finely tempered
personalities
which give to
In The Indian Tribes of the Upper Missis.
In The Indian Tribes of the Upper Missis.
Athenaeum - London - 1912a
.
.
they about a thousand miles of the coast
of Mr. Thurston's prose. The coloured bread, tea, and cooked meats of the settlers
aro charming, the black-and-white and Nature rebels. The Southern Eskimos are
as accurately as that drawn by the Admiralty
are sometimes exceedingly good (as on less hardy, they cannot bear the cold so well, Survey. The introduction of an English
but need more fire, more clothing, and more warm
p. 127) and sometimes as surprisingly bad. food, and their children are puny. . . . If they of place among a people whose memories are
system of education seems strangely out
À writer and an artist who can sometimes give up their native foods they will dwindle and so well developed. Memory and eyesight
do so well ought always to do well, one die out. "
will be weakened by too great a dependence
feels.
We entirely agree with him, and are on books.
therefore the more surprised to find that he The author ends his interesting narrative
Memorials of Old Gloucestershire (George approves of the introduction among them by telling us that the policy of the mission-
Allen), edited by the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, of European foods, such as tea, bread, bacon; aries has been “to make the Eskimo a better
is & volume which is of interest, but is of wooden, linoleum-covered floors ; of | Eskimo. " To us it would rather appear
incomplete. “Memorials " is a word vague bedsteads, sofas, and even gramophones ; from his account that we ourselves have
enough to include anything, but we fail to and, yet stranger to relatę, glass windows something to learn from this prehistoric
understand the principle on which the various on hinges.
people in the way of common sense', as well
contributors have worked. Dr. Cox is re-
It is sad to read that their winter houses
as in methods of education and government.
sponsible for a chapter on the Forest of Dean,
“ dark and noisome," and that the art
Dr. Wallace felt the same about the forest-
and he tells us that it is foreign to the purpose of carving is disappearing. Dr. Rink was
dwellers of the Malay Archipelago, and he
of his essay to enter into the question of
the administration of the Forest.
But an
one of the first travellers to give Western pointed out many ways in which the English
Europeans some idea of the Eskimos at would be made better English if they would
account of that district which omits to
home. His book is illustrated by the clever learn from Nature's children.
mention the Speech House, where the
drawings of a native who shows the winter The photographs which serve as illustra-
gives no information about the laws of the by no means to be despised.
Freeminers hold their ancient Court, and house to have been well constructed, and tions are excellent, but we regret that the
subject-matter is not better arranged, and
Freeminers, cannot be considered satisfactory.
There are 25 pages on Chatterton, and a good
also that the map is not referred to in the
The following is also illuminating :-
text.
deal about Bristol Cathedral; but Gloucester “ The summer of 1904 saw the hospital. . . . in
Cathedral has apparently been forgotten, | full going order, for among the many things that
Hunters and Hunting in the Arctic. By
though the work has been copiously_illus-
the Harmony brought were the bedsteads and
trated. We note that Sir Francis Drake
Translated by H.
bedding for the wards. Our servant a bright the Duke of Orleans.
and active Eskimo girl of eighteen. . . . touched Grahame Richards. (Nutt. . -In four recent
is named, but that Sir Walter Raleigh is
my arm. . . . and said, • What are they ? '. . . summers the Duke of Orleans has made
omitted. Houses in which, local tradition - Why, these are the bedsteads. ' Bedsteads ? '
says, they lived are still standing and -this with a puzzled air,
voyages in Arctic waters the last three in
• Ahaila, beds for the
.
)
his steam-yacht Belgica of Antarctic fame.
are close together. There is an interesting sick people; old Emilia is the only
person in bed, He might, indeed, almost be styled a seasoned
chapter by Canon Carbonel on the famous
and she is not sick, only old. '
Arctic explorer, if he had not managed,
glass at Fairford ; but, though Mr. Ditchfield
“ I tried (says Dr. Hutton] to explain to her through skill or good fortune, or a com-
goes out of his way to say that the glass that these bedsteads were to be. . . . in readiness bination of them, to avoid passing a winter
came from the Netherlands, his contributor for any possible sick persons during the future.
in those regions. In 1905 he succeeded in
is allowed to give an account which is incon- “Ai, ai," she said, there are going to be sick reaching the highest latitude till then
sistent with the editor's words. The article people ? Who will it be? '”
attained on the shores of East Greenland,
on the 'Norman Doorways of Gloucester- We are still wondering what bedsteads and and in adding to the map a stretch of coast-
shire' is valuable, and the many photo- hospital wards have to do with Eskimo line (surveyed only from the ship), besides
graphs of these add to the usefulness of the hunters, and also whether Dr. Hutton has
a group of islets, named by him“ Isles de
book. We are sorry that there is no map forgotten the subtle influence of suggestion.
France,” which figure variously (and rather
of the county in the volume ; but there is a
The women are extraordinarily skilful, absurdly) in this book as the French
good Index, in which we have noted only as the following instance may show :-
Islands and * French Land. ” Of this
one mistake.
*** Be wise in time, and wear Eskimo clothes,' expedition, and of the succeeding one in
was the advice of & missionary, who said he 1907, he has published narratives in diary
would arrange matters for me ; accordingly the form, which have not been translated into
village 'tailor,' square - faced, brisk little English ; and in the present volume he
NORTHERN REGIONS.
Eskimo woman, came in one day like a miniature has brought together the hunting experi-
hurricane. There was
no aloofness
about her . . . . she stood me up, and looked at me,
ences of his four voyages under the headings
To those caught in the tangled net of an and measured me with her arms, and walked out of Trappers,' 'Bears and their Cubs,'
artificial civilization there can be no greater satisfied. "A bit taller than my husband, and ‘Reindeer, The Walrus and Seals. ' The
refreshment than the Real. Next best to not so fat '-was her comment
; and the
outcome habits of the animals indicated are by this time
the Real itself is a sympathetic account of a
of it all was that after a few days she turned up
familiar to readers of Arctic travel-books ;
people living in close touch with Nature.
again with a big bundle, and I found myself the
possessor of a dicky' (blanket smock) and a
and the Duke has wisely refrained from
Such an account Dr. S. K. Hutton has given complete suit of sealskins. . . . and all for the outlay padding his pages with zoological details,
us in his interesting book Among the Eskimos of a modest sum. ,. . . for the good woman's preferring to extract from his diaries the
of Labrador (Seeley, Service & Co. ). Prof. excellent needlework. '
record of his own sporting adventures.
Sollas tells us that these Eskimos are the
The author has a good deal to relate This system, or want of system, renders his
modern, though degenerate, representatives
of the prehistoric Magdalenian folk, who concerning the moral excellences of the book, far more graphic and readable, but
Eskimos. Thus he tells us :--
has the effect of jumbling together in
lived, wandered, and worked in Europe
during the last glacial epoch, and whose
" The Drink Evil began in 1907. Several puzzling fashion the occurrences of different
years-. g. , on pp. 180 and 191 the same seal.
implements, drawings, and carvings, re-
men got drunk. The elders called a meeting, of
• This new habit is bad,' they said ;
hunt is variously stated to have happened
covered to-day in caves, bear witness to it will ruin the people ; let us cast it out. '
in 1905 and 1909. In the latter summer
their artistic ideas and powers of expression. “ And cast it out they did.
the Duke was lucky enough to be able to
With the retreat of the ice northwards “* Kajusimavit,' they said, the mind of the visit East Greenland, West Spitzbergen, and
there followed necessarily the retreat of People is made up the
brewing and drinking Franz-Josef Land in a single season, without
these Magdalenians, who live again in the
must cease. ' The evil was abolished ; and so
Eskimos.
by their own wish the Eskimos became what they experience has been confined to those
being seriously beset by ice; and his Arctic
had always been, a teetotal nation. ”
Dr. Hutton emphasizes the importance of
regions and the Kara Sea, where he was less
recognizing that the Eskimo temperament As is well known, this people have no prisons fortunate. On reaching the limit of ex-
and native genius depend for their very,
and no police, serious crime being virtually ploration there in 1905, he was mortified
existence on a rigid adherence to the special non-existent, while in their daily life they to find a Norwegian sealer already " in
environment and ancient traditions of the show themselves kindly, courageous, and possession"; and three degrees further
capable, when need arises, of supreme self- south in 1909, his dreams of a musk-ox
* The life of a hunter is the ideal life for an
sacrifice.
hunt were amusingly dispelled by the
Eskimo. It is the life he is especially gifted for ;
The eyesight of the Eskimo is at present presence of winter trappers of the same
the raw (seal’s) meat he eats keeps him fit and very keen, and he is an excellent shot. The enterprising nation.
well
. In the north the people are broad and fact that he finds our guns require “mend- The Duke was able to bring three captive
plump, with flat faces and sunken noses ;
further south. . . . lean, sharp-faced, bony limbs, thom affords food for reflection.
but ing," s. c. , straightening, before he cubs of Polar bears alive to Europe, one of
pointed noses. . . . though pure-blooded Eskimos.
Galton which he attempted to domesticate at Wood
The cause of the change lies in the altered again, in 'Human Faculties,' narrates Norton;
he remarks, however, that it
lood and habits of the people. . . . They take to how 'an Eskimo trapper drew'a map of ' always remained savage and dangerous.
no awe,
>
the men.
race:
uses
## p. 122 (#104) ############################################
122
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4397, FEB. 3, 1912
some
are
60
9
66
It is pleasing to find him indignant at the
or equals in charm the annotations trans-
indiscriminate and useless slaughter of wild THE AMERICAN CONTINENT.
ferred from the pages of Jules Tailhan
animals ; and he is always pained when a
(S. J. ), who first published Nicolas Perrot's
stricken seal or walrus sinks to depths too Canada To-day and To-morrow. By memoir on the Indians in 1864, from the
great to be reached by the harpoon. In his Arthur E. Copping. (Cassell & Co. )— The only MS. which had survived the dangers
opinion the reindeer of West Spitzbergen, author dedicates his work to Mr. Frank of three half-centuries at least. In addition
formerly abundant, are destined speedily Oliver, “Minister of the Interior, Canada," to all this, the small-type appendixes con-
to disappear ; but it is hard to believe that from which we must assume that the dedica- tain a mass of informing matter that could
this is due to the annual visit of two or three tion was written before the remarkable not well come into foot-notes, and include
German tourist steamers, whose stay is general election of September in last year, original communications of great
always short. Others evidently to which converted the party to which Mr. interest (for instance, regarding the medicine-
blame, and on his last voyage the Duke Oliver belongs into a much attenuated eating Christian sect among the present-
himself shot not only several deer, but also Opposition. The book is a very fair speci- day Pottawatomis) not to be found else-
two fawns. He expresses a just repugnance men of a class which has multiplied enor-where. An annotated bibliography (in
at the massacre of young seals which mously during the past five years. Canada which, however, the works of George B.
is carried on, he says, every spring in the welcomes with open arms three kinds of Grinnell on the Pawnees and the more
St. Lawrence and on Jan Mayen by English visitors : the men who will develope her recent work of McClintock on the Blackfeet
and Norse hunters, who club thousands of rich natural resources by manual toil; the Sioux are overlooked) and an excellent
young seals before they are able to take to men who will invest capital in her develop- index complete the book, making it a
the water. Yet in describing a seal-hunt ment; and the men who, as writers, will give treasure-house of knowledge.
of his own on the east coast of Jan Mayen, wide publicity to her manifold claims and The text round which all this illustrative
he confesses to shooting several young seals, attractions. To the last kind of visitor all learning is centred consists of four primary
which made no attempt to move,'
and sources of information are freely opened, accounts of the Indians, three of which are
he frankly admits that it was massacre and, if he lacks material for his book-making, new either to print or to English. The
rather than sport. ” In both cases, no doubt, he must be singularly unreceptive or par- first is Perrot's memoir aforesaid, written
the desire was for the valuable skin of the ticularly fastidious. Canada will give him circa 1700 for the information of the In-
animal; but whether this is less legitimate endless tabulated facts and pleasant pic-tendant of Canada, and now admirably
in the professional hunter than in the tures. Further, if he will traverse the translated by Miss Blair from Tailhan's
wealthy sportsman is an interesting question country with his eyes open, he can hardly out-of-print and scarce edition. It is fol.
for the moralist.
fail to acquire at first hand a mass of lowed by an excellent rendering of those
The translator's work is on the whole well interesting impressions, and valuable raw parts of La Potherie's Histoire de 1'Amerique
done, but he has failed to turn into English which Mr. A. £. Copping has here written,
material, for precisely, the kind of book septentrionale' (1716) that deal with the
the French names of several not uncommon
more important events in which Perrot was
Arctic birds; and his retention of such
and Mr. Harold Copping illustrated. Some engaged. The two sections supplement
words as “baleinopteres ” and “crepuscule
critics may object that it has all been done each other very happily and, we must add,
(without an accent) is surprising. The
before. But it should be remembered, justly. For Perrot's aim in writing his
hybrid spelling
first, that many thousands of people are
Franz-Joseph Land”
mémoire was merely to communicate to
migrating each year to Canada from Britain, the Minister what he knew regarding the
is retained throughout the volume.
and that they are hungry for information ideas, customs, and characters of the dif-
during the process of making up their minds ferent native tribes, and his view of the
Few people who go to Norway, even on
to this step ; and, secondly, that Canada's right policy in dealing with them : not to
material progress
a brief visit, can resist the spell which that
just now is so rapid recount his own experience or exploits.
that last year's news of her development We should gather from his own pages, there-
wonderful country casts over those who
set foot on her shores. Mr. H. K. Daniels,
is quite out of date this year. The little fore, but a meagre idea of the great part
the author of Home Life in Norway (Methuen); busy, thriving centres of the next; and thirty-five years' traffic with the Indians as
Western townships of one season are the played by this splendid fellow during his
has been a resident there for many years,
and for him the first glamour has not
it is a fact that a new book every month
departed, has rather been intensified by the would not exhaust the tale of Canada's maker, friend of all, and ambassador of
lapse of time. He is therefore well qualified travellers, and the business man with plans defect is partly, at least, made good in the
march forward. Prospective emigrants and Onontio to the western nations. " This
to write a volume of this kind, and he may
be said, for the most part, to have succeeded will all find useful and interesting inform- the result that English readers can now make
for the exploitation of Canada's markets,
more narrative pages of La Potherie ; with
in giving us an adequate picture of the
conditions of life in the average Norwegian ation in Mr. Copping's book.
acquaintance with yet another of those
home, whether in town or country.
finely tempered personalities which give to
In The Indian Tribes of the Upper Missis. the early history of French America its
But it is none the less true that this same
glamour, to which his own mind is evidently (Ohio, the Arthur H. Clark Company), Miss at the same time get a remarkably full
sippi and the Region of the Great Lakes, 2 vols. valiant and romantic character. They will
keenly alive, is somehow missing from the Emma Helen Blair makes a contribution initiation into the subject matters of anthro-
pages of his book. We have no fault to find to historical knowledge which is hardly pology, from myth and ritual to personal
with his facts-only with his manner of the less original because her own part in adornment in bead- and quill-work, or the
presenting them. There can be no question the work is mainly editorial. The text, the simplest tools of life and death. Two
of his instinctive sympathy for the Nor- appendixes, and practically all the extensive Reports by United States officials, written
wegians, whether men or women, peasants
or townsmen.
and vigilant foot-note commentary are by about 1825, and the more valuable one
He is fully able to appreciate other writers and scholars. Nevertheless, hitherto unpublished, reinforce the picture
their points of view as regards life ; to
enter into their aims and ideals ; to acknow-
more learning, industry, and skill than often of Indian character, and suggest the new
go to the making of independent works conditions which had come upon it, mainly
ledge their failings and extol their virtues.
have here been exercised in bringing these to its hurt.
Every now and then we come upon component parts together so as to form “a
an inspired touch which brings the picture connected homogeneous whole,” and to
he is endeavouring to paint vividly home present the entire subject of the Indian, High Mountain Climbing in Peru and
But it is not until his last chapters his character and way of life, in the light of Bolivia, by Annie S. Peck (Fisher Unwin),
that his inspiration is seen at its best. actual observation, past and present, and is a remarkable record of skill and endurance.
Here, and especially in the one entitled as it is now interpreted by the masters of The American author has done all that a
'A Day on a Better-Class Farm,' he is suc- scientific method who have made it a life- man could do, if not more, and, being a
cessful in conveying just the right atmo- study. Foremost among these we must highly educated woman, tells of her exploits
sphere. His summing-up of the Norwegian rank the writers for the Bureau of American in a style beyond that of the average ex-
bonde or peasant (on p. 242) could scarcely Ethnology, from whose work, published and plorer. Mountain climbing, even in Switzer-
be bettered. There are similar passages, unpublished, Miss Blair has had leave to land, is much more expensive than it used
equally felicitous, which make the book borrow with a free hand, and has mani. to be, and there was considerable difficulty
both interesting and illuminating, and go festly set about doing so in a spirit of generous in raising the necessary funds. A “ personal
far towards atoning for the absence of that and enthusiastic goodwill to her readers. tribute " is paid to those who helped in this
indefinable something to which we have Her own knowledge, be it said, by no way to supplement help from the press.
referred.
means begins and ends in knowing the Miss Peck conquered the Matterhorn in
way to the sources of that of others, | 1895, and the peak of Orizaba in Mexico
as many an additional or corrective note (18,660 ft. ) in 1897. She resolved on the
proves. Nevertheless, nothing in this kind ascent of Mount Sorata (Illampu) in Bolivia
within the two volumes exceeds in interest in 1898, but applied in vain to private
to us.
## p. 123 (#105) ############################################
No. 4397, FEB. 3, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
123
was
wear
us
philanthropy, and commercial enterprise for the denationalizing school—there is room Plateau proper. Of the Kagoro and their
resources. What a chance was lost,"
for a third, one which, taking note to-day neighbours Major Tremearne, who
she remarks, “ for saying 'Soapine did it! '” that the West African is å landowner, stationed among them for some time, has
In the end she started in 1904, without skilled desires that he shall continue to be one much to tell. They are, or were, it seems,
assistance, and reached a height of 20,500 ft. | under British rule. Of the marvellous addicted to head-hunting, and the women
on Sorata. In 1908, with two Swiss guides, progress of Nigeria in recent times he tells an ornament fastened round their
her sixth attempt on Mount Huascarán was much : Ten years ago. . . . neither waists and jutting over their loins at the
successful.
property nor life were safe. The peasant root of the spine some remnant of phallic
The accounts of the various climbs are a Aed to the hills, or hurried at nightfall worship, Major Tremearne supposes.
tribute to Miss Peck's firmness, sagacity, within the sheltering walls of the town. Now The author records a curious custom pre-
and nerve.
She had a number of strange he is descending from the hills and abandon- vailing among a kindred tribe, the Moroa :-
experiences with her companions, and, ing the towns.
being a mere woman, was sometimes forced
“ With Moroa people, on the death of a chief,
The early chapters of the book contain his son (or heir if he has no son) must provide
against her judgment, which was amply much pleasant gossip and many interesting a mare which is led around the assembled guests
justified in the event, to adopt unsatis- notes on Mr. Morel's own travels, and he by a laughing woman, who is dressed up for the
factory ways and expedients. That she reminds us that but for the statesmanship occasion. It is absolutely necessary that a mare
herself got through with all her handicaps of Taubman - Goldie and others Nigeria the heir neglect to do so, the ghost of the deceased
and difficulties seems a marvel. Her most would now be the brightest jewel in will never give him any peace and she must
serious accident was the fracture of several the West African Empire of the French. " be sold afterwards ; if not, she will die. Why
did not realize the warning she gave them is. . . . equal in size to the German Empire, and 50 I suppose it must be correct, and after
ribs by a bolting mule. . The Swiss guides In another passage we read that “ Nigeria the woman should have to be laughing is past
of the great dangers of freezing, and one Italy, and Holland, while its population. .
of them, who seized the opportunity of
all it is quite a mistake to suppose that people
can hardly amount to less than fifteen must necessarily look glum on these occasions. "
being first on the summit of Huascarán, had millions. . . . nearly three times as numerous
to submit to amputation in both hands and
half of one foot.
as the native population comprised in the The chapters on courtship and marriage,
South African Union. ” He tells us of divorce and childbirth, music and dancing,
The volume gives full details of elaborate towns with populations of 150,000 and will repay perusal, although they do not
equipment in the way of dress and scientific 100,000, of which the very names are un-
impedimenta, including a “sphygmomano- known in England. His excellent chapter author has the unfortunate habit of wander-
meter," oxygen at high pressure, Japanese on the Agriculturist may cause some who ing off into discussions affecting these
stoves, an Eskimo suit, and a head mask look on the African negro as an ignorant and human peculiarities—from China to Peru.
with a moustache painted on it. “Mountain a lazy creature to change their views. Mr.
Here and there he lets fall words of wisdom
sickness" is, as usual, prominent, and it is Morel has undoubtedly studied Nigeria in regard to general policy when he pleads
clear that without an exceptionally sound with the greatest care, and when he writes for some notion of parallels in discussing the
constitution, as well as a good head, Miss of the necessity of amalgamating the two anthropological customs of primitive hu,
Peck could not have done what she did. Protectorates, his words deserve careful manity, and when he registers the profound
The “people below" provide a good deal consideration. He draws attention to the truth that“ a European will never get any.
of interesting comment, and there are some
inadequate salaries paid to some of our thing like as good or as willing service from
pleasant stories. The Indians are noted officials, and states that, when he visited a native as one of his own natural rulers
as still wearing the dress imposed on them
Kano Province, it was in charge of a Resi- would -a powerful argument for ruling
centuries ago by their Spanish conquerors. A
dent drawing 4701. a year. This for a these people as far as possible indirectly.
Peruvian bull-fight is a milder affair than
man responsible for a region as large as There are many photographs, some of them
those of modern Spain, less dangerous, Scotland and Wales, with a population of excellent, but others would more fittingly
in the author's view, and less brutal than 2,571,000 !
adorn the pages of an anthropological
big college games of football in the United The book has a useful Index, and is full of journal, and we cannot congratulate the
States.
excellent photographs. We have checked author on his frontispiece.
The illustrations are excellent; the map many of Mr. Morel's statistics, which are
gives an idea of the country in general, but up to date, and have found them correct. Mr. W. B. COTTON's unpretentious and use-
is not sufficient in detail. The book is well His suggestions in An Unauthorized ful book, published by Messrs. Rowland Ward
written, though we think the least profitable Scheme of Amalgamation ' are so thoughtful and entitled Sport in the Eastern Sudan from
of Miss Peck's excursions is that into the that we could wish he were in the House Souakin to the Blue Nile, is a welcome addi.
vivid ” present tense.
of Commons to advocate his views. His tion to the already voluminous library on
intimate knowledge of African questions the pursuit of game in Africa. The author
would be of service to the country.
wished to investigate the tributaries of the
AFRICA.
Nile in Abyssinia, and had enlisted the
but
sympathy of the Foreign Office;
UNDKR the title of Nigeria : its People
There will soon be no excuse for the the Government at Adis Ababa did not,
and its Problems (Smith & Elder), Mr. E. D.
British public to plead ignorance on the apparently, consent to his application, not
Morel has published a reprint of the articles subject of Nigeria, for Major A. J. N. Tre improbably because that part of tho country,
which he recently contributed to two leading
mearne's The Tailed Headhunters of Nigeria which is the borderland between Abyssinia
English newspapers on the greatest and
(Seeley, Service & Co. ) is the fourth volume and the Sudan, is inhabited by a wild race
most interesting of our tropical African
dealing with our West African Protectorate with scant respect either for orders from
Protectorates. He had no need to assure
which has appeared in the last three months, head-quarters or for the life of a stranger
us of his sincerity, for all in this country and two more are said to be on the way, within their gates. So, to use his own words,
know his work. As might be expected, he
On the whole, this must be pronounced a
pleads eloquently for the native. He
says
disappointing book, despite its sensational " having learned that the Abyssinian part of
that
my scheme was unworkable, I made up my mind
the native is the important person title. It suffers from the defect common
to be considered,” and he shows that the in books of this class, whose authors ramble to begin business by shooting ibex in the hills
Nigerian is not merely an incidental factor swamping matters of real interest in triviali
on with little or no sense of sequence, eastern skirts of the Nubian desert to Kassala,
but the paramount factor. He
afterwards to shoot along the valleys of the
powerfully against those who suggest that ties, and producing in the end a sort of dis- Atbara and Settit, then to cross the watershed
profits should be the exclusive appanage jointed, glorified diary. Now nothing is and shoot over the valleys of the Rahad and
of the white race, and replies to those who
more tedious than the hunt for pearls among travel home by rail and steamer við Khartoum
would "cheerfully impose their will by the leaves of a diary especially an African
brutal violence. ” In another place he diary. A good third of the volume is
speaks against those who argue that a
irrelevant to the subject specified in the Mr. Cotton commends the country, as
native, who learned how to smelt tin before title, and could have been omitted with healthy, and says he never felt better than
we knew there was tin in the country, should advantage.
when his trip was over, though from his
no longer be permitted to do so, now that The Kagoro, the tribe Major Tremearne diary it would seem that he suffered con-
we wish to smelt it ourselves”; and he designates more particularly as
stantly from headache. His Indian experi-
sketches a pleasant picture of the good Headhunters, are a southern section of ence in camp life doubtless helped him
qualities of his native carrier :
. . the the congeries of peoples remaining outside greatly in general management, and he
reckless, cheery, loyal rascal, who seems to the belt of Mohammedan conquest, and
took with him two Indian servants, who
me a mixture of the knight of the road and inhabiting a stretch of country, mostly added considerably to his comfort.
the poacher. ” Mr. Morel thinks that be- hilly and difficult of access, between the The book may be divided into two parts.
tween the two schools of thought in native extremities of the Zaria and Nassarawa The first, gives details of the camp equipage,
affairs-the damned nigger school and 'provinces, and running up into the Bauchi the battery, the wild animals of the Eastern
to London. "
66
" Tailed
## p. 124 (#106) ############################################
124
THE ATHEN ÆUM
No. 4397, FEB, 3, 1912
1
1
Sudan, and plans for shooting felines at Queensland plantations. He relates his ex- tears is easy, as he says, to snivelling and
night from a place of safety with an un- |periences with a minute fidelity to events giggles, but he will never reach that popular
fortunate animal tied up as a bait, and the which leaves the reader agreeably impressed Avernus, while he may, we hope, entirely
assistance of an electric lamp. The second with his lucidity and quick powers of observa- disregard that accusation of sécheresse du
part is simply the author's journal, little tion. Indeed, a close scrutiny of the book caur which has been made by the undiscern-
altered, we imagine, from the original, and makes one regret that civilization has failed, ing. His poignant and distinguished work
therefore more valuable, though revision for all its triumphs, to attain to the qualities in the language “of his secret choice"
would have improved the diction. At the of simplicity, geniality, and communistic need fear no criticism, and has long earned
end of the book there are tables of stores, generosity which many of the tribes in the regard of the minds best worth attention.
weights and measurements of game, and the the Solomon Islands possess. When their
varieties of game with their Arabic equi- cannibal instincts slumber, the majority DR. ESTLIN CARPENTER describes A Peasant
valents, but without the scientific names-a pass their lives in a prosperous round of Sage of Japan (Longmans) as & unique
regrettable omission. There are also a small content, equality, and good-fellowship, record in the annals of Oriental Philan.
Arabic vocabulary, an index, and a sufficient which industrial &urope and America might thropy. ” In his Introduction he says :-
map, but there are no illustrations.
well envy. In many communities the status “Coming with its message of sincerity and
of women is co-equal with that of men, and goodwill from a culture wholly different from our
existence, except for occasional cannibal own, it bears impressive witness to the funda-
forays, idyllic. Apart from periodic outbursts human service in the greatest of the religions of
mental identity between the noblest aims of
THE SOUTH SEAS.
of fine writing, the author's style is remark- the East and West. "
Dr. Max Herz, the author of New Zealand :
able for its taste and lack of attitudinizing.
It would, however, be difficult to name a
the Country and the People (Werner Laurie),
Western religion which inculcated the giving
undertook an expedition of discovery in
away of
all
unnecessary possessions,
New Zealand, and left it convinced of the
material or other, in the service of Heaven
country's vast resources and beautiful
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
TABLE. and mankind. ” Many will dismiss the
scenery. The book was originally written
work as merely a collection of copy-book
in German, and was translated, at least in MR. JOSEPH CONRAD, in calling his latest maxims, and for that impression we think
the rough, by the author. It is divided into book Some Reminiscences (Eveleigh Nash), the intentionally archaic form of the trans-
parts, which comprise an account of the prepares us for that selective talent which lation is to blame. It is a relief to find such
country physiographically, a history of the is a marked feature of his distinction, and a modern phrase as “ This is no time for
Dominion from its early days in succinct the absence of those personalities bordering red tape " put into the mouth of Sontoku
narration, a disquisition on it politically on indiscretion which make for popularity. Ninomiya, the Japanese sage and reformer
and socially, an appreciation of the scenery
His reminiscences go only as far as his life who is the subject of the work.
in the form of an itinerary, and a study of at sea, and the publication of ' Almayer's
New Zealanders themselves. Dr. Herz is
Folly, the manuscript of which wandered who insisted so much upon the spirit in
It is something of a shock to find one
no blind admirer of the people and their
with him hither and thither for five years. which an action was performed, rather
ways. On the contrary, he is at times a
He aims at showing the man behind the than the letter of its performance, setting
caustic critic. He gives a shrewd analysis of
books, and his self-portraiture is at once his wife to keep a man, who had been work-
the Prohibition and No-Licence movement, characteristic and unforgettable, a thing of ing against his schemes for benefiting his
and comes to the conclusion that the former significant glimpses and sayings, wilfully fellows, in a state of drunkenness for days
will never be carried, on account of the blow discursive-indeed, reminding us of Sterne in succession. In this Sontoku seems to
it would deal at tourist traffic and immigra- in its indifference to the claims of mere have stooped to a casuistry only too familiar
tion among other things. The recent elec. narrative and the subtlety of its touches. among altruists—the doing of a little wrong
tions in the Dominion, which resulted in He never wrote a line till he was thirty-six, in order that a great reform may not be
the defeat of the Government, lend force and now, after fifteen years of authorship, delayed. We gladly absolve the subject
to this opinion. Dr. Herz notes the failure he first allows himself some comments on of this biography from any attempt to
of the Compulsory Arbitration Act, from literary criticism. With him the strain justify himself by a belief in woman's moral
which enthusiasts had hoped so much. of creative effort is so great that the intru. or other inferiority. Sontoku Ninomiya
Its critics in this country have always sion of the well-meaning Philistine is agoniz- seems to have been advanced, for we learn
contended that the Act would be successful ing. He does not think that his previous that “all men he forbade to read the book
only so long as good times lasted, and that state of existence was a good equipment called Woman's Great Learning, which
with the fall of wages in periods of distress for a literary life and the reception of deals with the duties of wives to their
it would be impracticable to apply penal criticism. Perhaps not; but would any husbands. "
clauses to labour in the mass.
Only when the author comes to the
a temperament must, one thinks, suffer from A History of Labour Representation, by
"bush” is he wholehearted in his praise. the crudity, of average life, whatever its A. W. Humphrey (Constable), is, of neces-
His verdict on the forest of Westland no
environment or business. But it has its sity, full of details and of na nes, and the
one acquainted with the luxuriant vegetation exceptional pleasures as well as penalties, and latter, we note, are not illuminated by any
from the Otira Gorge downwards will at the world has Mr. Conrad's books, and is vivifying touches of character. Interesting,
tempt to deny. His enthusiasm naturally with Almayer, without which there would but not unbiased attempt to record the
profoundly glad that he went to that dinner however, it remains, as an evidently honest,
extends to the sounds and the southern
lakes, as well as to the Alpine ranges of the have been no line in print of his. We hear most important political
development of
Whether the history
South Island. In this region, owing to the nothing of the dinner, but Almayer lives for our day and country.
early explorations of Sir Julius von Haast us, drawn in a word or two, and there are will be perfectly comprehensible to readers
(misspelt
throughout by the
admirable sketches of the author's mother quite outside the range of that movement
printers), many of the peaks bear German
and relations, in particular his great-uncle, seems doubtful—the more so on account of
Labour
names, which tickles Dr. Herz's national from Moscow, ate a Lithuanian village dog. representation. ” In one
view - Labnument
a taciturn old soldier who, in the retreat the inherent ambiguity of the term
vanity.
In the portrayal of this stubborn man Mr. presentation" means the return to Parliament
Conrad gives us at once character and of working-men, irrespective of their political
I
My Adventures among South Sea Cannibalsi
narrative.
By Douglas Rannie. (Seeley, Service & Co. )
creed or of their party ties. This view
Since the age of five he has been a honestly supported by some pacific trade-
-After having digested the account of the great reader, and his introduction to English unionists, and
warmly urged by party
massacre on board the Young Dick, with literature was the reading of his father's Liberals--was, some twenty years ago a
sundry bloodthirsty descriptions of a similar translation of th The Two Gentlemen of great cause of confused thinking, and me
character, we were sufficiently schooled for the Verona. " He adores Bleak House," and serious hindrance to political organization;
nightmare that subsequently occurred. But read Victor Hugo in youth. His charac. while the contrary, view, namely, that
on a second perusalwe are inclined to revisean ters ” from various ships all contain the “ Labour representation" meant the return
estimate based upon
the momentary realism
words strictly sober," which are adduced to Parliament of members pledged to a
of nightmare. For the merit of this book to prove the general sobriety of his judgment certain political creed, and free to maintain,
is that its author has steered clear of sensa-
tion, and kept sturdily to fact and narration. Philosophers, for instance, who live in a
in mundane affairs.
of Mr. Thurston's prose. The coloured bread, tea, and cooked meats of the settlers
aro charming, the black-and-white and Nature rebels. The Southern Eskimos are
as accurately as that drawn by the Admiralty
are sometimes exceedingly good (as on less hardy, they cannot bear the cold so well, Survey. The introduction of an English
but need more fire, more clothing, and more warm
p. 127) and sometimes as surprisingly bad. food, and their children are puny. . . . If they of place among a people whose memories are
system of education seems strangely out
À writer and an artist who can sometimes give up their native foods they will dwindle and so well developed. Memory and eyesight
do so well ought always to do well, one die out. "
will be weakened by too great a dependence
feels.
We entirely agree with him, and are on books.
therefore the more surprised to find that he The author ends his interesting narrative
Memorials of Old Gloucestershire (George approves of the introduction among them by telling us that the policy of the mission-
Allen), edited by the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, of European foods, such as tea, bread, bacon; aries has been “to make the Eskimo a better
is & volume which is of interest, but is of wooden, linoleum-covered floors ; of | Eskimo. " To us it would rather appear
incomplete. “Memorials " is a word vague bedsteads, sofas, and even gramophones ; from his account that we ourselves have
enough to include anything, but we fail to and, yet stranger to relatę, glass windows something to learn from this prehistoric
understand the principle on which the various on hinges.
people in the way of common sense', as well
contributors have worked. Dr. Cox is re-
It is sad to read that their winter houses
as in methods of education and government.
sponsible for a chapter on the Forest of Dean,
“ dark and noisome," and that the art
Dr. Wallace felt the same about the forest-
and he tells us that it is foreign to the purpose of carving is disappearing. Dr. Rink was
dwellers of the Malay Archipelago, and he
of his essay to enter into the question of
the administration of the Forest.
But an
one of the first travellers to give Western pointed out many ways in which the English
Europeans some idea of the Eskimos at would be made better English if they would
account of that district which omits to
home. His book is illustrated by the clever learn from Nature's children.
mention the Speech House, where the
drawings of a native who shows the winter The photographs which serve as illustra-
gives no information about the laws of the by no means to be despised.
Freeminers hold their ancient Court, and house to have been well constructed, and tions are excellent, but we regret that the
subject-matter is not better arranged, and
Freeminers, cannot be considered satisfactory.
There are 25 pages on Chatterton, and a good
also that the map is not referred to in the
The following is also illuminating :-
text.
deal about Bristol Cathedral; but Gloucester “ The summer of 1904 saw the hospital. . . . in
Cathedral has apparently been forgotten, | full going order, for among the many things that
Hunters and Hunting in the Arctic. By
though the work has been copiously_illus-
the Harmony brought were the bedsteads and
trated. We note that Sir Francis Drake
Translated by H.
bedding for the wards. Our servant a bright the Duke of Orleans.
and active Eskimo girl of eighteen. . . . touched Grahame Richards. (Nutt. . -In four recent
is named, but that Sir Walter Raleigh is
my arm. . . . and said, • What are they ? '. . . summers the Duke of Orleans has made
omitted. Houses in which, local tradition - Why, these are the bedsteads. ' Bedsteads ? '
says, they lived are still standing and -this with a puzzled air,
voyages in Arctic waters the last three in
• Ahaila, beds for the
.
)
his steam-yacht Belgica of Antarctic fame.
are close together. There is an interesting sick people; old Emilia is the only
person in bed, He might, indeed, almost be styled a seasoned
chapter by Canon Carbonel on the famous
and she is not sick, only old. '
Arctic explorer, if he had not managed,
glass at Fairford ; but, though Mr. Ditchfield
“ I tried (says Dr. Hutton] to explain to her through skill or good fortune, or a com-
goes out of his way to say that the glass that these bedsteads were to be. . . . in readiness bination of them, to avoid passing a winter
came from the Netherlands, his contributor for any possible sick persons during the future.
in those regions. In 1905 he succeeded in
is allowed to give an account which is incon- “Ai, ai," she said, there are going to be sick reaching the highest latitude till then
sistent with the editor's words. The article people ? Who will it be? '”
attained on the shores of East Greenland,
on the 'Norman Doorways of Gloucester- We are still wondering what bedsteads and and in adding to the map a stretch of coast-
shire' is valuable, and the many photo- hospital wards have to do with Eskimo line (surveyed only from the ship), besides
graphs of these add to the usefulness of the hunters, and also whether Dr. Hutton has
a group of islets, named by him“ Isles de
book. We are sorry that there is no map forgotten the subtle influence of suggestion.
France,” which figure variously (and rather
of the county in the volume ; but there is a
The women are extraordinarily skilful, absurdly) in this book as the French
good Index, in which we have noted only as the following instance may show :-
Islands and * French Land. ” Of this
one mistake.
*** Be wise in time, and wear Eskimo clothes,' expedition, and of the succeeding one in
was the advice of & missionary, who said he 1907, he has published narratives in diary
would arrange matters for me ; accordingly the form, which have not been translated into
village 'tailor,' square - faced, brisk little English ; and in the present volume he
NORTHERN REGIONS.
Eskimo woman, came in one day like a miniature has brought together the hunting experi-
hurricane. There was
no aloofness
about her . . . . she stood me up, and looked at me,
ences of his four voyages under the headings
To those caught in the tangled net of an and measured me with her arms, and walked out of Trappers,' 'Bears and their Cubs,'
artificial civilization there can be no greater satisfied. "A bit taller than my husband, and ‘Reindeer, The Walrus and Seals. ' The
refreshment than the Real. Next best to not so fat '-was her comment
; and the
outcome habits of the animals indicated are by this time
the Real itself is a sympathetic account of a
of it all was that after a few days she turned up
familiar to readers of Arctic travel-books ;
people living in close touch with Nature.
again with a big bundle, and I found myself the
possessor of a dicky' (blanket smock) and a
and the Duke has wisely refrained from
Such an account Dr. S. K. Hutton has given complete suit of sealskins. . . . and all for the outlay padding his pages with zoological details,
us in his interesting book Among the Eskimos of a modest sum. ,. . . for the good woman's preferring to extract from his diaries the
of Labrador (Seeley, Service & Co. ). Prof. excellent needlework. '
record of his own sporting adventures.
Sollas tells us that these Eskimos are the
The author has a good deal to relate This system, or want of system, renders his
modern, though degenerate, representatives
of the prehistoric Magdalenian folk, who concerning the moral excellences of the book, far more graphic and readable, but
Eskimos. Thus he tells us :--
has the effect of jumbling together in
lived, wandered, and worked in Europe
during the last glacial epoch, and whose
" The Drink Evil began in 1907. Several puzzling fashion the occurrences of different
years-. g. , on pp. 180 and 191 the same seal.
implements, drawings, and carvings, re-
men got drunk. The elders called a meeting, of
• This new habit is bad,' they said ;
hunt is variously stated to have happened
covered to-day in caves, bear witness to it will ruin the people ; let us cast it out. '
in 1905 and 1909. In the latter summer
their artistic ideas and powers of expression. “ And cast it out they did.
the Duke was lucky enough to be able to
With the retreat of the ice northwards “* Kajusimavit,' they said, the mind of the visit East Greenland, West Spitzbergen, and
there followed necessarily the retreat of People is made up the
brewing and drinking Franz-Josef Land in a single season, without
these Magdalenians, who live again in the
must cease. ' The evil was abolished ; and so
Eskimos.
by their own wish the Eskimos became what they experience has been confined to those
being seriously beset by ice; and his Arctic
had always been, a teetotal nation. ”
Dr. Hutton emphasizes the importance of
regions and the Kara Sea, where he was less
recognizing that the Eskimo temperament As is well known, this people have no prisons fortunate. On reaching the limit of ex-
and native genius depend for their very,
and no police, serious crime being virtually ploration there in 1905, he was mortified
existence on a rigid adherence to the special non-existent, while in their daily life they to find a Norwegian sealer already " in
environment and ancient traditions of the show themselves kindly, courageous, and possession"; and three degrees further
capable, when need arises, of supreme self- south in 1909, his dreams of a musk-ox
* The life of a hunter is the ideal life for an
sacrifice.
hunt were amusingly dispelled by the
Eskimo. It is the life he is especially gifted for ;
The eyesight of the Eskimo is at present presence of winter trappers of the same
the raw (seal’s) meat he eats keeps him fit and very keen, and he is an excellent shot. The enterprising nation.
well
. In the north the people are broad and fact that he finds our guns require “mend- The Duke was able to bring three captive
plump, with flat faces and sunken noses ;
further south. . . . lean, sharp-faced, bony limbs, thom affords food for reflection.
but ing," s. c. , straightening, before he cubs of Polar bears alive to Europe, one of
pointed noses. . . . though pure-blooded Eskimos.
Galton which he attempted to domesticate at Wood
The cause of the change lies in the altered again, in 'Human Faculties,' narrates Norton;
he remarks, however, that it
lood and habits of the people. . . . They take to how 'an Eskimo trapper drew'a map of ' always remained savage and dangerous.
no awe,
>
the men.
race:
uses
## p. 122 (#104) ############################################
122
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4397, FEB. 3, 1912
some
are
60
9
66
It is pleasing to find him indignant at the
or equals in charm the annotations trans-
indiscriminate and useless slaughter of wild THE AMERICAN CONTINENT.
ferred from the pages of Jules Tailhan
animals ; and he is always pained when a
(S. J. ), who first published Nicolas Perrot's
stricken seal or walrus sinks to depths too Canada To-day and To-morrow. By memoir on the Indians in 1864, from the
great to be reached by the harpoon. In his Arthur E. Copping. (Cassell & Co. )— The only MS. which had survived the dangers
opinion the reindeer of West Spitzbergen, author dedicates his work to Mr. Frank of three half-centuries at least. In addition
formerly abundant, are destined speedily Oliver, “Minister of the Interior, Canada," to all this, the small-type appendixes con-
to disappear ; but it is hard to believe that from which we must assume that the dedica- tain a mass of informing matter that could
this is due to the annual visit of two or three tion was written before the remarkable not well come into foot-notes, and include
German tourist steamers, whose stay is general election of September in last year, original communications of great
always short. Others evidently to which converted the party to which Mr. interest (for instance, regarding the medicine-
blame, and on his last voyage the Duke Oliver belongs into a much attenuated eating Christian sect among the present-
himself shot not only several deer, but also Opposition. The book is a very fair speci- day Pottawatomis) not to be found else-
two fawns. He expresses a just repugnance men of a class which has multiplied enor-where. An annotated bibliography (in
at the massacre of young seals which mously during the past five years. Canada which, however, the works of George B.
is carried on, he says, every spring in the welcomes with open arms three kinds of Grinnell on the Pawnees and the more
St. Lawrence and on Jan Mayen by English visitors : the men who will develope her recent work of McClintock on the Blackfeet
and Norse hunters, who club thousands of rich natural resources by manual toil; the Sioux are overlooked) and an excellent
young seals before they are able to take to men who will invest capital in her develop- index complete the book, making it a
the water. Yet in describing a seal-hunt ment; and the men who, as writers, will give treasure-house of knowledge.
of his own on the east coast of Jan Mayen, wide publicity to her manifold claims and The text round which all this illustrative
he confesses to shooting several young seals, attractions. To the last kind of visitor all learning is centred consists of four primary
which made no attempt to move,'
and sources of information are freely opened, accounts of the Indians, three of which are
he frankly admits that it was massacre and, if he lacks material for his book-making, new either to print or to English. The
rather than sport. ” In both cases, no doubt, he must be singularly unreceptive or par- first is Perrot's memoir aforesaid, written
the desire was for the valuable skin of the ticularly fastidious. Canada will give him circa 1700 for the information of the In-
animal; but whether this is less legitimate endless tabulated facts and pleasant pic-tendant of Canada, and now admirably
in the professional hunter than in the tures. Further, if he will traverse the translated by Miss Blair from Tailhan's
wealthy sportsman is an interesting question country with his eyes open, he can hardly out-of-print and scarce edition. It is fol.
for the moralist.
fail to acquire at first hand a mass of lowed by an excellent rendering of those
The translator's work is on the whole well interesting impressions, and valuable raw parts of La Potherie's Histoire de 1'Amerique
done, but he has failed to turn into English which Mr. A. £. Copping has here written,
material, for precisely, the kind of book septentrionale' (1716) that deal with the
the French names of several not uncommon
more important events in which Perrot was
Arctic birds; and his retention of such
and Mr. Harold Copping illustrated. Some engaged. The two sections supplement
words as “baleinopteres ” and “crepuscule
critics may object that it has all been done each other very happily and, we must add,
(without an accent) is surprising. The
before. But it should be remembered, justly. For Perrot's aim in writing his
hybrid spelling
first, that many thousands of people are
Franz-Joseph Land”
mémoire was merely to communicate to
migrating each year to Canada from Britain, the Minister what he knew regarding the
is retained throughout the volume.
and that they are hungry for information ideas, customs, and characters of the dif-
during the process of making up their minds ferent native tribes, and his view of the
Few people who go to Norway, even on
to this step ; and, secondly, that Canada's right policy in dealing with them : not to
material progress
a brief visit, can resist the spell which that
just now is so rapid recount his own experience or exploits.
that last year's news of her development We should gather from his own pages, there-
wonderful country casts over those who
set foot on her shores. Mr. H. K. Daniels,
is quite out of date this year. The little fore, but a meagre idea of the great part
the author of Home Life in Norway (Methuen); busy, thriving centres of the next; and thirty-five years' traffic with the Indians as
Western townships of one season are the played by this splendid fellow during his
has been a resident there for many years,
and for him the first glamour has not
it is a fact that a new book every month
departed, has rather been intensified by the would not exhaust the tale of Canada's maker, friend of all, and ambassador of
lapse of time. He is therefore well qualified travellers, and the business man with plans defect is partly, at least, made good in the
march forward. Prospective emigrants and Onontio to the western nations. " This
to write a volume of this kind, and he may
be said, for the most part, to have succeeded will all find useful and interesting inform- the result that English readers can now make
for the exploitation of Canada's markets,
more narrative pages of La Potherie ; with
in giving us an adequate picture of the
conditions of life in the average Norwegian ation in Mr. Copping's book.
acquaintance with yet another of those
home, whether in town or country.
finely tempered personalities which give to
In The Indian Tribes of the Upper Missis. the early history of French America its
But it is none the less true that this same
glamour, to which his own mind is evidently (Ohio, the Arthur H. Clark Company), Miss at the same time get a remarkably full
sippi and the Region of the Great Lakes, 2 vols. valiant and romantic character. They will
keenly alive, is somehow missing from the Emma Helen Blair makes a contribution initiation into the subject matters of anthro-
pages of his book. We have no fault to find to historical knowledge which is hardly pology, from myth and ritual to personal
with his facts-only with his manner of the less original because her own part in adornment in bead- and quill-work, or the
presenting them. There can be no question the work is mainly editorial. The text, the simplest tools of life and death. Two
of his instinctive sympathy for the Nor- appendixes, and practically all the extensive Reports by United States officials, written
wegians, whether men or women, peasants
or townsmen.
and vigilant foot-note commentary are by about 1825, and the more valuable one
He is fully able to appreciate other writers and scholars. Nevertheless, hitherto unpublished, reinforce the picture
their points of view as regards life ; to
enter into their aims and ideals ; to acknow-
more learning, industry, and skill than often of Indian character, and suggest the new
go to the making of independent works conditions which had come upon it, mainly
ledge their failings and extol their virtues.
have here been exercised in bringing these to its hurt.
Every now and then we come upon component parts together so as to form “a
an inspired touch which brings the picture connected homogeneous whole,” and to
he is endeavouring to paint vividly home present the entire subject of the Indian, High Mountain Climbing in Peru and
But it is not until his last chapters his character and way of life, in the light of Bolivia, by Annie S. Peck (Fisher Unwin),
that his inspiration is seen at its best. actual observation, past and present, and is a remarkable record of skill and endurance.
Here, and especially in the one entitled as it is now interpreted by the masters of The American author has done all that a
'A Day on a Better-Class Farm,' he is suc- scientific method who have made it a life- man could do, if not more, and, being a
cessful in conveying just the right atmo- study. Foremost among these we must highly educated woman, tells of her exploits
sphere. His summing-up of the Norwegian rank the writers for the Bureau of American in a style beyond that of the average ex-
bonde or peasant (on p. 242) could scarcely Ethnology, from whose work, published and plorer. Mountain climbing, even in Switzer-
be bettered. There are similar passages, unpublished, Miss Blair has had leave to land, is much more expensive than it used
equally felicitous, which make the book borrow with a free hand, and has mani. to be, and there was considerable difficulty
both interesting and illuminating, and go festly set about doing so in a spirit of generous in raising the necessary funds. A “ personal
far towards atoning for the absence of that and enthusiastic goodwill to her readers. tribute " is paid to those who helped in this
indefinable something to which we have Her own knowledge, be it said, by no way to supplement help from the press.
referred.
means begins and ends in knowing the Miss Peck conquered the Matterhorn in
way to the sources of that of others, | 1895, and the peak of Orizaba in Mexico
as many an additional or corrective note (18,660 ft. ) in 1897. She resolved on the
proves. Nevertheless, nothing in this kind ascent of Mount Sorata (Illampu) in Bolivia
within the two volumes exceeds in interest in 1898, but applied in vain to private
to us.
## p. 123 (#105) ############################################
No. 4397, FEB. 3, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
123
was
wear
us
philanthropy, and commercial enterprise for the denationalizing school—there is room Plateau proper. Of the Kagoro and their
resources. What a chance was lost,"
for a third, one which, taking note to-day neighbours Major Tremearne, who
she remarks, “ for saying 'Soapine did it! '” that the West African is å landowner, stationed among them for some time, has
In the end she started in 1904, without skilled desires that he shall continue to be one much to tell. They are, or were, it seems,
assistance, and reached a height of 20,500 ft. | under British rule. Of the marvellous addicted to head-hunting, and the women
on Sorata. In 1908, with two Swiss guides, progress of Nigeria in recent times he tells an ornament fastened round their
her sixth attempt on Mount Huascarán was much : Ten years ago. . . . neither waists and jutting over their loins at the
successful.
property nor life were safe. The peasant root of the spine some remnant of phallic
The accounts of the various climbs are a Aed to the hills, or hurried at nightfall worship, Major Tremearne supposes.
tribute to Miss Peck's firmness, sagacity, within the sheltering walls of the town. Now The author records a curious custom pre-
and nerve.
She had a number of strange he is descending from the hills and abandon- vailing among a kindred tribe, the Moroa :-
experiences with her companions, and, ing the towns.
being a mere woman, was sometimes forced
“ With Moroa people, on the death of a chief,
The early chapters of the book contain his son (or heir if he has no son) must provide
against her judgment, which was amply much pleasant gossip and many interesting a mare which is led around the assembled guests
justified in the event, to adopt unsatis- notes on Mr. Morel's own travels, and he by a laughing woman, who is dressed up for the
factory ways and expedients. That she reminds us that but for the statesmanship occasion. It is absolutely necessary that a mare
herself got through with all her handicaps of Taubman - Goldie and others Nigeria the heir neglect to do so, the ghost of the deceased
and difficulties seems a marvel. Her most would now be the brightest jewel in will never give him any peace and she must
serious accident was the fracture of several the West African Empire of the French. " be sold afterwards ; if not, she will die. Why
did not realize the warning she gave them is. . . . equal in size to the German Empire, and 50 I suppose it must be correct, and after
ribs by a bolting mule. . The Swiss guides In another passage we read that “ Nigeria the woman should have to be laughing is past
of the great dangers of freezing, and one Italy, and Holland, while its population. .
of them, who seized the opportunity of
all it is quite a mistake to suppose that people
can hardly amount to less than fifteen must necessarily look glum on these occasions. "
being first on the summit of Huascarán, had millions. . . . nearly three times as numerous
to submit to amputation in both hands and
half of one foot.
as the native population comprised in the The chapters on courtship and marriage,
South African Union. ” He tells us of divorce and childbirth, music and dancing,
The volume gives full details of elaborate towns with populations of 150,000 and will repay perusal, although they do not
equipment in the way of dress and scientific 100,000, of which the very names are un-
impedimenta, including a “sphygmomano- known in England. His excellent chapter author has the unfortunate habit of wander-
meter," oxygen at high pressure, Japanese on the Agriculturist may cause some who ing off into discussions affecting these
stoves, an Eskimo suit, and a head mask look on the African negro as an ignorant and human peculiarities—from China to Peru.
with a moustache painted on it. “Mountain a lazy creature to change their views. Mr.
Here and there he lets fall words of wisdom
sickness" is, as usual, prominent, and it is Morel has undoubtedly studied Nigeria in regard to general policy when he pleads
clear that without an exceptionally sound with the greatest care, and when he writes for some notion of parallels in discussing the
constitution, as well as a good head, Miss of the necessity of amalgamating the two anthropological customs of primitive hu,
Peck could not have done what she did. Protectorates, his words deserve careful manity, and when he registers the profound
The “people below" provide a good deal consideration. He draws attention to the truth that“ a European will never get any.
of interesting comment, and there are some
inadequate salaries paid to some of our thing like as good or as willing service from
pleasant stories. The Indians are noted officials, and states that, when he visited a native as one of his own natural rulers
as still wearing the dress imposed on them
Kano Province, it was in charge of a Resi- would -a powerful argument for ruling
centuries ago by their Spanish conquerors. A
dent drawing 4701. a year. This for a these people as far as possible indirectly.
Peruvian bull-fight is a milder affair than
man responsible for a region as large as There are many photographs, some of them
those of modern Spain, less dangerous, Scotland and Wales, with a population of excellent, but others would more fittingly
in the author's view, and less brutal than 2,571,000 !
adorn the pages of an anthropological
big college games of football in the United The book has a useful Index, and is full of journal, and we cannot congratulate the
States.
excellent photographs. We have checked author on his frontispiece.
The illustrations are excellent; the map many of Mr. Morel's statistics, which are
gives an idea of the country in general, but up to date, and have found them correct. Mr. W. B. COTTON's unpretentious and use-
is not sufficient in detail. The book is well His suggestions in An Unauthorized ful book, published by Messrs. Rowland Ward
written, though we think the least profitable Scheme of Amalgamation ' are so thoughtful and entitled Sport in the Eastern Sudan from
of Miss Peck's excursions is that into the that we could wish he were in the House Souakin to the Blue Nile, is a welcome addi.
vivid ” present tense.
of Commons to advocate his views. His tion to the already voluminous library on
intimate knowledge of African questions the pursuit of game in Africa. The author
would be of service to the country.
wished to investigate the tributaries of the
AFRICA.
Nile in Abyssinia, and had enlisted the
but
sympathy of the Foreign Office;
UNDKR the title of Nigeria : its People
There will soon be no excuse for the the Government at Adis Ababa did not,
and its Problems (Smith & Elder), Mr. E. D.
British public to plead ignorance on the apparently, consent to his application, not
Morel has published a reprint of the articles subject of Nigeria, for Major A. J. N. Tre improbably because that part of tho country,
which he recently contributed to two leading
mearne's The Tailed Headhunters of Nigeria which is the borderland between Abyssinia
English newspapers on the greatest and
(Seeley, Service & Co. ) is the fourth volume and the Sudan, is inhabited by a wild race
most interesting of our tropical African
dealing with our West African Protectorate with scant respect either for orders from
Protectorates. He had no need to assure
which has appeared in the last three months, head-quarters or for the life of a stranger
us of his sincerity, for all in this country and two more are said to be on the way, within their gates. So, to use his own words,
know his work. As might be expected, he
On the whole, this must be pronounced a
pleads eloquently for the native. He
says
disappointing book, despite its sensational " having learned that the Abyssinian part of
that
my scheme was unworkable, I made up my mind
the native is the important person title. It suffers from the defect common
to be considered,” and he shows that the in books of this class, whose authors ramble to begin business by shooting ibex in the hills
Nigerian is not merely an incidental factor swamping matters of real interest in triviali
on with little or no sense of sequence, eastern skirts of the Nubian desert to Kassala,
but the paramount factor. He
afterwards to shoot along the valleys of the
powerfully against those who suggest that ties, and producing in the end a sort of dis- Atbara and Settit, then to cross the watershed
profits should be the exclusive appanage jointed, glorified diary. Now nothing is and shoot over the valleys of the Rahad and
of the white race, and replies to those who
more tedious than the hunt for pearls among travel home by rail and steamer við Khartoum
would "cheerfully impose their will by the leaves of a diary especially an African
brutal violence. ” In another place he diary. A good third of the volume is
speaks against those who argue that a
irrelevant to the subject specified in the Mr. Cotton commends the country, as
native, who learned how to smelt tin before title, and could have been omitted with healthy, and says he never felt better than
we knew there was tin in the country, should advantage.
when his trip was over, though from his
no longer be permitted to do so, now that The Kagoro, the tribe Major Tremearne diary it would seem that he suffered con-
we wish to smelt it ourselves”; and he designates more particularly as
stantly from headache. His Indian experi-
sketches a pleasant picture of the good Headhunters, are a southern section of ence in camp life doubtless helped him
qualities of his native carrier :
. . the the congeries of peoples remaining outside greatly in general management, and he
reckless, cheery, loyal rascal, who seems to the belt of Mohammedan conquest, and
took with him two Indian servants, who
me a mixture of the knight of the road and inhabiting a stretch of country, mostly added considerably to his comfort.
the poacher. ” Mr. Morel thinks that be- hilly and difficult of access, between the The book may be divided into two parts.
tween the two schools of thought in native extremities of the Zaria and Nassarawa The first, gives details of the camp equipage,
affairs-the damned nigger school and 'provinces, and running up into the Bauchi the battery, the wild animals of the Eastern
to London. "
66
" Tailed
## p. 124 (#106) ############################################
124
THE ATHEN ÆUM
No. 4397, FEB, 3, 1912
1
1
Sudan, and plans for shooting felines at Queensland plantations. He relates his ex- tears is easy, as he says, to snivelling and
night from a place of safety with an un- |periences with a minute fidelity to events giggles, but he will never reach that popular
fortunate animal tied up as a bait, and the which leaves the reader agreeably impressed Avernus, while he may, we hope, entirely
assistance of an electric lamp. The second with his lucidity and quick powers of observa- disregard that accusation of sécheresse du
part is simply the author's journal, little tion. Indeed, a close scrutiny of the book caur which has been made by the undiscern-
altered, we imagine, from the original, and makes one regret that civilization has failed, ing. His poignant and distinguished work
therefore more valuable, though revision for all its triumphs, to attain to the qualities in the language “of his secret choice"
would have improved the diction. At the of simplicity, geniality, and communistic need fear no criticism, and has long earned
end of the book there are tables of stores, generosity which many of the tribes in the regard of the minds best worth attention.
weights and measurements of game, and the the Solomon Islands possess. When their
varieties of game with their Arabic equi- cannibal instincts slumber, the majority DR. ESTLIN CARPENTER describes A Peasant
valents, but without the scientific names-a pass their lives in a prosperous round of Sage of Japan (Longmans) as & unique
regrettable omission. There are also a small content, equality, and good-fellowship, record in the annals of Oriental Philan.
Arabic vocabulary, an index, and a sufficient which industrial &urope and America might thropy. ” In his Introduction he says :-
map, but there are no illustrations.
well envy. In many communities the status “Coming with its message of sincerity and
of women is co-equal with that of men, and goodwill from a culture wholly different from our
existence, except for occasional cannibal own, it bears impressive witness to the funda-
forays, idyllic. Apart from periodic outbursts human service in the greatest of the religions of
mental identity between the noblest aims of
THE SOUTH SEAS.
of fine writing, the author's style is remark- the East and West. "
Dr. Max Herz, the author of New Zealand :
able for its taste and lack of attitudinizing.
It would, however, be difficult to name a
the Country and the People (Werner Laurie),
Western religion which inculcated the giving
undertook an expedition of discovery in
away of
all
unnecessary possessions,
New Zealand, and left it convinced of the
material or other, in the service of Heaven
country's vast resources and beautiful
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
TABLE. and mankind. ” Many will dismiss the
scenery. The book was originally written
work as merely a collection of copy-book
in German, and was translated, at least in MR. JOSEPH CONRAD, in calling his latest maxims, and for that impression we think
the rough, by the author. It is divided into book Some Reminiscences (Eveleigh Nash), the intentionally archaic form of the trans-
parts, which comprise an account of the prepares us for that selective talent which lation is to blame. It is a relief to find such
country physiographically, a history of the is a marked feature of his distinction, and a modern phrase as “ This is no time for
Dominion from its early days in succinct the absence of those personalities bordering red tape " put into the mouth of Sontoku
narration, a disquisition on it politically on indiscretion which make for popularity. Ninomiya, the Japanese sage and reformer
and socially, an appreciation of the scenery
His reminiscences go only as far as his life who is the subject of the work.
in the form of an itinerary, and a study of at sea, and the publication of ' Almayer's
New Zealanders themselves. Dr. Herz is
Folly, the manuscript of which wandered who insisted so much upon the spirit in
It is something of a shock to find one
no blind admirer of the people and their
with him hither and thither for five years. which an action was performed, rather
ways. On the contrary, he is at times a
He aims at showing the man behind the than the letter of its performance, setting
caustic critic. He gives a shrewd analysis of
books, and his self-portraiture is at once his wife to keep a man, who had been work-
the Prohibition and No-Licence movement, characteristic and unforgettable, a thing of ing against his schemes for benefiting his
and comes to the conclusion that the former significant glimpses and sayings, wilfully fellows, in a state of drunkenness for days
will never be carried, on account of the blow discursive-indeed, reminding us of Sterne in succession. In this Sontoku seems to
it would deal at tourist traffic and immigra- in its indifference to the claims of mere have stooped to a casuistry only too familiar
tion among other things. The recent elec. narrative and the subtlety of its touches. among altruists—the doing of a little wrong
tions in the Dominion, which resulted in He never wrote a line till he was thirty-six, in order that a great reform may not be
the defeat of the Government, lend force and now, after fifteen years of authorship, delayed. We gladly absolve the subject
to this opinion. Dr. Herz notes the failure he first allows himself some comments on of this biography from any attempt to
of the Compulsory Arbitration Act, from literary criticism. With him the strain justify himself by a belief in woman's moral
which enthusiasts had hoped so much. of creative effort is so great that the intru. or other inferiority. Sontoku Ninomiya
Its critics in this country have always sion of the well-meaning Philistine is agoniz- seems to have been advanced, for we learn
contended that the Act would be successful ing. He does not think that his previous that “all men he forbade to read the book
only so long as good times lasted, and that state of existence was a good equipment called Woman's Great Learning, which
with the fall of wages in periods of distress for a literary life and the reception of deals with the duties of wives to their
it would be impracticable to apply penal criticism. Perhaps not; but would any husbands. "
clauses to labour in the mass.
Only when the author comes to the
a temperament must, one thinks, suffer from A History of Labour Representation, by
"bush” is he wholehearted in his praise. the crudity, of average life, whatever its A. W. Humphrey (Constable), is, of neces-
His verdict on the forest of Westland no
environment or business. But it has its sity, full of details and of na nes, and the
one acquainted with the luxuriant vegetation exceptional pleasures as well as penalties, and latter, we note, are not illuminated by any
from the Otira Gorge downwards will at the world has Mr. Conrad's books, and is vivifying touches of character. Interesting,
tempt to deny. His enthusiasm naturally with Almayer, without which there would but not unbiased attempt to record the
profoundly glad that he went to that dinner however, it remains, as an evidently honest,
extends to the sounds and the southern
lakes, as well as to the Alpine ranges of the have been no line in print of his. We hear most important political
development of
Whether the history
South Island. In this region, owing to the nothing of the dinner, but Almayer lives for our day and country.
early explorations of Sir Julius von Haast us, drawn in a word or two, and there are will be perfectly comprehensible to readers
(misspelt
throughout by the
admirable sketches of the author's mother quite outside the range of that movement
printers), many of the peaks bear German
and relations, in particular his great-uncle, seems doubtful—the more so on account of
Labour
names, which tickles Dr. Herz's national from Moscow, ate a Lithuanian village dog. representation. ” In one
view - Labnument
a taciturn old soldier who, in the retreat the inherent ambiguity of the term
vanity.
In the portrayal of this stubborn man Mr. presentation" means the return to Parliament
Conrad gives us at once character and of working-men, irrespective of their political
I
My Adventures among South Sea Cannibalsi
narrative.
By Douglas Rannie. (Seeley, Service & Co. )
creed or of their party ties. This view
Since the age of five he has been a honestly supported by some pacific trade-
-After having digested the account of the great reader, and his introduction to English unionists, and
warmly urged by party
massacre on board the Young Dick, with literature was the reading of his father's Liberals--was, some twenty years ago a
sundry bloodthirsty descriptions of a similar translation of th The Two Gentlemen of great cause of confused thinking, and me
character, we were sufficiently schooled for the Verona. " He adores Bleak House," and serious hindrance to political organization;
nightmare that subsequently occurred. But read Victor Hugo in youth. His charac. while the contrary, view, namely, that
on a second perusalwe are inclined to revisean ters ” from various ships all contain the “ Labour representation" meant the return
estimate based upon
the momentary realism
words strictly sober," which are adduced to Parliament of members pledged to a
of nightmare. For the merit of this book to prove the general sobriety of his judgment certain political creed, and free to maintain,
is that its author has steered clear of sensa-
tion, and kept sturdily to fact and narration. Philosophers, for instance, who live in a
in mundane affairs.
