The last voyage of the Karluk

by Bob Bartlett; Ralph T. Hale

Sunday, the eighth, I took stock of our pemmican and found that we had 4,932 pounds left in camp; we had used up and sledged along the trail some 5,000 pounds. We ate no pemmican in camp, and fed the dogs mostly on seal meat excepting when on the march. Most of the dogs were now out and we had in camp only those which were crippled or otherwise incapacitated.

Shortly after noon on the ninth Mr. Munro and Williams came in. They had been held up by open water between the second and third camps and had been unable to overtake Chafe and the Eskimo. The next day they had started on the march again, only to be held up again by open water; late in the afternoon, however, the ice had closed up so that they could go on to the fifth camp. Here they could not find a heavy enough floe to build a cache on so they had returned and put off the load at the fourth camp, which was on a large heavy floe, an ideal place for a cache.

Munro left camp again early on the morning of the eleventh, with Malloch, four dogs, seven cases of pemmican, a camping outfit and food for seven days. They were to go beyond the fifth camp and leave the pemmican at the best place they could find. The temperature was 38 degrees below zero, the weather fine and clear.

The next day, however, was dull and cloudy, with a fresh northeast wind and a falling barometer. It looked as if our fine weather would soon be over and I feared that the different parties out on the trail would be storm-bound. Towards night the wind came on strong east, and continued so through the following day; I was sorry to see this for we should be set towards the west if it continued. The next day, however, was a beautiful day; the air was clear and frosty, with little or no wind. The land was distinctly visible and I thought I could see Wrangell Island to the southwest. It was St. Valentine’s Day and Bob, the cook, sent two of the men valentines of soup advertisements.

About noon the chief engineer and Malloch came in. They were in a sorry condition. They had spent a most uncomfortable night walking about on the ice to keep warm, for late in the afternoon while trying to make quick time they got on to some thin ice and Munro broke through. The sledge began to sink but fortunately Munro got out all right and they held the sledge up long enough to cut the pemmican away. The pemmican was, of course, all lost and their clothes and camping outfit were saturated. The stove was damaged in the accident and they had nothing to warm themselves with. We got them fixed up at once and then cleaned off the sledge and loaded it again, for Breddy and Maurer were to go to the fourth camp the next day.

It was my turn to be watchman that night and I spent a good part of the time studying the chart. From our present position Herald Island seemed to be about sixty miles away.

Breddy and Maurer left on the fifteenth with seven cases of pemmican to go over the trail to the fourth camp.

The next afternoon at four o’clock Chafe and the Eskimo came in. They were heartily welcomed. Chafe reported that he got to a point within three miles of Herald Island when he was held up by open water. In fact for two days he and his party were adrift on a small sheet of ice in a three-mile lead. They were close enough to the island to see the land clearly and in detail but though he looked constantly with binoculars he could see no one on the island nor any tent or other indication that men were there, so he concluded that the mate and his party had carried out their orders and gone on to Wrangell Island. This seemed likely to me and I hoped that it was so. The Eskimo had improved the time in shooting and succeeded in getting four seal.

On the way back the trail was faulted in places and the party had difficulty in finding it. When about twenty miles from Herald Island on their return trip they had come upon the Mackay party, struggling towards the land. Mackay, Murray and Morris were drawing the sledge; Beuchat was a mile and a half behind, with hands and feet frozen and partly delirious from suffering. Morris had cut his left hand with a knife and blood-poisoning had already set in. Chafe’s opinion was that Beuchat would die that night. He said that Beuchat expressed his sorrow that he had left the main party. The Mackay party had taken their pemmican out of the tins before they left Shipwreck Camp and put it all in a bag; in going over some young ice their sledge had got into the water and the bag of pemmican had got wet. Altogether they were in bad shape. Chafe offered them assistance. They declined it and said they were bound for Wrangell Island. They did accept some seal meat which Chafe had. Munro and Malloch had spoken the Mackay party earlier on their march and so had Chafe himself, when he had first started out, but their condition had then been good, though they had been making slow progress, and each party had tried to persuade them to return to Shipwreck Camp.

Chafe reported that he had left all his supplies at the sixth camp, excepting just enough to take him back to Shipwreck Camp. He had lost one dog and had had to leave a broken sledge along the way.