Abstract
Robert L. Richards, Dr John Rae . Caedmon of Whitby, Publishers, 1994. Pp. 231, £10.50 (Paperback). ISBN 0 905355 29 6. John Rae (1813-1893) was more typically a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, which awarded him its Founders’ Gold Medal in 1852, than of the Royal Society, which elected him in 1880. An Orkneyman of exceptional health and strength, his prowess was the ability to cover astonishing distances over rugged Arctic and sub-Arctic terrain on foot or by canoe. By his own reckoning, during his most active period as an explorer Rae covered a total of 6555 miles on foot and 6700 miles by open boat, including 1765 miles of unknown territory from 1844 to 1854 (at a cost, he added, of only £2 15s per mile.) After qualifying in Edinburgh as a surgeon - his Doctorate was a later honorary award by McGill University - Rae entered the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and spent 23 years based in that Company’s remote outposts. His energy, intelligence, ability to survive harsh winters in icy wilderness, and general bonhomie , attracted Governor Sir George Simpson to appoint Rae to lead expeditions to explore the complex northern coastal regions, with an eye to the Victorian dream of a Northwest Passage. As a preliminary trip, Rae travelled 1200 miles (in snowshoes!) to Sault Ste. Marie, in order to receive rudimentary but sound tuition in astronomy and surveying
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