Tompkins, Edward, Newfoundland's Interior Explored. St. Johns: Newfoundland Museum, 1986. ISBN 0-9691590-2-1. 23x2lcm., 16pp., illustrated, paper. (Provincial Archives of Newfoundland & Labrador, Colonial Building, Military Rd., St. Johns, Newfoundland A1C 2C9, Canada)

Newfoundland has come a long way since those early days when mapmakers were careful to note that they were mapping the "useful" part of that island.  Naturally the original inhabitants found the entire island useful, and Indian mapping is well discussed in this exhibition catalog.  I was surprised to learn that Mt. Sylvester is a Micmac name, since that name is normally associated with European matters, such as Sylvester's law of quadratic forms, the cat, and so on.  If there were more of these bilingual names to go around, the current flap about whether Canadian places should have Indian or white names could have been avoided.  There is an interesting and informative account of the early exploration of the coast and the interior.  A few maps are illustrated, and at the end there is a list of 89 items in the exhibition, many of them maps.  Overall, a very useful introduction to the exploration of Newfoundland.

David C. Jolly, 1990