Arctic Breakthough: Franklin’s Expeditions, 1819–1847 by Paul Nanton, and: The Search for Franklin by Leslie H. Neatby, and: Campbell of the Yukon by Clifford Wilson, and: Ethnohistory in Southwestern Alaska and the Southern Yukon: Method and Content ed. by Margaret Lantis (review)

82 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW frequently wereineffective owingtotheabsence ofcareening andrefittingfacilities. Muchof theauthor's evidence suggests thatHocquartwasguiltyoffoliedegrandeur whenheviewedtheprojectednavaldockyardasa remedyfor theeconomic illsof New France,especially after welearnthatcareening andwinteringfacilities could notbeinstalledat Quebec.Also,oncethe yardwasin production,Hocquartgrew hostileto privateshipbuilding, and asearlyas •735 he had reliablereportsthat Canadiantimberwasunsuitable for ships withkeel-lengths of over •oofeet.Nine of twelveshipsbuilt for the navy had keel lengthsof over I •5 feet. Yet Mathieu dismisses Hocquart's curiousrolewithanexcuse; bothheandMaurepaswerefaced witha newsituationinvolvingunknown,unexploitedforestresources. Mathieu's treatmentof thelocation anderectionof thedockyard raises asmany questions asitanswers. Onewouldliketoknowmoreaboutthereasons forconstantly expandingtheshipbuilding facilities. Whatwastherationalefor constructing naval vessels of different sizes,and who profited from the half million livrespaid in propertytransfersand for workdoneon theyard?Elsewhere,the treatmentof the labourforcein the dockyardindicates thatjealousyarosebetweenCanadianand Frenchworkmenoverwagedifferentials, andasteady supply of labourfromFrance wasrequiredasCanadiansgraduallydrifted awayduring the •74os.Yet Mathieu concludes thatdespiteallthisthedockyardassisted theeconomy. Beyondpouring •,ooo,ooo livresintoNewFranceanddestroying theprivateshipbuilding industry,it isdifficulttoseehow.Mathieushows thattimbersuppliers werenobodies whobarely madea profit,if atall.To whomwereallthesefundspaid? Nevertheless, one mustemphasize that thisstudyis an importantcontribution because it raises questions andpointstoareaswherefurther answers totheproblem of the Frenchgovernment's rolein Canada'seconomic developmentmaybefound. Mathieu's treatmentof thetimbersupplyproblemisthemostsatisfactory partof the book.It isalsomostrevealing,and containsthe keyto the author'sexplanation{br the failure of navalshipbuilding.He arguesconvincingly that Canadiantimberwas unsuitablefor large ships,and that despitethe government'sgoodintentionsthis spelledthe defeatof the industry.All the more reason,however,to questionHocquart 'ssupportof the project.In addition,navalshipbuilding contributedto overproduction intheancillary industries. The authorhaspointedtotheprincipalcause of failureof navalshipbuilding. He shouldbeencouraged toinvestigate whetherthe industryhelpedcolonists tooffsettheworsteffects oftheeconomic crisis ofthe 174os or if it exacerbated them. JAMES PRITCHARD Queen's Unive•:4ty ArcticBreakthough: Franklin's Expeditions, •r8•9-•847. PAUL NANTON. Toronto, Vancouver ,Clarke,Irwin, •97o-Pp.xiv,•6•, maps.$6.5o. TheSearchJbr Franklin.LESLIE H. NEATLY. Edmonton,Hutrig, •97o. Pp. •8 I, maps. $7.05. Campbell qlc theYukon.CLIFFORD WILSON. Toronto, Macmillan, •97o. Pp. xxvi, •89, illus.$8.95 Ethnohisto•y in Southwestern Alaska andtheSouthern Yukon: Method andContent. Edited REVIEWS 83 byMARGARET LANTIS. Studies in Anthropology, no7. Lexington, University of KentuckyPress ,197o.Pp.viii,31l, illus.$9.75. The growinginterestinthedevelopment of theArcticregionof Canadaindicatedby the voyages of the tanker Manhattanand the current vigoroussearch[br mineral resources hasinspiredthe twobookscentredaroundthe Arcticcareerof the tragic SirJohnFranklin.Arctic Breakthrough isessentially an adventurestory,retellingthe taleofFranklin's difficult,heroicexpeditions of •8•9-22 and •825-7whichmapped partsofthenorthcoast ofcontinental NorthAmerica.Bothoperations aredescribed atlengthinFranklin's books; Nantonselects longpassages (asmuchasseven pages in oneinstance, andaroundhalfhisentirebookintheaggregate) fromthose works.His contributionessentially consists of abridgingthe remainderof the two textsand distributing their partsbetweenthequotedsections. Scarcely anyeffort ismadeto checkFranklin'saccounts againstthe statements of hiscontemporaries, to identify persons or places named,or eventoexplainsuchpeculiarities of theoriginalsasthe constant useof 'reindeer'to denotecaribou.There isonlya verylimitedeffort to assess theactions or achievements of Franklinin a brief appendix,whichismostly takenup withassessments byotherwriters,quotedwithoutcomment.The bookhas anavowedly educative purpose - toinspireCanadians toappreciate andemulatethe valourandenduranceof the hardyexplorers.Hopefully,it isnotintendedalsoasa modelfor historicalresearch andwriting. L.H. Neatby's TheSearch for Franklinisin sharpcontrast. Its scope extendsfrom thebeginnings ofBritish exploration oftheCanadian Arcticandittraces geographicaland technological advances to the middleof the nineteenthcentury,whereit concentrates onthemanyexpeditions thatsoughttodiscover thefateof thecrews of HMS Erebus and Terrorand that incidentallyclearedup manyof the geographical problemsof the ArcticArchipelago.Asidefrom itsrange,the writingalsoreflects soundscholarship. The author's research andprevious writingsappearin hischoice of incidentsand extractsfrom the explorers'writings,and hischeckingof their statements againstotherwritingsand manuscript sources. The workof theexpeditionsisrelatedagainst theappropriate scientific andtechnological backgrounds and their immediateand long-termachievements are evaluated.There are admirable sketches of themaincharacters, examinations of explorers'methods, andforthright assessments of theircontributions. Though Neatby's account of thefirsttwoFranklin expeditions isscarcely one-tenthaslongasNanton's,histreatmentisasthorough,the narrativequalityis as good,and he is far ahead in analyzing,evaluating,and resolvingthe problemsof the expeditions.The merits of the book make it an acceptable texton theexplorationof ArcticCanadathat deserves a regularplaceon future Canadianhistoryreadinglists. The third volume,a brief biographyof the great fur-trader explorer of the Northwest, Carapbell qftheYukon, isacompromise between thetwoprevious worksin the treatmentof its subject. The accountof the hardshipsand dangersfacedby RobertCampbellin extendingthefur-tradeacross the Rockies to the upper Liard andYukonregionresembles Arctic Breakthrough inbeingbasedmainlyonCampbell's memoirof hisservice with the Hudson'sBayCompanyfrom •83o to •87•, which 84 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Campbellwrote as a very old man mainlyfrom memory.Here again,the text presents extensive extracts fromthisandothermanuscript sources, buttheauthor's knowledgeof the period,especially of the historyof the fur-trade, enables him to commenton, and throw new light on Campbell'scareer from pertinent letters, reports,andothercontemporarymaterials. By coincidence...