Whelhen had been a castaway mariner who survived the waters and ended up on Jacuruku. He spent ten to twelve years living in the jungle with native villagers, and wrote of these times in "Narrative of a Shipwreck and Captivity within a Mythical Land". After spending ten to twelve years on Jacuruku, he escaped when the Lance was forced to put in for water on the coast. Before the ship departed he was able to row to it in a simple dugout. At the time he was described by the captain of the Lance as "painted and mostly naked after the barbarous fashion."