Canoelit

JOURNEY TO THE POLAR SEA
By Capt. John Franklin
NARRATIVE OF THE GREAT FISH RIVER EXPEDITION
By Capt. George Back

There are two great pleasures about collecting classic exploration narratives: the sheer joy of owning a sensuous, antique creation in paper and leather, and a physical link to the past. To most of us, however, the cost of many of these great books is prohibitive at best... criminal at worst.

Back's Great Fish River Expedition (1833-35) and Franklin's Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea (1819-1822) are two books that would set you back many thousands of dollars in their original form. Even reproductions, such as the renown Hurtig reprints of the 1970s cost more than $100... when you can find them!

One Nova Scotia-based company, however, has an economical solution for the impoverished paddler: Antiquarian Electronic Books.. CD-Academia offers a catalog of Arctic Discovery series, and the blending of the old and new technologies is a wonder to behold.

CD Academia puts these classic works in the hands of cost-conscious canoeists through a powerful software program called Adobe Acrobat--a unique application that works on either Mac or Windows platforms. Acrobat, originally used by the graphics industry to convert multi-megabyte, multi-page images and documents into much smaller kilobyte electronic files, faithfully reproduces original graphics, photos, and text for viewing on-screen. It is now widely used to distribute catalogues, documents, and manuals etc., over the Internet, but as a means of replicating rare and exotic manuscripts and books, such as the works of northern explorers Franklin and Back, the power of Acrobat truly shines.

CD-Academia has scanned the original books, including maps and art, and reproduced them on a CD. That means you can read the book, page by page, in its original typeface or a modern one. But it's much more than a simple reproduction, thanks to Acrobat. You can jump back and forth between the text and the beautiful artwork and maps thanks to the quality reproduction (shown above).

You can switch between chapters and search keywords with ease. Click on any of the hundreds of sub-headings of subjects on the old-style Contents pages and you are instantly transported to that reference. It's an incredible way to obtain the information, without the limits of a high price or, admittedly, the joy of holding it in your hands.

We have looked at the Back River in this Outfit of Che-Mun on a couple of levels. A CD like this allows you to put these various trips and stories on this great river into a historical context, to read about whom the Baillie River is named after (yes, it is George Baillie), and what Back and his men went through on their descent of the Great Fish in that frigid summer of 1834. It will be a mandatory purchase for all Back River paddlers.

Currently there are five CDs in the series; Franklin's first two expeditions, as well as two by Back, including his lesser-known expedition in HMS Terror in 1836-7, and Capt Lyon's journal from the Hecla in the 1820s. Prices range from $69.95 for the first Franklin to $39.95 for Backs' two works. You can contact CD-Academia at www.cd-books.com/.

MY HEART ON THE YUKON RIVER
By Monique Dykstra
WSU Press, Pullman, Wash
128pp 1997. US$24.95
ISDN: 0-87422-157-9

The huge difference between the Canadian and American North is apparent in this unique and touching book. Photographer Monique Dykstra loaded up her canoe with Hasselblads, strobes, and batteries, and set off to record the people she met along the sprawling Yukon River in the summer of 1993. You could try the same project on any northern Canadian River but the end result would be a significantly thinner book.

The Yukon which starts out in Yukon and rolls across Alaska has always had a history of settlement along its swiftly flowing banks. There are no major water obstacles, falls or big rapids, so the river is really a highway, which affords many people the chance to live out their dream homesteading in the north.

There are some wonderful stories here--very few "boring or average" people undertake this northern life. Dykstra's photos are moving and touching portraits, though often similar in look-featuring that artsy stare-at-the-camera pose.

Families, trappers, dreamers, and outcasts-they dot the shores of the mighty Yukon as it stretches to infinity serving as the last outposts of humanity. s