Ends of the Earth

The Nooks and Byways of Italy, by Craufurd Tait Ramage, appeared in 1864. Since then it has been a rarity known to few. Miss Edith Clay has edited Ramage in South Italy (Longmans; 45s.) with a tact and scholarship which would have won praise from its author. Mr. Harold Acton, in his preface, reminds us of the affec- tion Norman Douglas felt for this earlier Calabrian traveller. Ramage was twenty-four years old when the diary-letters, on which his book is based, were written. He had come out to Naples in 1825, to tutor the younger sons of our Consul, Sir Henry Lushington. He stayed until 1828, and in that year made his Tour of the Kingdom of the two Sicilies.

Ramage was a sensible Scot, with a sound classical education. He was tactful, charitable, open-minded, respectful of the customs and beliefs of others (although sometimes indlined to irritation with the Roman Church), happily grounded in his own learning and religion, humorous, modest and utterly determined, On neither shoulder was the smallest chip. Ramage was, in fact, the perfect traveller. Often greeted with suspicion, sometimes suspected of being a carbonaro, obstructed at almost every turn by the spies and petty officials of the new and shaky monarchy, Ramage forged on, observing, comparing, copying inscriptions, eating poor food and sleeping in worse beds, suffering from the heat, but always patient, making light of his trials, and everywhere making friends. He toured the whole toe and heel of Italy, leaving almost nothing out.

Miss Clay has done a splendidly self-effacing job as editor. She has left out the bulk of the classical inscriptions Ramage collected, with some of his disquisitions on agriculture and in- dustry. No more sympathetic, imaginative or, in his way, courageous traveller ever sat a mule. The publication of his book is a more-than-wel- come addition to the available literature of travel.

In Majorca Observed (Cassell, 36s.) Robert Graves is too stoical, too experienced, like the Majorcans too courteous, for his feelings for the pre-war Majorca to be anguished ones; but he might well be profoundly irritated at recent changes in the island. About 1928, sadly certain that England would become intolerable, he con- sulted Gertrude Stein, who recommended Majorca. He wanted 'good wine, good neigh- bours, and not too great a distance from the Greenwich meridian.' All these the island pro- vided. He went, he stayed, he built a house. In 1936, when the Revolution broke out in Spain, he had to leave and, other events crowding on, could not get back again until 1946. This book is a series of sketches, letters and dialogues, beautifully turned, giving impressions, direct or oblique, of a harshly beautiful country, of ancient courtesies and idiosyncrasies, a strongly- marked local character now being modified to meet the wishes of the planeloads which arrive daily. There is much humour in this book. Paul Hogarth's pencil drawings, if enigmatic at first glance, will be found to complement admir- ably the ironic subtleties of Mr. Graves's text.

From the thirsty Mediterranean to North and Central Africa (athirst for water and much else), Dr. Arnold Toynbee takes us briskly in Between Niger and Nile (O.U.P., 21s.). This short travel- book is a record of visits to the United Arab Republic in 1961, to Morocco in 1962, and to Nigeria, the Sudan, Ethiopia, Libya and the UAR again in 1964. Dr. Toynbee is not retreat- ing from anything. He looki to the future, technologically. He carries lightly his prodigious scholarship and great experience of travel. He has serious warnings both for his hosts and for the world at large. Just conceivably, Dr. Toyn- bee's scope is too ample, his view of mankind taken from too near the peaks. 'What a 'pity that the pyramid-builders did not immortalise themselves in a more productive way!' he re- marks. It seems only too probable that we are not yet finished with the pyramid-builders.

Revised and largely rewritten, Syria and Lebanon, by Robin Fedden (John Murray, 35s.),

should find many new, readers. This is a truly

admirable book. Mr. Fedden is a better writer than Ramage, and certainly as resolute in pur-

suit of what interests him. But there is nothing rambling about this book. If, at one level, it is a fascinating travelogue which makes the reader see, and long immediately to experience, the deserts and mountains, the oases, orchards, ruined classical cities and Crusader castles, the wild diversity of these lands, on another it is sober history, lucidly presented, and more

coherent than any other single work on the sub- ject. This new edition is well illustrated and indexed, has a good bibliography and useful notes on travelling in Syria.

Miss Dervla Murphy, in Full Tilt (Jolla Murray, 25s.), proves herself a true traveller.

Ramage, who thought 'there is no great good to be gained without incurring some danger,' would surely have approved of her. Miss Murphy went from Ireland to India on a bicycle, thus honouring a vow made at the age of ten. She chose the worst winter for eighty years (1963) to set off, after posting ahead some spare tyres, and practising with her .25 automatic in the Wicklow Hills—just in case. It was a wise precaution. Attacked by wolves at dusk, some- where in Yugoslavia, she bagged two; later she dispersed some robbers with a shot in the air.

After Europe, oddly enough, the .25 was not needed. Other methods quelled a fresh police- man in Azerbaijan. Miss Murphy engages sym- pathy from the start, by the qualities of tact, charity and courage, already mentioned.

Many of those who served in India during the last war would have given much for the chances of exploration described by Rupert Croft-Cooke in The Gorgeous East (W. H. Allen, 25s). As an officer of Field Security, Mr. Croft-Cooke

was allowed--enjoined, in fact—to play a lone

hand, make his own rules, work in his own waY. He was able to travel far, to see Goa and Orchhar, as well as Fatehpur Sikri and the Taj; to get to know Bombay and Delhi intimately; to make delighted discovery of Bijapur. Love of India, a real ability to get on with Indians, helped him to notable finds, particularly in food. His vision of India itself is clear, unhackneyed; his view of the Raj myopic, vaguely resentful, his criticisms peevish and without much weight.

After twenty-one years, Mr. Croft-Cooke re- turned to India last year, picked up some old threads, had optimistic comments to make on changes in the Indian scene. But the best things in the book belong to the years of war.

The new Shell Guide to Lincolnshire) (Faber, 15s.) would be worth its price simply for the thirteen church spires grouped all together at

tht beginning. The guide is by Henry Thorold and Jack Yates. Lincolnshire, rich in churches. with Lincoln Cathedral and Boston as its great jewels, has one or two grand houses, but is also rich in good small and medium-sized houses to both country and town. Its landscape is more varied than most people believe; its woods and wolds have their own special beauty.

WILLIAM BUCHAN