This is a fictionalized account of a 1769 British expedition from northern Canada across the frozen tundra to very-northern Canada in search of gold. Three British explorers accompanied by four Indians (as they were called in the old accounts) set forth from Prince of Wales Fort, a remote outpost where Indian trappers exchanged furs for utilitarian European artifacts. Indians and Eskimos harbored considerable animus and mistrust for one another. The Europeans considered both groups subhuman. The political and personal interactions insofar as they might be historically accurate are insightful. The corrupting influence of gold, modern technology, and greed is predictably discouraging.