Igloo for the Night, by Mrs. Tom Manning + A Summer on Hudson Bay by Mrs. Tom Manning

There are few persons interested in Canada’s Northland who have not heard of Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Manning: Tom, who has spent much of the last sixteen years in the Eastern Arctic and, as I know from having accompanied him on one expedition, travels faster and often harder than an Eskimo; and Jackie, his wife, who in 1938 went north to join him for the first two and a half years of their married life in the exploration of Foxe Basin. In the summers of 1945 and 1946 Mrs. Manning again travelled with her husband on journeys undertaken for the Geodetic Service of Canada on the east and west coasts of Hudson Bay. I t is of these two experiences that Mrs. Manning has written in ‘Igloo for the night’ and ‘A summer on Hudson Bay’. On the earlier trip, described in ‘Igloo for the night’, the hlannings lived and travelled like Eskimo: in tents and by whaleboat or canoe in summer, in igloos and by dog-team in winter. They had no contact with any other human beings for over a year and received their first mail after eighteen months. Much of scientific value was accomplished and for this work Mr. Manning was awarded the Patron’s. Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society. The book provides a good description of the Eskimo of the Eastern Arctic and their way of life and also demonstrates t h e n e c e s s i t y f o r d e t e r m i n a t i o n , endurance, self-reliance, and self-discipline in arctic travel. Thc ncwco~ncr to the Arctic will be particularly impressed with what, given experience, can be accomplished without elaborate equipment or supplies. ‘A summer on Hudson Bay’ describes the 1945 and 1946 journeys. This book also contains much of general interest about the Eastern Arctic. During the first summer Mr. and Mrs. Manning met some of the inland Caribou Eskimo who have as yet scarcely been influenced by white men. Most of the second summer they spent travelling with Eskimo on the coast of Ungava; these Eskimo are depicted in an attractive manner, both their charming characteristics and their faults being described. Although the journeys were less hazardous and less rough than those dealt with in ‘Igloo for the night’ they were not without difficulty. In these days it is possible that almost any Canadian may find himself required to go North and to undertake, with very little previous experience, the type of life described in this book. Some of the peculiar hazards of Northland flying, a subject of continually increasing interest, are given. As Mrs. Manning points out more than once: the North must be treated with respect and most of the accidents of the North could, with foresight, be avoided. The book contains, as an appendix, a paper by Mr. Manning on the birds of northwestern Ungava, based both on his own work during four summers in that region and on earlier work by other ornithologists. This appendix should prove instructive to those interested in the bird life of Canada. The book is reasonably illustrated but unfortunately the map printed on the inner cover is small and not well co-ordinated with the text. I t is the duty of every newcomer to the North to obtain some knowledge of the land; by so doing he equips himself to act in an emergency and also to derive enjoyment from his sojourn. Such knowledge can be obtained by reading the books of those few northern travellers who have an expert knowledge of the country and the gift of writing faithfully without exaggeration. Mrs. Manning is fortunate in meeting both these criteria. She is not only well qualified in her subject, she also writes in a clear and attractive style. P. M. BENNETT