"Samuel, the keeper of this diary, is 13 when he signs on as a cabin boy aboard a vessel bound for Sydney. The barque Dundonald founders and sinks off Disappointment Island (part of the Auckland Islands group) in the ocean south of New Zealand on 6 March, 1907. Fifteen survivors endure a harsh winter on this remote island until their rescue in late November that year. Samuel Clark is a fictional character, however the other survivors are all based on real people"--Publisher information.