Squamous Esquimaux

I just want to plug Dan Simmon's novel "The Terror." It's really excellent historical fiction speculating on the final fate of the lost ships Terror and Erebus on their failed search for the Northwest Passage. It's got enough attention to nautical details to be authentic but never gets bogged down in tedium like a lot of tall ship-based books do. It also has esquimaux and a possibly supernatural horror gruesomely murdering dozens of sailors. I'm kind of a big jerk for fiction and non-fiction on sailing in that era but this one is a cut above.

http://www.amazon.com/Terror-Novel-Dan-Simmons/dp/0316017442