About the book

Benito Vázquez de Bustamente has grown up away from the political prominence of his family, learning to hunt, ride, and dive for pearls along the Gulf of California. His intended marriage to Dolores Miranda meets opposition within her household before armed danger leaves the couple and her father vulnerable in Sonora. Aimard brings converging parties across a luxuriantly described landscape, connecting personal loyalties with the lure of treasure. Benito's unusual combination of skills matters because movement between shore, wilderness, and sea repeatedly changes the terms of survival. The adventure uses the racial stereotypes and frontier conflicts of its period, which require distance from the narrator's judgments. Beneath the succession of pursuits and encounters runs a contest over whether trust can withstand greed and concealed motives.

Treasure and greed
Loyalty under threat
Frontier survival

Why read it

Benito's experience as both hunter and pearl diver links the land and sea adventures into one pursuit.

English translation credited to Lascelles Wraxall, J. and R. Maxwell text

Contents and reading sections

About the book

Why read it

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