Voyage of The Karluk - On Wrangel Island

On Wrangel Island

The landfall from Shipwreck Camp had been on the north side of Wrangel Island, at a spot which they named "Icy Spit". Before his departure, Bartlett asked the party to set up several camps around the island, which would increase the hunting areas. The captain also felt that separation into smaller groups would assist general harmony by keeping incompatible characters apart. He wanted all groups to reassemble at Rodgers Harbor, on the south side of the island, about the middle of July.

However, dissension broke out almost immediately after Bartlett's departure over the sharing of food. It had not been possible to drag all the supplies from Shipwreck Camp, and the trek had taken longer than expected; consequently there were grave shortages of biscuit, pemmican (a compound of dried meat, fat and sugar) and dog food on the island. There was little prospect of augmenting supplies by hunting birds and game until the weather improved in May or June. When Hadley and the Inuit, Kuraluk, returned from a seal hunt on the ice, Hadley was widely suspected of concealing the proceeds of the hunt for his own consumption; the same pair were also accused of wasting scarce cooking oil. McKinlay records that the circumstances depressed morale and destroyed comradeship: "The misery and desperation of our situation multiplied every weakness, every quirk of personality, every flaw in character, a thousandfold."

Two attempts were made to travel back to Shipwreck Camp to pick up extra food, but both failed, the second resulting in further losses of dogs and equipment. Chafe, whose feet had become gangrenous after severe frostbite, had his toes removed by second engineer Williamson, with improvised tools. McKinlay and Munro risked their lives by travelling over the sea ice towards Herald Island, in a final effort to locate either of the missing parties. They could get no nearer than 15 miles (24 km), and from an examination of the distant island through binoculars could see no indications of life.

Other health problems persisted; Malloch's frostbitten feet failed to heal, and Mamen's knee, which he had dislocated during the days at Shipwreck Camp, troubled him continuously. A worrying illness began to affect many of the party, the general symptoms were swelling of the legs, ankles and other body parts, accompanied by acute lethargy. Malloch was the worst affected; he died on 17 May, but his tent-mate Mamen was too ill to see to his burial, so the body lay in the tent for several days, creating a "frightful smell", until McKinlay arrived to help. Mamen himself died ten days later of the same debilitating disease.

From early June the diet was augmented with the appearance of birds. These birds and their eggs became a vital source of food; as the supply of seal meat dwindled to nothing, the party was reduced to eating rotten flippers, hide, or any part of a seal that was remotely edible. The sharing of birds became another bone of contention; according to Williamson "Wednesday last, really obtained 6 eggs and 5 birds instead of 2 eggs and 4 birds as they reported." Breddy was suspected of other thefts. On 25 June, after a gunshot was heard, Breddy was found dead in his tent. The circumstances of his death, whether accident, suicide or in Hadley's view, murder (with Williamson as the chief suspect) could not be determined. Williamson later called Hadley's suspicions "hallucinations and absolutely untrue." Various items stolen from McKinlay were found among Breddy's personal effects.

Despite the sombre outlook, the Canadian flag was raised at Rodgers Harbor on 1 July in honour of Dominion Day. Later in the month the party's spirits improved when Kuraluk caught a 600-pound (270 kg) walrus, which provided fresh meat for several days. As August came without sign of a ship and the weather began to turn wintry again, hopes of rescue fell; the party began to prepare for another winter.