Life among the Inuit

The Last Gentleman Adventurer: Coming of Age in the Arctic

By Edward Beauclerk Maurice (2004)

This book is the memoirs of a young man who went to work for the Hudson Bay Company in the 1930s.

The book contains absolutely fascinating anecdotes of life among the Inuit.

Unlike many other HBC agents, the author learned the language and made many friends. Also a very tragic book, as many of his friends died of various illnesses.

The most horrible account is when eleven Inuit out of a band of about thirty died after eating from a rotting whale carcass they found washed up on the beach. The Inuit had plenty of other food (fish and birds) at the time, so it was never clear why they chose to eat the whale meat.