BOOKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2151, 16 May 1895, Page 50

BOOKS.

The Sphinx of Eaghhawh : A Tale of Old Bendigo. By Rolf Boldrewood. London: Macmillan and Co. Dunedin: J. Braithwaite. This is a slight bub very pleasantly written tale which may be read from beginning to end in two hours. The Sphinx is a young and beautiful girl, well-born and wellbred, who experienced the necessitous vicissitudes of colonial life and found herself compelled to take a situation as a barmaid in a goldmioing township near Bendigo. She was much respected by the men of the community and correspondingly despised by the women. That she was a barmaid was bad enough ; but that she conducted herself irreproachably was worse. The Sphinx brought matters to a bead at a certain hospital ball to which, as it was a mixed affair, she was admitted. Following the ball there were the usual sensations of a diggings in the early days — robbery and murder. In the end the Sphinx gets safe into port, whither all sympathetic readers wish her to arrivo. Be&idea being an entertaining little tale, the novelette teaches a very wholesome lesson to drawing-room snobs, which possibly may not be unneeded in Bendigo gold townships and elsewhere.

The Darleys of Bingo Bingo: A Modern Australian Story, By Justin CHARLES MacCaetie. London: Gray and Bird. Dunedin : J. Bralthwaite. Mr MacCartie may be remembered as the author of a book that acquired an evil notoriety aa a spiteful libel on Dunedin. We make our compliments to Mr MacOartie on having to all appearance worked off bis venom and ©n having at length produced an entertaining and readable book. Perhaps the story may even be called U3eful and instructive, whioh is always a gain provided the book ia first made interesting. The thesis which the author sets himself is to show how blessed is a country life compared with a city life. This he proves, as the saying is, "up to the hilb"; indeed over the bilt, for to our thinking he overproves it. Mr MacCartie has written a work— Malting His Pule— showing that Daaedin is a den of infamy : in The Barleys of Dingo Bingo he makes Melbourne out to be not much better. Bub however bad these two cities may be, we believe that sometimes very worthy and even happy people may be found in towns ; and that the country, which is said to be more particularly the workmanship of God, has its own forms of vioe, littleness, and misery. However, we do not quarrel with the author for making Dingo

Dingo a happy and prosperous place. Mrs Durley, a widow, having seen that city life entails such a large share of misery, determineu to move with her young family— throe eons and a daughter — into tho wilderness, some 2000 acres loft her by her husband, and there to establish a homo. Very gloomy are tho prognostications of her friends and relatives, bnt she carries out her resolve with the mo3t satisfactory results. The account of their straggles and successes is made very interesting, and the characters of the sona are very consistently sketched. We like Jack tost, though his jokeß are often nearly as bad as one hears in real life. Where tho book seems to us weakest is in its dialogue, which is often stiited, bookish, and preachy. What we like be3t is the account of the work on the farm at Dingo Dingo, and of the exploring expedition to Waratah Gully.

In Hie Lion's Mouth: The Storg of Two English Children in France. By KLEA.NOR 0. Pjuce. Macmillan's Colonial Library. Danedin : Wise and Co. We cannot remember to have read before any story by this author, though from the title-page she seems to have written a considerable number. This is a tale of the ycara 1789-1793— the opening years of lbs French revolution. Batty and Oonatantioe Maynard are two orphan childron, loft in chargo of an uncle, who resolves to defraud them of their inheritance. With this end in view he Bends them, to Northern Franco to live in the house of a friend of his own and a bird of the same feather. Here the children live through the early years of the levolutioa, Monßieur Durand, the man in whose care they have been placed, being a rabid democrat and hator of the ariatocraoy. The aristocracy in the neighbourhood are represented by the Oomte and Vicomtesse de Mercy end their family, an old and noble stock. Botty Maynard and her young brother became accidentally acquainted wilh the noble family at the Chateau, and when the fury of tho revolution reaches their neighbourhood the English children, now grown older, play the part of guardian spirits to tho persecuted nobles, being themselves also in considerable darger. After a time of much trial and suffering, in which one or two of the important characters become victims of the rtvolatioo, Betty and Constantino effect their escape to England with their friends, and, tho wicked undo beiDg dead, enter into their inheritance and begin a life of happiness. The Btory is well told, the sympathies of the writer being strongly in favour of the French aristocracy.

The History of Australia and N&v Zealand from ICOG to 1890. By Alexander Sutiieiiland, M. A., and Geougb Sutherland, M.A. London : Longmans and 00. Melbourne: George Robertson and Co. This i 3 a small but very necessary work, dealing succinctly with the main outstanding facts of Australasian colonial history. Seeiog how many colonies have to be treated within so narrow a compass, it will be understood that not muchr can be said about eacb. Bat in a general school history of this kind we do not think that ib is desirable to be very full in the treatment. Yet there is a great deal of interesting matter in the history which we believe might enlighten the ignorance of older people than \ school children. Four chapters out of 26— a very fair proportion — are given to New Zealand. Beginning with the ethnology and customs of tbe Maoris, the handbook goes on to give an account of the early navigators who vi-dtad New Zealand — Tasman, Cook, and Marion dv Freane. Early missionary effort and tho vaiions early colonistog enterpriees, in Wellington, Cbristchurcb, Danedin, and co on are duly recorded. The Native wars necessarily receive a considerable amount of attention ; and the history is brought down to the depression, where for the present ib stops. This praiseworthy little woik is written in a simple, lively style, and i» well and abundantly illustrated.

The Maiden's Progress: A Novel in Bialogue. By Violet Hunt. London : George Ball and Bons. This is one of the most cleVer and amusing | books that we have read for a some time. It I is strictly speaking a novel, full of incident and situation, and running over with wit. It developes character with great origloaliby and distinctness ; and yet it U all dialogue or monologue, with the exception of what may be called occasional stage directions. Further, the book may be expected to work some good, if the modern maiden is growing to be the very objectionable person she is here represented. The heroine of the book is a girl called by her intimates, Modorna — a very g od and a very clever girl, and one who cornea to a good ond — marriage, to wit, with a good man, not to mention that he is a lord ; but yet a girl who has had, so to speak, her fling, which same fling is The Maiden's Progress. By the time she has sown her wild oats she is 27 — and her progress is held to have begun with her coming-out. What Miss Hunt desires to prove is that tho fin de slide indepsndent girl is on the wrong tack : that her condacfc, though good sport in the eyes of flippant young men, is hateful even to them, and greatly hurtful to the girl herself. This is an excellent object with wh!ch to set out : and there can be no doubt that besides writing a very entertaining book Miss Hunt has abundantly proved her point.

Handbook of Mental Arithmetic: Suited to the Requirements of the English and Scotch Codes. London : Blackwood and Sons. This work comes to us in two forms— in a set of six booklets arranged in grades for the standards from the lowest fco tho highest, and collected in one volume. These examples range over all the subjects of mental calculation, and present all degrees of difficulty from easy questions for the First Standard to difficult posers for the Seventh. Each set is prefaced with hints to teachers how to use the questions to greatest advantage. The gdts contain each 1200 examples — a total of 7200. This is by far the most complete work of the kind we have ever met with, a« well as the most systematically arranged. The answers are placed side bj side with the question*