The Doctor

On board the Challenge there is a gentleman who reminds me powerfully of my father. Like him, he feels the plight of any enslaved person deeply, and would have a world in which there was never a human soul in bondage. Broken by his time in the Opium Trade, on fast-flying clippers such as this, he has to resort to medications to maintain his equilibrium. His face is one of intelligence and kindness, but no gladness ever passes o'er his countenance. Nevertheless I find him a most gratifying companion. His emaciation revealed the depth of his commitment to the drug I seek, and together we have made an arrangement for supply. When we reach Chile, he tells me, we will together embark on a program of moiety which will raise the level of our health and reduce the dependency, with the aid of a local shrub, whose leaves, when chewed, produce a sense of euphoria and lightness without the terrible torpor induced by the poppy. With his care and advice, I should be ready to face what lies ahead for me and Rosalie in New York.