March 18 Summary and Analysis

The expedition is eager to begin collecting inside the Sea of Cortez and sets sail from Cabo San Lucas. Steinbeck reflects on the various descriptions they have read of Cabo San Lucas, and how no two are alike. Each reflects the world-view and personality of the one who writes the description, even among scientists. The captain pulls into a rocky cove, where a small ranch house is visible on the shoreline, typical of several lonely houses they encounter on their voyage. Two men and a woman paddle their canoe out to the boat and do a little trading and a little talking, but mostly they just watch as the expedition goes about its business. Steinbeck notices how the indigenous people's sense of time seems different from their own, and how they seem to be much more a part of the place...