BOOKS OF THE DAY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17096, 19 February 1916, Page 12

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

THE NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA. Much of the matter contained in Miss Elsie li, Masson’s hook, “ An Untamed Territory: The Northern Territory of Australia ” (Macmillan and Co.), lias already appeared in' print m the form of articles contributed to the Melbourne “Argus” and various New Zealand journals. The articles were, however, well worth repeating in book form, affording as they do an interesting and instructive account of the huge, thinly inhabited, but fertile and potentially wealthy territory with which they deal. At Port Darwin the cosmopolitan character of the population renders tho place for a time at least very pictoijue to tho visitor, insect ** are troublesome, and the heat of + course is very oppressive, hut of recent jeais residence m Darwin has become mod. more tolerable. Miss Masson p' e * lively description of tho curiously cornled population of the place, which includes so many Chinese and Tho servant question is a for new arrivals to solve. In Ham in no such person as a white servant can he found. A Chinese cook is sometimes procurable, being a mudi-coveteu prize. For the most part, however, tho rest dents havq to depend upon nal help. The black boys and nnscies are fairly honest and develop in time much more respect for eleanliiioss a d a much greater intelligence than newcomers at first give them credit foi. The chief trouble is that they aie s “casual.” Miss Masson writes:— George has no specified day. off, but lm takes one whenever lie feels inclined, sometimes to, the great inconvenience of the household. „ his return, Boss - plenty grow'. “ What, for you go out to-daj . ne asks. “ Corroborcc— my bruddeis and sisters,” answers George. He seems to have an endless supply of brothers and sisters, who pass their davs in holding corroborees. Want go see my sister to-day, Missus, lie says. “ Where is your/ sister? ‘■' Ho lonea hospital.” “ Y ’mt name vour sister?” asks a suspicious missus. A long pause. Maudie, I think,” answers George, carelessly. The missus at last tells Ceoige he reallv must not go to any more corroberees, whereupon George retaliates bv bringing tlie corroborees there. Suddenly there is a burst or noise from tlig backyard, clapping or hands, buzzing of bamboo pipes, anu onuiess chanting of a monotonous refrain, varied by shrieks of lauglitcu. Aftgli an hour of this Boss (brings the corroborec to an end. George, however, invites his friends to spend the night, and next morning in the backyard there aro five sleeping blacks, under blue blankets, instead of one. The author describes the leading industries of the Territory, pearling, tortoiseshell collecting, buffalo scooting (for the skins), mining and cattle-breed-ing. and gives an interesting account of the country generally. The Territory, she thinks, lias a prosperous future before it if only l the right kind of settlers aro attracted. Every year there is less trouble with tho blacks, although tho Chinese exercise a mischievous influence/ over them, “ enslaving them with cheap grog and opium to which they fall easy victims.” In course of time, with the extension of tho railway and tho development of the mines, ji white population will, predicts the'author, increase and multiply. “ The last' Asiatics will die or return to their homes, and the strango flavour of the East will pass away.” A greater rospect for law and order is every year being slimvn, and cases of serious crime are comparatively rare. The administration of justice still proceeds, however, on unconventional lines. For instance, in tho course of her account of a murder trial at Port Danviil, the author gives some amusing examples of the pigeon-Eng-lisli which has perforce to be employed when aboriginal witnesses are being examined. One illustrates the way in which the Judge administered the oath to a black witness, “a short, stout Jubra, dressed in a blue cotton frock, and a red handkerchief round her neck, curly-haired, with sad eyes, like a dear old retriever dog.” The Judge said, pointing to the prisoners: “Now, Ada, you savvy those blaekfella there?” “Yaas, me savvy. ' “You see those white gentlemen there” ? (motioning towarls the jury). “ Yaas, me see ’em.” “ All right, -Ada. Now, you tell those gentlemen all you savvy about those blaekfella. And you talk straight fella.” “Yaas.” “And loud fella.” “Yaas.” The bock, which contains a number of illustrations, some depicting tho scenery of the Territory, other various native types, is dedicated to Dr J. A Gilruth, formerly of "Wellington, and now Administrator of the Northern Territory, and Mrs Gilruth. (New Zealand price, 7s Gd.) ! WARS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Now that, alas, “ wars and rumours of wars” constitute tho staple of so much of our daily conversation, a wellwritten narrative record of some of the great wars of ancient times is possessed of special interest. Such a work is Mr Alfred Miles’s “ Wars of the Olden Times—Abraham to Cromwell” (Stanley Paul and Co.). "Without pretending to be a complete history of the period covered, Mr Miles’s book deals with the wars of the Hebrews, the wars of Ancient Greece and Rome, the wars of Alexander the Great, Hannibal, the .'/ipios, Julius Caesar, Alfred the Great, che Crusaders, and the wars of England, from the Norman Conquest to tho end of the English Civil War, including descriptions of the chief battles, connected by synopses of intervening events. The history will, the author tells us, be continued in due course to ijio close of the great war now in progress. Mr Mites lias drawn much valuable material from tho pages of the historians of the world, and his narrative generally is characterised by commendable clearness, and, where oc-r.-rAcv. demand?, by an impressively dramatic style. The interest and value of the volume are considerably enhanced by the illustrations, of which there are a large number, many being ropioductions of battle scones by artists of repute; others showing the costumes and weapons of tho various periods dealt with. The synopsis of events which follows each chapter is a very useful feature of a volume which should be very popular, and which would form

an excellent gift or prize book for young people. (New Zealand price, 65.)