The Survivors of the Chancellor: Diary of J. R. Kazallon, Passenger () is an 1875 novel written by Jules Verne about the final voyage of a British sailing ship, the Chancellor, told from the perspective of one of its passengers (in the form of a diary).
Plot summary
Characters
At the beginning of its voyage, the Chancellor carried eight passengers and twenty crew members. By the end, only eleven people (five passengers and six crew) remained alive.
Passengers
J.R. Kazallon, the narrator and one of the survivors. Mr. Kear, an American from Buffalo, is a wealthy and conceited man of about 50 years of age whose fortunes lie in the petroleum industry. Leaving behind his feverish wife, he escapes the Chancellor in a whaleboat on the night of December 5 and is not seen again (his death, given the storminess of the ocean the next morning, is implied). Mrs. Kear Miss Herbey, one of the survivors. M. Letourneur, one of the survivors. Andre Letourneur, one of the survivors. William Falsten, a 45-year-old English engineer from Manchester who passes much of his time aboard the Chancellor engrossed in mechanical calculations. He is one of the eleven survivors. John Ruby, a Welsh merchant originally of Cardiff whose sole goal in life seems to be the pursuit of profit. He loses his sanity after learning of the fire burning in the ship's hold and realizing that it could detonate the thirty pounds of potassium picrate he had brought on board the ship. He dies on October 29, burned to death after jumping into the burning cargo hold.
Crew
John Silas Huntly, an approximately 50-year-old Scotsman of Dundee, is the captain of the Chancellor until he resigns his post to his first mate on October 23. He escapes the Chancellor in a whaleboat on the night of December 5 and is not seen again (his death, given the storminess of the ocean the next morning, is implied). Robert Curtis, the first mate on the Chancellor. John Silas Huntly passes over his post as captain to him on October 23 and he acts as a leader of sorts throughout the story. He survives the events. Lt. Walter, dies from fever. The boatswain Hobart was the steward on the ship. Kazallon describes him as being in the best health during the raft trip, and it is eventually revealed that he was hoarding bacon. On this day, January 18, he commits suicide and several sailors cannibalize his remains. Kazallon, Miss Herbey, M. Letourneur, and Andre do not partake and it is unknown if Curtis does. His remains are thrown overboard on January 19, presumably by Andre. Jynxstrop, a black cook. He ultimately commits suicide by jumping at the sea to be eaten by sharks.
Timeline
The crew and passengers of the Chancellor are at sea for four months, from September 27, 1869 to January 27, 1870.
Note: This timeline omits any events for which the date cannot be precisely determined.