THE ROSE RED CITY.
The Jordan 'Valley and Petra. By William Libbey and,: Franklin E. Hoskins. 2 vols. (G. P. Putnam's Sons. 25s.)—Messrs. Libbey and Hoskins performed a journey of - which they greatly exaggerate the difficulty. There is no- more remarkable episode in modern Turkish history than thatof the pacification of the borders of the Syrian desert, in _ consequence of which an expedition to Petra, until quite recently an undertaking of a somewhat adventurous character, is now- robbed of all but archaeological interest. The authors of the. present work are nevertheless at pains to describe the means they took to avoid dangers that no longer exist. We recommend them to read Musirs account of the perilous dash he made into- the district east of the Petra road, and they will realise both-, what a desert journey may be like, and how it should be related. The ground that Messrs. Libbey and Hoskins covered has been. explored by many distinguished travellers, the results of whose-. labours have been summed up in a monumental work by Briinnow and Domaszewski, themselves as learned as any of the archae- ologists who have passed down the Petra road.. But the two American authors do not appear to have been equipped with any
special knowledge of the problems which the country presents, and they have added nothing to that with which others have furnished us, except a description and photographs of a second 1:Ugh Place at Petra. This is an interesting discovery. It was first published in the Biblical World by Mr. Hoskins, whose original statement is quoted by Briinnow, and is now supplemented by several excellent pictures. The illustrations throughout should be mentioned with praise. The authors are the first to recognise what is due to them, for in their modest preface they speak of their own book as "a valuable addition, by means of a unique series of photographs, to our knowledge of the country to which the Children of Israel came." The preface, together with a quantity of jejune reflections with which the historic associations of the road inspired their pens, might well have been reserved for the sympathetic and uncritical perusal of "the loved ones in our homes" to whom the volumes are dedicated.
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