The Palm Oil Ruffian. By Anthony Hamilton. (Greening and Co.
6s.)—This novel deals with the West Coast of Africa, and with a trading adventure in gearcli of rubber in Lagos. The book is written with an apparently intimate knowledge of life on the Gold Coast, and is worth reading as a story of adventure. It is to be deplored, however, that the author has thought fit to intro- duce a long and detailed episode as to the hero Mugliston's marriage with, or rather purchase of, a native woman. The fact that Mugliston is described as "not a bad fellow," and that the episode is treated as a matter of course, makes not only for bad morality, but for bad Imperialism. It may be, and no doubt is, extremely difficult for men living in the wilderness to keep up a high standard of morality, but this is no reason why they should be discouraged from doing so by feeling that it is not worth while to make a struggle because 'every one gives way in the end.' A good example, even in fiction, counts for something, and it is a pity that Mr. Hamilton has disfigured his story by complacently acquiescing in the moral downfall of an Englishman.
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