A Paraguayan Treasure. By Alexander F. Baillie, F.R.G.S. (Simpkin, Marshall,
and Co.)—This book is so realistic, in its best sense, that it took us some time to decide whether it was a true history or a fictitious narrative. The author is evidently of opinion that "an honest tale speeds beet being plainly told ;" and the simplicity and directness of his literary style add to the veraimili- tude of his narrative. There is a legend in Paraguay that Marshal Lopez, "El Supremo," as he called himself, whose strange career and tragic death is one of the moat remarkable episodes of modern history, buried somewhere not far from the Brazilian frontier a vast treasure, and then killed all who were privy to its concealment. It is a tempting subject for a story, and the search for the treasure is the motif of Mr. Beanie's narrative. Incidentally, he gives a vivid and interesting account of the country and its people ; and the book reads like a record of actual travel, in a region which, to most Englishmen, is a terra incognita. Albeit the story is neither so dramatic as "The Treasure Island," nor so sensational as "King Solomon's Mines," it is more trnthlike than either, and pleasantly told. As to how the treasure of gold and silver was found and lost, and how another treasure, still more precious, was found and kept, we must refer our readers to the book itself, which will well repay perusal.
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