CURRENT LITERATURE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15884, 3 April 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

CURRENT LITERATURE

NOTES ON NEW BOOKS. ■ ♦ BT CRITIC. Tbb fascination of the unknown has always been powerful to draw men of the great civilisations from their homes of comfort. On serious reflection it is strange that the knowledge of the certain hardship and danger has never been .1 deterrent to the enterprise of the Britisher. Much of the same spirit accounts for the thousands who flock to the colours when the war banner waves. Only here is a more understandable quality -the defence of the Homeland and the frustration of her enemies. In exploration no such reasons ran he urged. " Science." say some men. But a great number of those who join discovery parties have no scientific bent. It is something beyond logical reason, and as such the spirit of exploration must be accepted. "The Home of the Blizzard"— Sir Douglas Mawson (Heinemann. London)— as fully illustrates this marvellous endurance of hardship ns anything that has been written. Those who heard Mawson will remember that his lectin was a tale of continuous frustration by weather. And so he has most fitly named his book. Tor reading it one is continually forced to admiration of the men who continued their difficult, self-chosen tasks in spite of frost-bite, of amazing wind-storms, and of repeated difficulties Truly Antarctic exploration lias proved for at least the third time the grit and almost superhuman endurance of British men. who might so easily have stayed at home. To add to the world's scientific knowledge was the aim of lVuglas Mawson. No j world-famous achievement was his goal, j It, is quite possible that his name as an | explorer is unknown to thousands of Britons. But science has benefited, meteorologists have learnt more of the wisdom of the skies, and man's knowledge is enriched. Ice Pictures. The most beautiful pictures probably ever published are those taken by members of the Mawson expedition. Every variety of iceberg and ice floe and icebound sea is represented. The colour illustrations are beautiful specimens of the advanced photographic art of this century. The cinematographic results will bear' repetition for years to come, so striking are thev and from so unfamiliar a countrv. That of thousands of penguins saddling down the ice slope to plunge into the set is a more amusing film than any that was ever invented to draw public" laughter. Photographs, too. of the J explorers at their daily duties convey, by the seemingly impossible angles of , their figures, a more realistic idea of what these men had to contend with than any description in words. That of Madigan leaning positively leaning upon the wind, would never be believed if the attitude were conveyed by mere writing. There is no scarcity of pictures, either. The two volumes contain scores of these interestingly instructive illustrations. Bird Life in the Antarctic. This portion of polar observation has always proved popular, and the pictures as well as the letterpress of Mawson's book go into intimate details. "The Royal penguins were almost as petulant as the Adelie penguins, which we were to meet further south. They picked at our legs and chattered with an audacity which defies description. It was discovered that they resented any attempt to drive them into the sea, and it was only after long persuasion that a bevy took to the water. This was a sign of general capitulation, and some hundreds immediately followed, jostling each other in their haste, squawking, whirring their flippers, splashing and churning the water, reminding one of a crowd of surf-bathers. We followed the files of birds marching inland, along the course of a tumbling stream, until at an elevation of some five hundred feet, on a flattish piece of ground, a huge rookery opened outacres and acres of birds and eggs." Wireless in the Frigid Zone. •In this attainment they left a most obvious justification of their work. And the difficulty of it ! " The larger sections of the wireless masts gave the greatest trouble, as they were not only heavy but awkward. A special arrangement was necessary for all loads exceeding one hundredweight, as the single wire carrier-cables were not sufficiently strong. In such cases both carrier-cables were' lashed together nuking a single support, the hauling being done by a straight pull on the top of the hill. It was a familiar fight to see a string of twenty men on the hauling line scaring the skua gulls with popular choruses like ' A Roving' and 'Ho, Boys, Pull Her Along.' In calm weather the parties at either terminal could communicate by shouting, but were much assisted by megaphones improvised from a pair of leggings. ' Ice Masks lor Faces. It looks comical enough, the portrait of the meteorologist with a mask of ice frozen right over his face : and it probably serves more than anything else to show under what difficulties these men laboured for the advancement of world knowledge. Frost-bite was one of the commonest dangers, and what must have been a source of great pain, the skin of the feet seems to have loosened and peeled., leaving a tender surface of the soles. Again, there is the incident of one of them lifting a complete cast of .Mawson's ear. The skin came right off. Their fingers, too, became hard and insensitive with cold, and one may imagine how they must have fumbled with their tasks. Why and how men go on under such conditions it is impossible sometimes to understand. Occupations in the Hut.

In the hut, though there was apparently little relaxation, they made the most of what fun there was. The cooking provided a source of endless jokes. Not all eary work either. " The cook notes the absence of penguin meat! 'That will lake two hours to dig out!' is the storemjji's rejoinder. The storeman rumms.ges in the snow, and discloses a pile of penguins, crusted hard together, in a homogeneous lump. Dislodging a couple of penguins appears an easy proposition, but we are soon disillusioned. The store»r.;,n seizes the head of one bird, wrenches hard, and off it breaks, us brittle as stalactite. The same distracting thing happens to both legs, and the only remedy is to chip laboriously an icy channel round it. In a crouching or lying posture, within a confined space, this means the expenditure of mud; patience, not to mention the exhaustion of all invective. A crowbar decides the question. One part of the channel is undermined, into this the end of the crowbar is thrust and the penguin shoots up and hits the floor of the hut. The storeman, plastered with enow, reappears triumphant before the cook, but this dignitary is awkwardly kneading the dough of wholemeal scones, L. and the messman is feeding the tire with Wsg *eal blubber to ensure a ' quick ' oven. |||§ Everyone is too ousy. to notice the storem Kuan*'-!

In the two large volumes there is ample entertainment, and Douglas Mawson has the right style— and lucid. His book is a splendid addition to the slowly gathering literature of the Antarctic. "The Charm of the Antique"— 11. and E- Shackleton Allen and Uiiwin, London).—Those whose hubby is the antique- and whose delight it is to make their home a harmony will be much assisted by this book. .Judging from its illustrations, the a illiors have a sense of simplicity and fitness. They have travelled well and col ted wherever they 1 could, Then they have made their room's the harmonious accompaniment of their treasures. One gels the impression that they have sought tor the right atmosphere and that their home is not a mere museum o- a patchwork of incongruities. They love the old when it is beautiful, and they show their love by giving it. the suitable background. Those who read their hook will be possessed of great longing to see with the eve what the authors descrilie so well. "Marie Tarnowska"—by A. Yuanti Chart res iHcinemami. London!.— Such a sordid and yet pathetic story of a decadent and delicate woman of the Russian aristocrat y. Her birthright of ,111011tal malady, her marriage with a dissolute man. her low for her children, her fear of "the Scorpion.'' the affection of Kamaroiisky. ami the final tragedy of imprisonment': they ,ne all pleading'for the beautiful gnl Vet the story as plain story is undoubtedly that of a decadent woman who never helped the world, only hindered it. Still, a woman makes the plea for merciful judgment of her: ami no sensitive sister reading it could possibly disregard the appeal. It is vivid and holding. I; is such a pitiful narration of a totally wasted life ' "Percy and Others "—by K. Anstey Methuen, London: Hicks. Inveicargill). —Anstey was always amusing and brightly, innocuously humorous. His vignettes of Percy, a bee ami a drone, are written with all his old waggishness. If anyone feds inclined to sip the homy from under Anstey's light persiflage he will find plenty of information as well as fun. Not only bees are used to furnish us with amusing nonsense, hut the society motor clog has his chapter, the moon reflects and winks, the last wopse is a wasp. When one adds that all the sketches were written for Punch, the plan of their humour will be understood. We need our humorists so much nowadays ! "History of Mexico "—by H. H. Bancroft (Bancroft. New York'.—Prescott made old America a land of romance and history. Mr. Bancroft is not a Prescott. His book is curiously disappointing. All the material is there; all the illustrative aid. But one cannot " stick " to it. He has not the magician's wand. The centuries have produced but few historians. They were always rare and treasured among the many who have written history. One cannot say what makes the perfect one. But for accumulation of material, Mr. Bancroft's work is valuable. He has spared no effort, no time, and has done his work well and faithfully, and Mexico is a land of attraction just now to all who read.