 By the time that Captain Sawyer embarked for California, the world had discovered that "Pacific" was sunk with huge loss of life, and that "Orpheus" had sailed away without attempting a rescue.He was vilified in the press.It was speculated that Captain Sawyer had wrecked his ship on purpose either to "eliminate the evidence" or to collect on his insurance, since his normal profits would not be sufficient to repair the damages from the collision.