15 DECEMBER 1883, Page 22

Marvels of the Polar World. Translated from the French of

C. Lesbazeilles, by Robert Rontledge. (Routledge and Sons.)—We read here about the natural history of the Polar regions ; we have also the records, somewhat sad, on the whole, and if full of courage and stead- fastness, full also of suffering and failure, of the attempts which have been made to explore, and even to colonise them. The life, too, of the tribes which some strange necessity drives into these inhospitable regions is a melancholy story. There is a long struggle against nature, which is nowhere so malign, and they are being slowly worsted in it. Of all these matters, M. Lesbazeilles gives us a very interesting account.