REVIEW.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5548, 9 January 1879, Page 3

REVIEW.

We have been favored with a pamphlet, written by a lady in this city, and entitled “ A Day’s Bide Through the Indian Alps, 1869, and on the March.” On reading the first two pages wa were inclined to fear that our verdict would be less favorable than we could have wished. In the words of the author, who began by describing wooded mountain scenery, and indulged in a certain amount of word-painting, we felt that “ notwithstanding all this we were beginning to feel extremely hungry, and to wonder what we should be able to get” in the way of food for criticism. However, we were speedily interested in the graphic sketch of a day’s ride in India, the pleasant anecdotes of the little incidents of the day, and the lively pen and ink portraits of the individuals of the party, combine to make the first part of the pamphlet a very successful essay. “ On the March ” is a longer and more pretentious article, and as a whole is equally, if not more, successful than the first. The bustle of the march is well pourtrayed, and the style of writing is chatty, and the interest in the story is well maintained throughout. An anecdote of a stately drum-major, who was commissioned to deliver up a lady’s chignon which had been picked up, and who presented it on the point of his sword to the colonel, before a crowd of folks is ludicrous, hut of this our readers must judge for themselves, as the portions we have marked for extract do not include this story. Of the well-known Taj-Majal the author describes it thus tersely and well : The shape of the Taj is that of an irregular octagon, it is surmounted by a dome, supported by four smaller structures of the same kind, and decorated with a number of diminutive minarets. ‘ The height of the building, from the terrace to -the gilt crescent at the summit of the dome, is about 296ft.,’says the author of ‘ From Galcutta to the Snowy Range,’ who adds that ‘lt occupies a square (with the corners cut off) of 186 ft. The terrace, minarets, and the building itself, are air of the purest white marble, which is perfectly dazzling in the sunlight. It is superbly inlaid with precious stones, disposed in beautiful designs, and abounds with the most exquisite sculptured work imaginable.” A most stirring description of the regiment crossing the River Arumble attracted our attention, but the concluding paragraph is too good to be passed over. It runs as follows : Our coachman tried to make the horses rush up, but they came back faster than they had gone up. Every one was cross, and amongst the Grossest were the colonel and my husband. The former cams to me and hoped, as blandly as he could under the exasperating circumstance that I had got safely over the river. Then, aside to my husband, “ D—n it, C—, get that confounded carriage of yours out of the way.” One more extract and we have done. It is a description of a pass:—lt really was a fearfullooking place ! Fancy a rough road cut strait up the side of a rocky mountain, with flights of stone steps for carts and heavy carriages of all sorts to get up with here and there a terrace or plateau to rest on ! This road was also very narrow, and on one side yawned a deep ravine, with a roaring river below. No wonder my husband sounded the halt, and let the men rest for an hour, and have their dinners, in order to recruit their strength for the work that was before them. The natives are wretched creatures where anything like physical force is required of them, and were worse than useless for helping up the baggage; besides, they had enough to do to look after their bullocks, elephants, camels, &c., &c,; and so the poor men had plenty on their hands ; they bad to pall, and haul, and propel, and use all their cunning, to keep a garj-y which had gained a few yards of ascent, from running backwards, or perhaps falling over the oliff; while the officers were here and there and everywhere, ordering, shouting, and occasionally using their whips or the flat of their swords on the lazy natives. If a second edition of the pamphlet is issued we hope such an eye-sore as “ guard tV Jwneur” for “ garde if honneur ” may bo corrected. The wide breaks between the paragraphs on page 4 are unsightly. The spelling of the word •‘syce” as “cyoe,” and “sahib” as “sahab,” is unusual, and the better known form might have been adhered to. We should bo glad of an explanation of such words as “ cumberhund,” “ conrtee,” k c. But ’ after all these are only slight blemishes on two happily conceived and well executed sketches that we can recommend to our readers, hoping that the writer may yet learn to speak of the Hutt in more flattering terms than as the “ dreary New Zealand Hptt,"