Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the

Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World

Auckland Island is a godforsaken place in the middle of the Southern Ocean, 285 miles south of New Zealand. With year-round freezing rain and howling winds, it is one of the most forbidding places in the world. To be shipwrecked there means almost certain death.

In 1864 Captain Thomas Musgrave and his crew of four aboard the schooner Grafton wreck on the southern end of the island. Utterly alone in a dense coastal forest, plagued by stinging blowflies and relentless rain, Captain Musgraveâ€”rather than succumb to this dismal fateâ€”inspires his men to take action. With barely more than their bare hands, they build a cabin and, remarkably, a forge, where they manufacture their tools. Under Musgrave's leadership, they band together and remain civilized through even the darkest and most terrifying days.

Incredibly, at the same time on the opposite end of the islandâ€”twenty miles of impassable cliffs and chasms awayâ€”the Invercauld wrecks during a horrible storm. Nineteen men stagger ashore. Unlike Captain Musgrave, the captain of the Invercauld falls apart given the same dismal circumstances. His men fight and split up; some die of starvation, others turn to cannibalism. Only three survive. Musgrave and all of his men not only endure for nearly two years, they also plan their own astonishing escape, setting off on one of the most courageous sea voyages in history.

Using the survivors' journals and historical records, award-winning maritime historian Joan Druett brings this extraordinary untold story to life, a story about leadership and the fine line between order and chaos.
Country USA
Manufacturer Algonquin Books
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2007-06-08
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Algonquin Books
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2007-06-08
Format	Kindle eBook

Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World

You might also like...