Jules Verne

Dick Sand Jules Verne

Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen (French: Un capitaine de quinze ans) is a Jules Verne novel published in 1878. It deals primarily with the issue of slavery, and the African slave trade by other Africans in particular. Dick Sand is a fifteen-year-old boy that serves on the schooner Pilgrim, a whaler that normally voyages across the Pacific in their efforts to find targets. However, this time the hunting season has been unsuccessful, and as they plan to return home three people request passage to Valparaiso: Mrs Weldon, the wife of the hunting firm's owner, her five-year-old son Jack, his old nanny Nan and her cousin Bénédict, an entomologist. With not much of a choice, the captain accepts. Several days into their journey north-east, the Pilgrim encounters a shipwreck, with only five African-American survivors (Tom, Actéon, Austin, Bat and Hercule) plus a dog (Dingo), all of whom are brought into the ship and offered passage to America.