Character Analysis
"The Encantadas" is not so much a story as a travel sketch; as such, it doesn't have much in the way of characters. There are a handful of individuals who figure in brief anecdotes, but they barely rise to the level of sketches, much less full-fledged people.
The one sort-of exception is the narrator, who ties the stories together. The voice here is basically Melville's voice telling you things that actually happened to him when he was a sailor in the 1830s and 1840s—or at least things he actually heard about as a sailor. To show his dual role as participant and teller, the narrator will sometimes break from his story to say something like, "The half shall here remain untold," (5.147), or to say he is not sure whether something is true or not.
The narrator then, is less a character than a way of viewing the islands, and of assuring you that there was a person there who saw it, who is bringing back a true, or truish, report. He's a tour guide, pointing out some things and directing your attention away from others. His character is not having any character in particular, but being there to show you that some person saw this, and is bringing back a report.
Encantadas' Timeline