In the Ice World of Rimcilaya. By Fanny Bullock Workman
and William Hunter Workman. (T. Fisher Unwin. 6s.)—There is a great amount of what seems to us unnecessary grumbling in the story which these two distinguished mountaineers tell us. By " unnecessary " we do not mean " causeless." The people complained of, coolies and officials, may have failed in their duty and given good reasons for complaint,—but why worry the reader with these things ? In such a book as this there should be a plain account of what was attempted and what was achieved, uninterrupted by unnecessary matter; and any suggestions or cautions that it may be thought well to give for the benefit of future travellers might be relegated to an appendix. The book, while it contains interest- ing accounts of mountain adventure, is distinctly less agreeable to read than it might have been. We see that our authors echo the thoughtless, sometimes, we fear, malicious, words of Anglo- Indians about the character of native converts. There is a pamphlet, published, we think, by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, made np wholly of lay opinions on this subjecb which it would be well for our authors to study. If they prefer the idle talk of Indian stations to the deliberate judgments of each men as the Lawrences, Grant, Edwardes, and other great statesmen and rulers, there is nothing more to be said.
Previous page
