The Ice Master (58 page)

William McKinlay, exhausted and suffering from snow blindness, lying outside his tent at Cape Waring.

 

 

 

The camp at Cape Waring. The divisions in the camp are all too clearly visible, with the crewmen's tent on the left and the Eskimos' tent—shared with McKinlay and Hadley—on the right.

 

 

 

“Clam” Williams with one of the ship's dogs on Wrangel Island. The only member of the crew on the island to behave honorably.

 

 

 

John Munro and Robert Templeman, the
Karluk
's cook, at Rodger's Harbour, 60 to 70 miles south east of Cape Waring. They had established a camp there to await the rescue ship for which the
Karluk
's survivors were so desperately hoping.

 

 

 

The Canadian flag flying at half mast over the grave of George Malloch and Bjarne Mamen at Rodger's Harbour.

 

 

 

The longed-for ship, the
King and Winge
, which forged through the ice to reach the survivors on Wrangel Island in September 1914.

 

 

 

Mugpi, Helen, and Kuraluk on their way back to Alaska.

 

 

 

The survivors of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, from left to right: John Munro (at the back), Robert Templeman, Robert Williamson, John Hadley, Captain Robert Bartlett, Auntie, Mugpi, Helen, William McKinlay, Kuraluk (seated in front), Ernest Chafe, “Clam” Williams, and Fred Maurer.

 

 

 

The plaque commemorating those who died. In a curious twist of fate, this plaque is itself now missing, having been lost when the National Archives of Canada moved buildings in the 1960s.

About the Author

Jennifer Niven
's first book,
The Ice Master
, was named one of the Top Ten Nonfiction Books of the Year by
Entertainment Weekly
. A native of Los Angeles, she currently lives in Savannah.

It was to be the greatest and most elaborate Arctic expedition in history, with the largest scientific staff ever taken on such a journey. It's leader, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, was celebrated for his studies of Eskimo life and, with this mission, hoped to find evidence that proved his staunchly held belief that there was a last unexplored continent, hidden beneath the vast polar ice cap. In June 1913, the H.M.C.S. Karluk set sail from the Esquimalt Naval Yard in Victoria, British Columbia. Six weeks later, the arctic winter had begun, the ship was imprisoned in ice, and those on board had been abandoned by their leader.

For five months, the
Karluk
remained frozen in a massive block of ice, drifting farther and farther off course. In January 1914, with a thunderous impact, the ice tore a hole in the vessel's hull, and the redoubtable captain, Robert Bartlett, gave orders to abandon ship. With nothing but half the ship's store of supplies and the polar ice beneath their feet, Captain Bartlett, twenty-one men, an Inuit woman and her two small daughters, twenty-nine dogs, and one pet cat were now hopelessly shipwrecked in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, hundreds of miles from land. These castaways had no choice but to try to find solid ground where they could wait while they struggled against starvation, snow blindness, a gruesome and mysterious disease, exposure to the brutal winter — and each other. Bartlett and one member of the party soon set across the ice to seek help. Nine months later, twelve survivors were rescued by a small whaling schooner and brought back to civilization.

The Ice Master
is an epic tale of true adventure that rivals the most dramatic fiction. Drawing on the diaries of those who were rescued and those who perished, and even an interview with one living survivor, Jennifer Niven re-creates with astonishing accuracy and immediacy the
Karluk's
ill-fated journey and her crew's desperate attempts to find a way home from the icy wastes of the Arctic.

Reviews

“Gripping . . .
The Ice Master
, both a celebration and a terrifying summation of the ferocity of nature, is a riveting read. But cozy up to this one with a quilt.”

—
Entertainment Weekly

“Absorbing . . . Niven is meticulous in describing her characters' personal traits. ” —
Washington Post Book World

“A riveting adventure. ” —
Booklist

Copyright