Adventures among Hunters and Trappers. By Ernest Young, B.Sc. (Seeley,
Service and Co. 5s.)—Mr. Young has gone far and wide in his search for materials for his book. There are old stories of adventure and there are new—the list of acknowledgments in the preface shows that no pains have been spared in collecting recent examples. This is as it should be, for some of the books thus made to contribute are not likely to come in the way of the ordinary reader, and we "are taken to all parts of the ;world as we follow these men of adventure. We see the North American trappers at work, a special chapter being given to the beaver. Then we go to sea in search for whales and seals. Later on we see the bear hunted in Siberia and the elephant in India and Ceylon. The elephant chapter is followed by one of the most in- tsresting in the book, as it is both full of excitement and has a prac- tical connexion with every-day life. It is the story of how animals are taken to stock the zoological gardens of the world.. Much of it comes from Beasts and Men, by Herr Hagenbeck, of Hamburg. An article by Captain Duquesne in Pry's Magazine is also utilized. It would not be easy to beat the story of how a lion was caught in a net or the more tragic tale of the rhinoceros. Here a young animal was secured, but at the cost of a Kaffir's life; the mother rhinoceros could not be got out of the pit. The lion was caught without loss. And here comet in a curious device of modern science. Morphine was injected into the creature's body by a hypodermic syringe and reduced him from a furious rage into unconsciousness. The general result of this treatment is that whereas four out of five of the captured animals used to die from the effect of their furious struggle for liberty, the loss is now only one in ten. No wonder that the black man wonders at the white man's magic.
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