TRAVEL AND DISCOVERY

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26639, 26 January 1952, Page 3

TRAVEL AND DISCOVERY

The Hard Way to India. John Seymour. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 205 PP“The Hard Way to India” is a delightfully • intimate record of toe author’s travels from London to Colombo. To make this journey he went through many lands including France. Bulgaria, Turkey, Persia, and Pakistan. John Seymour met great numbers of people of different races, and he was taken by those new-made fridUlls to many places of interest, both well-known and little-known. His description of the little-known parts of the cities which he travelled through adds the spice to the book, for “roughing it” (as he calls it in one place) gave him the opportunity to gain insight into toe mode of living of the ordinary man. Of particular interest is toe final sectiqp of this book. In it the author describes Ceylon, which he had visited previously. Seymour made a complete tour of toe island, went down a mine, and stayed on a tea estate. The book concludes with his eye-witness account of the capture of a herd of wild elephants, an exciting sight seldom witnessed. Many have heard John Seymour’s travel talks from the 8.8. C. during the past years—they have been entertaining and enjoyable. Readers will get similar enjoyment and entertainment from “The Hard Way to India.” Suwannee River. Cecile Hulse Matachat. Hodge. 256 pp. Folk lore and custom, in particular that of America, are of interest to many readers. Much folk-lore is to be found in the history of the great rivers of that country. An attempt to nut these customs on permanent record has been made in the “Rivers of America” series, of which “Suwannee River” is one. In this book, Miss Matschat takes us from the sourse of toe Suwannee in , the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. “Suwannee River” is filled, with lore of every kind, for the author tells us of the primitive folk ana the customs they pursue; of the tropical beasts, snakes and reptiles that live along its course; and of the plants and trees which grow in the strange countryside to be found along the length of its waters. All the books in this series, and “Suwannee "River” is no exception, l? ave a two-fold attraction. They are at once records of the past and at the time travel books reporting the contemporary scene. The illustrations by Alexander Key notably contribute to the enjoyment of this book. A Phoenix in toe Desert. Dunstan Thompson. Lehmann. 351 pp. Dunstan Thompson is an American poet. In this entertaining book of travels the phoenix which he writes about appears in several guises. At one time it is visibly embodied in toe wife of the Pontic Ambassador at a costume ball in Cairo, at another when the traveller comes to an ancient monastery in the Libyan desert. Mr Thompson’s reflections on these things are candid "and stimulating and always full of interest. They are interesting because of their rangs for “A Phoenix to the Desert” is packed with digressions which range from a consideration of the kinds of meals served by the airlines to matters of politics, art and religion. Mr Thompson writes in a style which is at once witty and pleasing. By his use of simile and metaphor be manages to recapture, in words, the sparkle and gaietv of the Levant. Included in this book are 29 excellent photographs which seem to reflect the very spirit in which the places were seen. “A Phoenix in the Desert” is a worthy addition to any library of travel books for it provides valuable candid comment on the East, its peoples and customs, as seen by a present-day traveller. Arabian Adventurer, w. E. StantonHepe. Robert Hale. 335 pp. There is in Iraq to-day an Englishman living the life of an Arab, and embracing the Moslem religion. The story of that Englishman, William Richard Williamson, or “Haji” Williamson as he is known in the Arab world, is an intensely interesting one. Williamson, as a young man, roamed the world doing many jobs. He spent time at sea, was both cowboy and prospector in California, trader in the South Seas, Aden policeman, Bedouin warrior, and Anglo-Iranian Oil Company agent. Many publishers’ agents and authors had tried to obtain Williamson’s life story, and it is largely owing to toe fact that Williamson and the author found in each other kindred spirits that this biography has been published. Fortunately few details of Williamson’s life have been overlooked and the biography is completely authentic for Stanton-Hope persuaded the ageing adventurer to tell him his life story as day after day they talked at his home among the date gardens. Stanton-Hope and his subject have much in common with each other. This is perhaps the main reason for the success of this fine biography, for toe author seems to have the ability to show Williamson to us completely in the round. None of the thrills of Williamson’s personal experiences are lost in toe well-written narrative. For those who enjoy reading of adventure; for those who like good biography, and for those who like no more than a good story, “Arabian Adventurer” is certainly a book to be recommended. The Lost City of the Incas. Hiram Bingham. Phoenix House. 224 pp.

"The Lost City of the Incas” is Machu Picchu and in this book Hiram Bingham tells us of his own discovery of it. Over 400 years ago the last of the Incas were living in one of the most inaccessible parts of the Andes, in VilCapampa under the shadow of Machu Picchu mountain. From' the name of the mountain the ruined city has taken its name. Hiram Bingham found the marvellous Inca sanctuary in 1911 when on an expedition sponsored by the Yale University and the National Geographic Society. One of the most interesting parts of this book is that in which the author describes the actual finding of the lost citadel. Typical is the following passage: “Above all, there is the fascination of finding here and there under swaying vines, or perched on the top of a beetling crag, the rugged masonry of a bygone race; and of trying to understand the bewildering romance of the ancient builders who, ages ago, sought refuge in a region which appears to have been expressly designed by nature as a sanctuary for the oppressed, and a place where they might fearlessly and patiently give expression to their passion for walls of enduring beauty. Space forbids any attempt to describe in detail the constantly changing panorama, the rank tropical foliage, the • countless terraces, the towering cliffs, the glaciers peeping out between the clouds.” Hiram Bingham does not concern himself solely with the story of the discovery of Machu Picchu for he also writes on the origin of the Incas, and many other interesting aspects of this lost people. Sixty-six pages of photographs are a splendid addition to a book which should delight many readers.