The account was from Koo- nik, a thirteen-year-old boy in 1849 when he went on a seal-hunting excursion with his uncle west of King William Island. He and his uncle had climbed a large hummock and found a massive boat wedged in a large ice floe.

“Kobluna,” the uncle had said, as they made their way to the vessel.

As they moved closer, they heard much yelling and screaming coming from the depths of the ship. A wild-eyed man with long hair waved for them to come alongside. With a freshly caught seal for barter, they were quickly invited onto the deck. Several more men appeared, dirty and emaciated, with dried blood covering their clothes. One of the men stared at Koo-nik, babbling incoherently, as two other men danced around the deck. The crew sang an odd chant, calling themselves the “men of blackness.” They all seemed possessed by evil spirits, Koo- nik thought. Frightened by the specter, Koo- nik clung to his uncle as the elder man traded the seal meat for two knives and some shiny silver stones that the Koblunas said had unique warming powers. The Koblunas promised more cutting tools and silver stones if the Inuit returned with more seal meat. Koo-nik left with his uncle but never saw the boat again. He reported that his uncle and some other men took a large number of seals to the boat a few weeks later and returned with many knives and a kayak filled with the Black Kobluna.”

“It had to have been the ruthenium,” Loren said excitedly.

“Yes, the Black Kobluna,” Pitt agreed. “But where did Franklin’s crew acquire it?”

“It might possibly have been discovered on one of the neighboring islands during a sledging excursion, while the ships were locked in the ice,” Perlmutter ventured. “Of course a mine could have been discovered much earlier in the expedition, anywhere from Greenland to Victoria Island, covering a distance of thousands of miles. Not much to go on, I’m afraid.”

“What I find strange is the behavior of the crew,” Loren noted.

“I heard a similar tale of some mill workers in South Africa going loony, which was blamed on possible exposure to ruthenium,” Pitt replied. “None of it makes sense, though, as there is nothing inherently dangerous about the mineral.”

“Perhaps it was just the horrible conditions they endured. Starving and freezing all those winters, trapped in a dark, cramped ship,” Loren said. “That would be enough to drive me crazy.”

“Throw in scurvy and frostbite, not to mention botulism brought on from a shoddy supply of tinned foods sealed with lead, and you would have plenty to test a man’s wits,” Perlmutter agreed.

“Just one of several unanswered questions associated with the expedition,” Pitt said.

“The account seems to confirm your trader’s story from the Miners Co-op,” Perlmutter noted.

“Maybe the answer to where the mineral came from still lies on the ship,” Loren suggested.