Diamond Jenness (left) and W.L. McKinlay, on board the Karluk, 1913, by Curtis & Miller

This photograph records a moment of peace on board the Karluk before the harrowing voyage of the Canadian Arctic Expedition (1913-1918) gets underway.

Jenness (1886-1969), a Canadian government ethnologist, was ashore when the ship, caught in pack ice, drifted away and eventually sank. Only 14 crew (including McKinlay, the meteorologist) of the 25 on board survived. Jenness continued overland, inaugurating his distinguished career as a recorder of life in Canada’s North.

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