HUTCHISON, Isobel Wylie.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Arctic Nights' Entertainments: First edition of Estonian-Canadian navigator and polar explorer Augustus Masik's memoir. Masik spent his "life hunting, trading, etc., mainly in northern Alaska and Siberia since the early 20th century" (Arctic Bibliography). Hutchison was told the story of Masik's life while she was travelling with him. She heard of his time as a gold prospector, working on scientific expeditions and in aviation. Isobel Wylie Hutchison (1889-1982) was sent on her 1933-4 Alaskan-Canadian expedition to collect botanical specimens and reached as far north as Herschel Island. Hutchinson met Masik during her travels at Point Barrow where he agreed to take her as far east as possible. The pair reached Barter Island where the ice made the sea impassable. Stuck at Barter Island, still 120 miles from her final destination, Masik invited Hutchinson to live with him. They spent six weeks living in a single-room round hut, during which Hutchinson would transcribe his life story. When the ice thinned, Masik ferried Hutchinson to Herschel Island, and later, he would visit her in her native home of Scotland.

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