Chapter 2 Summary

Kino, Juana and Coyotito leave the yellow village and go to the yellow sand beach, where the fishermen's blue and white canoes lie. They are ancient canoes, handed down from generation to generation of Kino's people, together with the secrets of their construction and maintenance.

The morning is sunny, but a copper mist over the Gulf blurs all contours, so no outline is clear. Gulf people might trust things of the spirit and the imagination, but they hardly ever trust their eyes to show clear profiles and distances.

The family gets to Kino's canoe, the only valuable thing he owns in the world. It was brought from Nayarit by his grandfather, who gave it to his father who gave it to Kino. It is at the same time his property and the source of nourishment and he touches it tenderly. He prepares the...