NORTH AMERICAN CANOE COUNTRY

Reader's of veteran woodsman Calvin Rutstrum's newest book should not be misled by the title. While the setting of its ventures is North America, it is mainly about canoeing itself. Mr. Rutstrum surveys the types of canoes in past and current use from the Kwakiutl dugout of the Canadian West Coast Indians to the square stern canoe so built for utboard motor application. He gives a lesson in canoeing (informing on how to behave in heavy seas); advises on how to select and plan a canoe route with the help of trip sheets (telling where to obtain them); points out how to find one's way with the proper use of a compass; discusses organized youth camp canoeing and dealing with canoe outfitters. There are notes on equipment, and the appendices provide lists for clothes, personal items, camp equipment, cooking utensils, provisions. His reference to his own experiences in the wilderness and to several outstanding expeditions add little by way of reading pleasures to a book which is primarily advisory.