BOOKS REVIEWED.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 734, 5 February 1910, Page 9

BOOKS REVIEWED.

"Trans-Himalaya: Discoveries and adventures in Tibet" By Svcn Hcdin. Two .volumes. Macmilfan's Colonial. Lib- . .; rary, ss. .: '"■.•.■'' ' ■;'. '. The kindly,- humorous personality of the author which pervades this book is not the least portion of its charm. Sir ,Sven 'Hcdin is au explorer without reproach:, ' us. he is without fear. He is always keenly solicitous for the well-being

of his 40 Asiatic followers and the great train of baggage animals which accompany him, liko some ancient no'mad migration, among tho bleak, ice-bound fastnesses of the high mountains. -In the midst of dangers and difficulties and severe personal ■ hardships his compassion still flows out to" an exhausted yak or, a sick puppy. The .explorer is ; also a diplo-" matist of the first water. Tho political obstacles which ho encountered •on his journey . wore hardly less troublesonio than the natural difficulties. When ho arrived in India, intending to explore the mountains of Tibet behind the Himalayas, the English Government, for political reasons, .refused'.him permission reenter the fprbidden' land through tho dependency. Sven Hedin was obliged to leavo India by way of. Ladak in Kashmir, and to enter Tibet from the northeast after a hazardous journey through the unknown mountain solitudes. The perils and privations of this journey are referred: to in an article in our leading columns. Horses and mules died every day, but, all the human portion of the caravan were alive when, after eighty days, the first Nomad habitations of Tibet were reached.. The Tibetans were ex-; ceedingly unwilling to allow Sven"-Hedin' to enter their country, - but the. officials who had orders to .arrest his progress were won over, by his amiability and let him : pass until ho'reached the sacred city of Shigatse. .There he actually had long interyiews, with the Tashi Lama, ono of tho . two supreme pontiffs of tho Tibotn'n world, whose influence is at the present time far-greater even .than that of the Dalai. Lama.

The Tashi Lama and Sven Hedin became great friends. "Never,"-writes the explorer, "has any: maii: made so. deep and ineffaceable an impression on me. Not as a divinity in, human form, but as a man, ..who in. goodness."of heart, innocence, and purity approaches as near as possible to perfection. : I shall never forget his expression; it displayed- unbounded kindncss/'humility, and philanthropy, and I have never seen such' a; smile, a mouth so delicately,formed,'so noble a countenance. His smile hevor left him: he smiled' .like a, dreamer dreaming of something beautiful and:de-: sirable, and whenever our eyes met,; his: smile grew broader, and. ho noddedkihdly and amiably as much as.to say: "Trust in'iny friendship implicitly,..for my. in-., tentions are good. towards all men."-. But even the Tashi,lama's favour could not make, Sven "Hedin other than an intruder in, Tibet. Tho Chineso influence which tho: traveller thinks'. has' greatly strengthened at tho expense of ; the British since Younghusband's /expedition to Lhassa,, forced him to I9oVo"the/country, but 'he :contrived tpV.ga'ui.'porinission to;leave by,a .western-router"which enabled him to ■ discover the. source 'of tho Brahmaputra, in a glacier .' (15,958--feet) on .the northern slope of the Himalayas, .'and to visit the sacretl lake Manasarowar; !"I .beheld'- Manasarowar," says the Hindu, classic", and .there in the form of, a- : swan' dwells Siva. The lake .was formed from tho mind of-Brahma. There also "dwell Mahadeo and. tho-gods."-'Al-ter discovering the sources of-the Indus and Sutlej, Sir Sven Hedin returned to Ladak, only to commenco : from thero a second journey, entering! Tibet again by his first, hazardous/route,'andj .after'! various adventures arid discoveries, regaining India by a difficult crossing over- tho Himalaya which-brought him to Simla! '•■• To'/many" people .-the'niost' fascinating' part ;of. these..; interesting, vohimes./.will be the chapters which' deiV with th'o Tibetans, who, contrary' to some! previous accounts, are ■ represented as a /kindly and engaging, although, primitive people. We learn a, great deal'about tho monasteries and "systems ,of Tibet, :ns well as of tho simple nomads of the desert. Sir Sven Hedin' is ah easy and attractivo writer. /The. following/is his description of, the southern panorama as 'viewed .from the Ta-lu. Pass (17,835 • feet) in the trans-Himalayan. system :—; '!'.- '•ffHigh above the dark-grey-ridge-: rises' a ,world of mountains, ..which,'seems to belong to,,tho 'heavens -.rather than/the earth, so lightly-aud'-airily is it poised' above-, the..rest'-.!of '.the. earth under "a' canopy of '.white, clouds. • -It is .so /far'; from; us that the-individual contours are: indistinguishable,-and it 'rises'like a' wall of a universal light-blue hue,'whibh;,'h'ow-i over,"is a little, deeper .thanV'the• colour,-. ,-.of. the sky.. The bbuhdary I between tho-' two'expanses; of .blue is sharply marked-' •by., an irregular bright white line;' foi 1 - what wo see, beforo us is /the '.snow-c6v-, • ered crest of .the Himalayas,"and behind' ..it- lies .(India with -.'its eternal;' sum'mor.. .' -.'.-. ;>B?tT\;e'en them, and'..the..dark-grey, 'crest; comparatively near ;tb> usp : yawns' aiUnbyss, a huge fissuro' in tho earth's; crust, 'the valley ,of thoßrahaniaputra ■orTsaugpo."-- 1 . ■ ' : :■,:;:,:'.. ,i-..- :

''The Conversion of Con;-. Cregan', • and Other' Stories," by Dorothea Conyers. ■Hutchinson's. Colonial Library. Wcl-' lington-.'Whitoombo and, Tombs;- 2s. ';■' 6d; and 3s. ,6d;,0, !; ; '/;: .:

• Those :\vho: have, read :".Tho"StrayinEs.'of Sandy"' and ■ "Three- Girls ..and- a , Hermit" ~ by..'.' Dorothea. 'Conyers are i.not likely '.to; miss.;' the opportunity' .of read-, -ing '.the:.numl>er of-.'.-shorfc, stories ,froru her-peh which; she" has gathered together and;published.under the above heading. .Racy, full of 'wit and humour, and displaying : an intimate, knowledge, of .Irish character. 1 and life, they-, fully support the reputation that Mrs. Conyers. has earned ,for.herself .as a writer.of. Irish-sporting . life. Most of'the stories are of .the hunting field and are full of .vigour and of genial sympathetic humour, making delightful reading. . Horses'and .hunting'are very dear to- her,/ but •60- also are the Irish .people whom', she writes of in.'such, •a 1 vivid, 1 fresh manner. . ".._.

"No Breakfast, or. the.Secret of-Life," ; by, "Gossip'i". .Thomas C.,.Lothian, Mel- ;:; - bourne..',ls! '.'-- V i- ■:..-' ■ /-.i-H/ ■-'■■ This,is'a brightly written.plea t for;the. "no-breakfast" doctrine. , According •to the'author, one should: nover- eat until the moutli, not the stomach, feels.hunger. The cravings of the stomach are only ap-'. petite, which, after centuries of feeding, -is held' to be no. true test. Of hunger. "A man Who undertakes to cat ;wheu he is hungry only will, soon find •that, two meals a day are ample," says tho author. -He rather spoils tho effect of his case, however, by .admitting that one blessing produced by this degree of abstinence in his oim case las been that he can now eit ,with : impunity things which he- formerly fonnd , ; indigestible. ■After this.confession, there would.,seem to be. soma reason, in the conduct of tho average mau, who .cats at normal intervals, but carefully avoids the .things, that, disagree with him. '.V ■';'..