It does make sense, though. It explains why he has such a large supply of food and medicine available, why he's there in the first place, how he's able to learn their language so quickly - he's trained in these sorts of things - and why he's selfless enough to help out the poor the way he does - he's a SCIENTIST, you know. (Cue 'Thus Spake Zarathustra'.) If he was a mutineer, he probably wouldn't have been given much in the way of supplies, and likely would have been slightly more selfish in his motives.