BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 91, 11 January 1919, Page 11

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

BOOKS OP THE DAY "Vagabonding Down the Andes." Thoso who know Mr. Harry A. Frunct's earlier. books of travel, "A. .vagabond Journey Around the World," 'Tramping Through Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras," and that most diverting production, "Zone Policeman 88," With its amusing descriptions of lifo in the Panama Canal Tegion,- will give a warm welcome to the author's latestwork, "Vagabonding Down the Andos,"' 'being the narrative of a journey, chiefly, on foot, from Panama to Buenos Aires(N.Y., The.Contiiry Company, per Angusand Robertson and Whitcombo and. Tombs). Mr Franck hero relates his experiences and adventures during the four years ho spent in Sowtli . America. Landing at Cartagena, in Colombia, the author made his way through the Andes region of, that counliry to Quito, the capital' of Ecuador, and thence along the line cf the Andes down to Lima, in Peru. Continuing his journey, he travelled soutb- . tyards...tp,. C.uze.o,.. crossed. Bolivia, and •worked down-the-Paraguay. River to' Asuncion, thence dowh the Uruguay River;-and so on to-Buenos Aires. Most of; tho. journey was done on foot, and this fact alono was responsible for Mr. Franck's gaining a specially intimate knowledge of the life led by the common people, for in South America, to be a foo't. traveller'signifies that you cannot j .-possibly be one of the "dect;nte" or genteel classes. Mr'. Franck's chief interest as a traveller does not lio in history orgeography, in' archaeology or, biology, but in humanity, and it is Bafo to say that in no' other-book descriptive of the Andean region does the ropier get ,so derailed and enlightening an account oftlin;.j>ctual everyday lifo of the groat, massif the inhabitants as that given by the author. Mr. Franck. lins a. vigon'ous,. 1 clear,.--and most entertaining stylo-, and ■Uis narrativo is most, fascinating indeed. tla the 600 pages'of Ms book he provides 'a''panorama of . strange scenes a.G<i« • fetrangcir .folk, such as can bo found in few .other Jjook* 'of modern- travel. He carried;«j'rr:yulvci-, but never used it: .'ind<Mki/lie •writes wi.thamused scorn of LtheCall in the TJnitra travel in- .• volves tho' most. tromondousV.-porils. For ■ p portion !of the. journey a ccinpanioh.flik'p h'ijn'self,; a'.'confirmed rover,' 'bnt'. this';gentlem|a'n---'.eft, him at Quito, •;andMtt'* yrauok generally save for'.temporary com".pahiotishiiisj fornjod' oi, the road. : ;Mr.-Franck gives' a'lengthy- and most •interesting account of two of the most famous of Andean cities. Quito, tho capital of Ecuador, end Cuzco, the ancient Inca-capital, of • Peru. In Quito ;tho author spent several pionths. Foreigners swarm in the-city. The German merchant is prominent, and Italians, especially the' wily ' Neapolitan, and "Turks," as .the übiquitous Syrians are. called .in South. America, control much of the trade.- Ali through his wanderings from. Colombia right down to Argentina, the author was constantly meeting with tho travelling Syrian trader, of whose-unremitting, industry and probity Mr.- Franck writes in terms of high admiration. - These "Turks" not infre-quently-showed him a very practical hospitality. ■ Apparently few of tho foreigners , become naturalised, although nearly all, - especially. thV Germans, contract 'legitimate or illegitimate unions (more frequently the latter) with the women of tho country. In Quito and other cities Mr. Franck noticed that tho foreign merchant or shopkeeper paints on ; thq. .-front-*Qf Juswarehouse or shop a huge flag of ~his:jcountry, similar .to that used by neutral steamers in war time, with surcharged words conveying tho same- information to those unacquainted with the colours. Thus, the German's place. of business is distinguished by a sign showing t'ho word "Propriedad" oh '-a"black ground, "Alemana" on a white ground, and the proprietor's .surname on a red ground. Tho cosmopolitan character of trade and commwce in Quitomay be judged bv-the fact that \vithiu' a few blocks of tho main plaza' may'-'be noted signs indicating Spanish, French, German, Belgian, Danish, English,. Italian, Dutch, Swiss, Chilian, Colombian, Peruvian, Venezuelan, and. ■'"Turkish" (Syrian) proprietorship.: Only once did Mr. Franck notice . in Quito the Stars and Stripes and the j words "Propriedad Americana." The ; climate of this curious city on the equator, is very fine. Although it stands at a height : wh'idli, in tho teniperato zone, .would bo- covered with eternal snows, tho city is sheltered by tho surrounding ranges from" the bitter chills which descend so often on tho much less lofty Bogota., There, are. few days , without rii'in, but apparently the showers come almost always at a fixed hour of the afternoon, and-residents make their, plans accordingly...'-'Moderate winter clothing is never out. of ..place in Quito, and,' as in all 'high, latitudes, 'there is r a .marked difference between sunshine-and shade.

The.iirat greet,inn' in.'a.Quiteno liouae is sure to. ibe "Cubr'eee .listed"., (nut on your liat),- and, however impolito it may seem to the newcomer;, none but the'iinwiso will disregard tha Suggestion. .-Only , when one has become acclimatised .to -the room may one uncover -with- im.pun.iy, for to catch cold in Quito,is a serious matter, and the road from a cold to pneumonia is short aiiflswift in. thit thin air. Thanks to the alt-ruitle, it, is the common experience of newcomers to be either unduly exhilarated or sunk in.the depths of despondency. Both; education and-morality are at a yery low ebb' in those South American countries." • -Tlio-' religion-' of- the people ■is debased by -grow superstition; and too many of. the religious tencliei's are openly dissolute in their' habits. There is much fine talk of'"liberty, equality, and fraternity,"- but lit practice .South American- Republicanism appears-'-to.-be hopelessly ■ corrupt;; and' the --Administration very'.;inc'lficient. '. - . Lifo is -Taken Very'easily' Andean'; towns;. t At Popayan, an ancient city in Colombia, the travellers were formally waited by three gentlemen in frock coats, and with the air of Prime'"Ministers. Svlio announced .themselves as--.the editors of the newspaper "Siirsum":—•' ' They had only an hour' or two to spare, however, and by tlio timo the introductory formalities were- over 'they' bowed themselves out with the information that they would come and "tertuliar" (interview) us—mananaj 'Hwd days later I chanced to meet ono of'them again. "Did' you say' "Sursum" is published every'week?"' I asked, ■' having .had 110 visual evidente of its existence since our 'arrival; "Oh, yes, indeed!" cried the editor, rollitig another cigarette, '.'Every -week. Ailthat 1 is,'last week it did hot appear, it is true, and tlio week before the editor-in-chief was 'al'campo' (in the country),-.and tlio week before that 110 was too busy, as his sister was setting married.- But it is.Buro to''come out next week, or, if not, then tlio week after. And ! myself am coming -to interview you-mauaiia." Mauaria (to-morrow) is the curse of South America, where tha ancient copybook" adago that "procrastination is tlio thief of time", is cheerfully'disregarded by one and all; from the full-blown president of a now-Government-which lives a month or two down to the humblest peon or ehola.; Jfo'. -ohe :s in a hurry, nnd tlio restless activity of Ins Ingleses or los Americanos is popularly regarded'as <1 species of amiablo insanity. .." A, specially 'attractive feature of .the iioSk is its. splendid gallery of illustrations, from photogi'aplis taken by the author. Some of the full'and double pago plates' are exceedingly fine, and the smaller illustrations show every variety of native life and character. A copy of Mr. Franck's excellent book should, find 11 lilaco in 'every public library. Its only fault is its cxcessivo weight. A Family History, . It is good in these stirring, hustling days to look back upon, a time when life was taken , more easily. Such a period .wii.s I lint which followed the great Napoleonic wars,, the first half of the nine-teenth-contfiry. Of tlio life led .by.-the upper nnd governing classes of England in-this.particular, period wo get eomo interesting and often very entertaining

(By Liber.) Give a man a pipe ht can moke, Give a man 'a booh he can read '; And his home is bright with o calm delight. Though the room be poor indeed. : —James Thomsob.

views in' Lord Hylton's book, "The Paget Brother's, 1790-18-10" (London:.John'Murray, pea 1 Whilcombe and Tombs). Somo .years ago. two volumes .were published, under tho title "The Paget Papers," in which was' given a selection from the political and diplomatic correspondence of Sir Arthur Paget, at ono time British Ambassador .to, tho. Porte. Lord Hylton has now gathered together and edited a number of letters'passing between , tho six brothers of the Paget family; sons of the third- Lord /Oxbridge. The eldest was famous in ;the Peninsular,. War, and at Waterloo,- where he commanded, the British cavalry, "-and,-lost a leg. "Has he, by-God?" r\vas the comment of his bro-ther-ih-law, tho great Duke of .Wellington.; 110 afterwards, became' Marquis of •Angiesoa. '.William, the second son,, was a captain -in the ,Navy, and died nt sea; the thiird, Arthur, ■'was prominent ; in tho diplomatic service; Edward died as a General and Governor of Chelsea Hos.pital j Gliarles-'. became a '--vice-admiral; ■.and Berkeley,'■ the. youngest--.after serving as'a'cavalry officer:in .the Peninsular War, went into-Pavlianient as M.P.'for Angle-sea,-and served for a time as a. Lord of tbo Treasiwy.; All six were great-letter-writers,-who'wrote ■Wmetiin'cs to the head .of' the family,. at others to their brothers, 'as to their' do- ' official, ' and - society experiences! with tho result that the -budget now' presented by Lord Hylton- pictures, .society and life generally as it was in the days of. tlie Regency-' arid of the Teigns of George IV aiid:William 'IV. The famous Beau- Brummell, for a time:.tho chief favourite and -boon companion of the so-called ."First Gentleman of Europe." the arbiter of fashion, and,, to .tell'the truth, a most impudent, though amusing,. poseur, crops up prominently in these letters. Brnmniell, when ho fell on evil days, went to livp'at" Calais''and Caen, being supported by subscriptions raised by his -friends, liyen. tho Duko of .Wellington 'had a weakiioss for .the scamp, and called upon tho-exiled bankrupt at' his lodgings in Calais. -, The Begont, when ho became Georgo tho iourth, was appealed to for help for'his old associate, but the "First Gentleman of Europe" ''never forgave the Beau, his famous j ibo "Wht>'s your fat friend?" and Br'ummel's last days were passed in sordid penury. i As was to be expected in letters which .deal so niucli .with, society doings, the Regent is-frequently.'on thai, scene. In ■1811,ri-n- the. middle of-tho- Peninsular War, when thousands of British soldiers wore losing their lives in Spain, the great George-gave a magnificent boll at Carlton'House. Lady Caroline Capel :writes' to. Sir Arthur. Paget' that "the shops are completely emptied by the Eage for hiring Diamonds,''which has seized everybody.. Even .Lady Hertford has condescended'to pay from 30 to 200 guincan for the Loan of: some for .to-night." , Another 'correspondent,.facetiously alludes to' tho. danger, of' a .revolution amongst the nobility owing to all their -best French: cooks - being carried off to occupy, temporarily, the Prince's kitchens. As' for the Itegeht himself, ono correspondent, Mr Henry Featherstono, who was not invited to (he great festivity, sarcastically observes that His ltoyal Highaess. was, so he hears, "perfectly wonderful in a field- marshal's uniform," and, "it was also very magnificent, very;][oorf r and' very disagreeable." Tho gossips, comment upon tho fact .that nobody under the .rank' of.-a marquis was seated at the Regent's privato supper table,-and that the famous . Mrs. Fitzherbert did not. put in on appearand thereat. _We read in these ldtlers of big gambling bouts at Brooks's and other clubs, of one noble gambler dropping a cool ,£BOOO at.ecarto at.one sitting.. In contrast t'o the -descriptions of the■-luxury- of- tho life led l by .society, there is,' a' letter .froni a naval officer bitterly complaining of the ill-provisioning of tho vessels wjiich took out the British troops in tho ill-jfated Walcheren expedition. Lady Jersey and other famous beauties anil society quesns figure prominently in. the letters, some of the mpst interesting of which, however, deal with quiet country lifo-and sport at tlie -Welsh-home of the Pasots. -

■' The domestic troubles of the family are often, set forth in amusing detail, and it is clear that fashionablo society was jiiSt as givon to. .difussimj itg ailments •as it is t6-day. Medical charlatanry Seems to have flourished under the Georges. Thus we find Captain Charles Paget telling how a treatment, called "the Barrego waters;" ■recommended by a _Frenoh" quack physician, was to be tried on his little daughter. He writes: I'lic said waters are 1 to pass through a lonir Tulio, tho iiperture of .which at the bottom -is to be about tho size of Haif-a-crown in circumference, and it is desired that tho fall' of water from the lower, extremity of tho Tube should be 10. fepfc 'beforo .it reaches the poor child, on -whose hiu ami nn<l'ankle it' is to he apolied alternate mornines. . . . All thia will ad<l to ruin' me,, as this process, as well, as the much. iucreftsed quantity of the Barrage> Wnters, will .necp«parily he very exnensive. but another'difllcultv in my mind arises, and' that is. how the devil ™ my low house can thr> thine be done, wiHiout indeed I bore a- hole through thf l ceuinc of .one of the lower rooms, and nour in the 200 Quarts of Hot water from the upner_one, or-cveii through that one from the Garretts. . . .- - -

Pome of tho correspondents are evidently at'as great pains to be wittv as wis Horace Wnlpole himself, .and there »re. nianv happy., satircal hits' at the fashionable fads,'frivolities, and follies of-tile period.. Altogether as a picture o.t bygone ; times and- .manners - the letJws have a decided historical - value. Iliey are-carefully edited; and' there is an excellent index. Somo admirable •reproductions of family portraits' aro given as illustrations.. (Price 15s. 6d>) War Reading of Some English Writers..

For such a busy journalist Mr. .T.. L. -Garvin, editor of the London "Observer, 31 and at one time editor of-the "St Janies Gazette,"; seems, to have got through an astonishingly big bulk of non-war reading .during the past eighteen months. Ho lias told tlie editor of "The Book Monthly" that lie lias been finding resource against war-timo worries "in all sorts of books,'but chiefly old books." "Here is his list:—Shakespeare from end to-end, with a comprehension and a; delight never felt before.; overy known word of Keats in prose and verse; the "Canterbury. .Tales"; all Moliere; nearly all Defoe's novels; Dryden's prose, tho best of ;his dramas; Ben .Tonsoii's "Discoveries." ..and some of. his. plays; tho best of Massinger's and some of the lesser: known. -..(splendid stuff); "Don Quixote" and "Gil Bias," and '-'Gulliver's Travels." ' "Thisj" says --'Mr'. .' Garvin, ''sounds, a glorious miscellany, yet there is a thread of connection running through it." Mi'-. Chesterton's contribution to the "Book -Monthly's" budget oil "My AA'ar Reading," is brief, and ends very characteristically.' "I pass my time writing pamphlets and reading- 'Pickwick.'" From Mr. H. G. Wells's tetter I take the following extract; "I've'had a boom-in Defoe and re-read most of him. I've re-read that wonderful war-book. Hardy's Napoleonic drama, 'The Dynasts/ and Lucretius. I've tried to read Hansard this year—no good.'- I'.haven't tho staying power, tliohgh the good bils are amusing.' I wonder what Mr. AYells would say of our New Zealand Hansard ! I am afraid ho wpukl find the "good bits" few and fnr between. ,Tohn Biichan, the war historian (and author of "Greenmantlo and "The Forty-nine Steps") lias re-redd sevcivjl Of the Greek Latin classics—"Homer several times,- A'irgil once, Horace frequently a good deal of Pluto, as well as Herodotus, Thiic.vdides, and Tacitus." Also-ho has dipped into Mommsen, Gibbon, and Ferrcro. Among English books, Mr. . Euchau's ."mainstays" have been Scott's novels. T.ockliart's "Life," and Boswell's "Johnson." Robert Ilichcns warmly commends "The Adventures of Richard Maliom'" and "Sonia," and another popular novelist, Mr. Locke, tells us he "devoured from start to finish" ; Dickens. Pepys ft lie AA'heatlcy'edition), Boswell. Borrow. and Surtces. "In Jorrock's and Montaigne" —suroly a curious combination—he can, he says, "ajwavs find consolation." He also says-agood word for tho Australian verse'of C.. J.: Dennis ("Tbo Sentimental

Bloke'' and "Ginger Mick"), A. 'R. Pater-1 son, Leon GeHcrt, and Zora Cros3, Stray Leaves. Despite tho end of tho war the prices of books show no diminution. On 'the contrary,'"they seem lo be going higher still, "liveryman's Library" is now priced at lis. net (English.price), which means 3s. here, and this for tho ordinary cloth edition, Which used In cost a shilling jiet (is.- Bd. here). .The Methnen Shilling Series is now Is. 3d. net at Home, and 2s. (id. here. As for hew novels, in- the now all-too-num.erous instances where no colonial edition is P.ublislied, (lie English price is prohibitive. Six shillings net in-London means 7s. Gd. here-far too stiff ,i price for' the average' novel buyer in this country. Ono cannot help thinking that tho publishers, are also, among" the profiteers. A substantial advance in-prico may he, and not doubt is, quite justifiable; where a new odition. is being issued. But how about books printed before the war? I have specially iu mind some of the many series of reprints. -New supplies of theso are continually reaching New Zealand, but in many cases they aro .from the stocks -accumulated beforo ' tho war, .is may readily J)o seen by.the date on-the imprint. Even sucli-'a- highly rospeotable institution as the Oxford . -University. Press does not. I n.otice, disdain join, the ranks of tho "grab-alls." If for a book actually printed, 'say, ,in 1912, niul then sold retail- at ' 25., . tli« publishers now demand such a prico from the trado as renders it necessary for it to bo sold here at 4s. Gd., they are simply taking a mean .and greedy advantage of the people. Many book buyers blame the local booksellers,' but this is quite unjustifiable. The trade has simply to'pay the increased price, and, of course, - must;pass, it on. ■ With. tho .increased-. price of paper, "binding cloth, and ' production generally, one cannot expect ] lew books,' or. newly printed editious;o£ standard series, to bo purchasable at the old rates.' But I certainly object to phyms nearly- double for a book' printed,.'and published before the War.. ' • "Stevensonians" -will bo interested- in the announcement that Chatto and dus are about to issue a new voluiuo or poems by K.L.S;, wider, tho title jNcw Poems and Variant; Headings, . with a, preparatory note by ■■ Stevenson -s stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, wlio^it, may be remembered, icollaboratedwith the novelist in "The Wrong Box,, and also had a -share in. the ; conception and writing of- 'The : Wrecker. . Tho new Stevenson volume is to bo made up, from manuscripts which'wero for. a considerable timn in the possession ' ot tlio author.!s. stepdaughter- . A coming addition, to • the World & Classics," which should bo of. special interest to oversea Britojis, will be two volnmes of "Selected Speeches and Documents on British Colonial Policy, 1<631917" The collection is edited-by tho well-known authority on British'lmperial matters, Mr. 'A. B, Keith, .whose aim has been to trace in this way tho growth, of the system of responsible government in the British colonies. ■ '