Above thee burns Eve's rosy bar: To gladden happy lovers' eyes : No earth, no wave,-all jewelled skies!" We strongly recommend this charming collection of beautiful poems. 13. The Story of a Dacoity, etc., by G. K. BETHAM (London: W. H. Allen, 1893; 6s.). This book consists of two parts. The first relates, in a graphic and pleasant style, a tale of Indian life fortunately of rare occurrence the night attack by robbers on a village head-man's house, attended with unusual and harrowing fatalities,-the tracing of the murderous outrage to its actors and abettors, their pursuit, capture, and execution. The characters are well drawn, and the narrative spirited and smooth. The second part describes the gaieties into which most Indian stations break out, at least once a year, when dances and dinners, races and athletic sports reign, amid some flirting and much merriment. Here too the narrative is graphic and good; and though it lacks the excitement of the dacoity story, it presents a well-drawn picture of Anglo-Indian life. The whole is a pleasant and interesting book. Publishers should remember that books on India require the revision of their proofs by competent readers. Here we are treated to "Trickinopoly," and "Sahib-tok," "fines (ficus) Indica," "maidau"; and so on. These might pass; but the unconscious use of an improper Hindustani word on page 258 should be rectified at once. 14. Parthia, by PROF. GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A., F.R.G.S. (London: T. Fisher Unwin; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1893; 5s.). This new volume, the 34th of the Story of the Nations Series which is doing good work in popularizing ancient History in detail-is worthy of a place in the Series, and worthy of the high reputation of its author. A good map of Ancient Parthia and its surrounding countries accompanies the work. with several illustrations, especially of Parthian coins. Prof. Rawlinson first gives the geography of Parthia and its surroundings, and what is known of the ethnography of the people, whom he decides to belong to the Turanian race. Then he correctly traces their history in a clear, and pleasant style, through all its vicissitudes, from after the death of Alexander, its contests with its Seleucidan, Bactrian and Armenian neighbours, and its wars with the Romans, to its downfall from a revolt of the Persians, under Artaxerxes. The last chapter-Parthian Art, Religion and Customs -forms a most interesting portion of a wholly interesting work, which, with the other publications of which it forms a part, we can sincerely recommend. 15. Hindustani as it Ought to be Spoken, by J. TWEEDIE, Beng. C.S., 2nd Ed. (Calcutta and London: Thacker and Co., 1893; 6s.). We are glad to welcome anything which is at all likely to help the study of Oriental languages. In this work, the last 225 pages consist of a double vocabulary, English-Hindustani and vice versâ. Of the first 100 pages, no small part is made up of columns of words with their meanings, which the author, in his preface, tells us, one must learn. We hope not; otherwise he will learn much that is not Hindustani at all :-Barun (brown), Kauch (Couch), names of European wines and articles of clothing, etc., which one wonders to find in such a book. Glancing at random, we find numerous mistakes :— Hisab likhna for doing accounts, p. 24; cha, e for Cha, p. 12; chiz sab for furniture; ghuzl for bath; several names of months and days at p. 66; and several ordinals at p. 103. Even the vocabularies are not trustworthy : firmness is not sakhti, and Aru is a better word for peach than Shaftalu. 16. Etudes économiques sur la republique de Nicaragua, par Desiré Pector (Neufchâtel, 1893), is a detailed report on this Central American State, containing useful and reliable information on its geography, politics and commercial statistics, very important for intending emigrants and investors, and interesting to the general reader. 17. The Great Palace of Constantinople, by DR. A. G. PASPATES (London and Paisley: Alexander Gardener, 1893; 10s. 6d.). Mr. William Metcalfe presents us with an excellent translation, from the modern Greek, of the erudite work of the lamented Dr. Paspates. The stout 8vo. volume, accompanied by a map showing the position of the ancient buildings, is of commanding interest to archeologists and, though in a less degree, to readers and students of Byzantine history, which it enables us now to study more clearly by the assignment of localities, that were hitherto little more than mere names. Personal observations and excavations, where practicable, have been supplemented by a rare familiarity with Byzantine writers, whose works have been exhaustively studied for topographical references; and though these works are at times vague and even contradictory, their collation has enabled the erudite author to fix, at least approximately, the sites of most of the places mentioned in Byzantine history. He follows in the main Constantine Porphyrogenitus. Yet studying the text side by side with the map, we cannot but see that a great deal is guess-work and does not quite tally with the description quoted-take, as an instance, the Hall of the Pearl, p. 216. It is not to be expected that one author alone could fix definitely, in one effort, the position of buildings of which all traces are either completely lost, or the sites are covered with modern abominations. Students of Roman Topography will understand the difficulty; and hence we are all the more grateful to Dr. Paspates and his translator for the present attempt, successful as it is almost beyond all hope. 18. Chips by an Old Chum (London: Cassell and Co., 1893; 1s.) is a light and airy sketch of the author's experiences in Australia, some 40 years ago. Things have, of course, changed greatly in the meantime; and the Australia here described can no more be a guide to the colony at the present time, than it can be to ancient Britain; but it is a clear and detailed account of life in Australia in the olden days; and as the author tried town and country life and gold-digging, there is much variety as well as interest in the 94 pages of this well got-up little work. 19. The Spoilt Child, by PEARY CHAND MITTER (Calcutta and London: Thacker and Co., 1893; 4s. 6d.). Mr. Oswell has done well in presenting the English reader with a genuine Bengali novel, written by a Bengali and dealing with Bengali life. Almost all the characters are natives of India, of various castes, religions and states of life. The story is meant to show the evil of excessive parental love, which, by indulging every whim and neglecting to punish, forms that very common evil in India,—a spoilt child. The incidents narrated by the author are good, the tale is full of interest and is well told. Being a didactic tale, however, it, as a matter of course, is rather prosy and goody-goody. Its chief merit consists in the insight which it gives into native manners of life and thought-generally unknown quantities to most Europeans. The translator has done his part well, though there is an occasional slip, as at p. 152, when the visitor snaps his fingers when Matilal sighs-a practice with Hindus, when one yawns. The book is well got up; and we recommend it to our readers as one in which they will find much interest and amusement. 20. From Messrs. C. J. Clay we have received Book VIII. of Herodotus, with an introduction and notes by E. S. SHUCKBURGH, M.A. (Cambridge: University Press; London: C. J. Clay, 1893; 4s.). This volume fully maintains the character of the well-known and justly admired Pitt Press Series. Mr. Shuckburgh's notes are both numerous and good, and the Geographical and Historical Index is both full and valuable. 21. A Short History of China, by DEMETRIUS C. BOULGER (London : W. H. Allen and Co., 1893; 12s. 6d.). Mr. Boulger's larger History of China is favourably known; and this shorter one, which, as he tells us, is more than a mere abridgment of the former, is a book we can recommend to those of our readers, who wish to form a correct idea of the present condition and government of the great Eastern Empire. Ten pages-and quite enough-dispose of the semi-mythical history of the centuries before our era; the next 24 pages bring us nearly to the close of the viiith century A.D., when we reach more trustworthy sources of knowledge; and 12 more pages land us at the Mongol conquest in the xiiith century. The character and deeds of Genghiz Khan are well commented on at pp. 54—56. The Manchu conquest brings us to p. 125; and in the remaining 294 pages, Mr. Boulger treats, in increasing detail, the modern history of China; and more than half the volume deals with the present century. The decline of the Manchu power, the increasing contact with foreigners, the wars and troubles resulting therefrom, the military operations and rebellions that ensued, are all given in good order and proportion. Nor are the internal affairs of the Empire, its intricate system of government and policy, so unintelligible to the ordinary Western reader, neglected: all these points are brought down to date and are treated fairly and impartially. A chronological table of the dynasties and emperors, and, as an appendix, the texts of various treaties between England and China complete a very useful and well-written book. There are blemishes which few works are quite free from. At p. 12, Mr. Boulger who ought to know better repeats the shocking bad character given to Lucrezia Borgia chiefly by Victor Hugo-a character unknown to her good and faithful people of Ferrara. He often calls the Chinese troops opposed to the Taipings the "ever victorious army," forgetting that the name applied to them only after Gordon assumed their direction; and this misnomer is used even on the page where he himself records their defeat. Matteo Ricci, the well-known Jesuit Astronomer, becomes an astrologer at p. 101. The diction, too, is at times prolix, and often capable of useful condensation. But on the whole Mr. Boulger gives us a very readable and exact history, in which we note as a special characteristic, the justice with which he apportions blame, where blame is due, to the foreigners who have themselves pretty often caused that very hatred of the Chinese which they then decry. Instances will be found at pp. 100, 160, 248, etc. There is a useful map; and the work is an excellent book of reference for Libraries. 22. Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Medinah and Meccah, by CAPTAIN SIR RICHARD BURTON, 2 vols. (London: Tylston and Edwards, 1893; 12s.). Lady Burton has undertaken to issue, as a memorial to her late husband, a new edition of his works, at reasonable prices; and Messrs. Tylston and Edwards here give us the first instalment, in a re-issue of perhaps the best known and most popular of Burton's many writings. The two volumes are excellently got up, with the illustrations and maps well executed, and give a good earnest of the rest of Burton's works being made easily accessible to the general reader, in a very creditable form. Of the book itself, but little need be said here as a recommendation, as it had already reached a fourth edition before the author's death. The incidents of a journey, as daringly planned as it was perseveringly and ably conducted, are graphically set down; the author's notes of manners and customs are of the deepest interest; and Burton's many great and good qualities shine forth very prominently. The sustained pretence of being a Muhammadan when he was not, is a matter for more condemnation than it has met with. Many will agree that no amount of knowledge acquired or information procured can compensate for the moral evil done by travestying things sacred for profane purposes. Of course this pretence of being a Musulman reduced considerably both the difficulty and the danger of the undertaking, though we have no intention of derogating from the one or the other. Burton went as an Afghan Muhammadan; and we doubt whether there would have been any more danger for one who professed to be an English or a French Muhammadan. Worthy of all admiration are his talent for disguise, his powers of observation, his readiness in difficulty, his perseverance, tact, endurance and energy which have procured to the world so deeply interesting a narrative of a journey through countries and a description of places which had been till his visit almostbut not quite a sealed book to the West. Our readers will peruse, with pleasure, even if it be not for the first time, Sir Richard's visit to the Hejjaz. 23. The Life of Sir R. F. Burton, K. C.M.G., by his wife (LADY) ISABEL BURTON; 2 vols. (London: Chapman and Hall, 1893; 42s.). These two very bulky volumes, which reflect every credit on the publishers, contain a most elaborate and detailed account of their hero, with copious extracts from his writings published and unpublished, the whole of his own autobiography, and a good deal of Lady Burton's additions, explanations and excursus. The result, though heavy and tiresome to read, is a perfect picture of Sir Richard, with all his gifts and all his defects. Not that Lady Burton ever could see any defect in him to her he was, most excusably, the one man created while all others only grew. But in her blind adoration, she has given much which a more judicious biographer would have omitted; and her indiscriminating publication of all that she can recall of his words and deeds, presents us the man as he really was: strong-minded, strong-bodied and learned in many oriental tongues; passionate, pushing, plucky and persevering; headstrong, venturesome, obstinate and eccentric ; lively, jovial, and highspirited; a good friend and a bitter enemy; an excellent writer, a daring traveller, a successful explorer; self-opinionated, if not vain; with many fine qualities and great gifts, but also with no small defects. What Lady Burton says of the Press writers, that the Burton of their ideas was not the real Burton at all, but a man she had never seen or known (ii. p. 409) is true of herself. From the puerilities related of her first seeing him (i. p. 166) to the moment of going to press with her book, she has worshipped before an ideal idol, unable to see the reality before her; and so far as her biography goes, the Nile, for him and of course for her, really issues out of the Tanganyika Lake, which Burton discovered! It goes without saying that Sir Richard's Biography in Lady Burton's hands becomes also a concurrent biography of Lady Burton ; that in trying unconsciously to paint him in false colours, she unwittingly shows more of his nature than the most skilful painter could have done; and that her own character is laid bare before the reader of her pages as plainly as that of her husband. There is a good deal of unnecessary padding-e.g., long pages of extracts from his published works, extracts from his diary having no connexion with his life (as the Casa Micciola earthquake and other things at ii. p. 253); absurd details such as doses of medicine administered and their effects, newspaper extracts, and the like. Far more serious faults are the attempts to lower the characters of wellknown men, whether because Burton disliked them, or came into contrast with them, as the great Outram, W. G. Palgrave, Speke, Grant, Sir W. Williams of Kars, Monsignor Valerga, etc. Lady Burton's book, full of blemishes as a mere literary production and a conventional biography, is a perfect reproduction of her husband (and of herself), and as such is all the more interesting to read, as it is invaluable for acquiring a thorough knowledge of a remarkable and distinguished man, who is a profitable subject for study, if we admit that "The greatest study of mankind is man." 24. The Chronicles of Budgepore, by ILTUDUS PRITCHARD, F.S.S.,. F.R.G.S. (London: H. Allen and Co., 1893; 6s.). We welcome this new edition of a book which excited much attention and did much good at its first appearance. The facile and graceful pen of the sometime editor of the Delhi Gazette not only charmingly describes the varied phases of Anglo-Indian life, but records also the evils of some workings of the Indian departmental service and [especially the condition of our courts of justice and administration where the European officers are so completely under the thumb of their native officials or Amla, that they see and hear only with the latter's eyes and ears. Many things have changed since these Chronicles were first published at Agra; but we have no reason for thinking that India has changed in this last particular. On the contrary, the throwing open of the service to natives under the competitive system often brings forward to even more prominent positions and places in more influence and power classes of Indians who, except in the matter of knowing English, are utterly unfitted to govern or even to help in governing. The |