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Elisha Kent Kane (1820-57) was a medical officer in the United States Navy, best known for the so-called 'Grinnell voyages' to the Arctic in search of Sir John Franklin's expedition. Originally published in 1856, this two-volume work documents his second expedition, between 1853 and 1855, during which his ship became ice-bound, and he and his men survived by adopting Inuit survival skills, such as hunting, sledge-driving and hut-building. In Volume 1, Kane recounts the dangers posed by icebergs, glaciers and fluctuating tides, which led to his ship's entrapment, and his impressions of the Inuit whom he later relied on for survival. In Volume 2, Kane continues to describe the way of life of the Inuit people who aided him, and their ability to survive in a hostile environment. Kane's writings reveal his own controversial personality as well as his relationship with the Inuit and his admiration for their skills.