator would never have bought the Alerte.

## In the story

### [The History of the Treasure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cruise_of_the_alerte_se/chapters/i-the-history-of-the-treasure)

Retired sea captain who commanded an East Indiaman and befriended a foreign quartermaster known as 'the pirate'; he is a key source of the treasure story.

### [II: The Alerte Is Fitted Out](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cruise_of_the_alerte_se/chapters/ii-the-alerte-is-fitted-out)

Mentioned as the source of the treasure narrative, which the narrator considers credible.

### [IX: Treasure Island at Last](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cruise_of_the_alerte_se/chapters/ix-treasure-island-at-last)

Mentioned as the recipient of the dead pirate's directions for the channel into Southwest Bay.

### [We Explore the Ravine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cruise_of_the_alerte_se/chapters/xii-we-explore-the-ravine)

Previously identified the gully and cairns described by the pirate.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cruise_of_the_alerte_se/characters/captain_p
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cruise_of_the_alerte_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cruise_of_the_alerte_se/characters