LITERATURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3671, 22 July 1924, Page 66

LITERATURE.

BOOK NOTICES. The Cruise of the Amaryllis."' By G. H. P. Muhihauser, Lieut., R.N.R. ; with a Memoir of the Author by E. Keble Chatterton, and an Introduction by Claude Worth. Illustrated with 60 photographs taken by the author, and five maps. (John Lane.)

Considerable interest and curiosity was aroused when, on New Year's Bay ot 192?!, the yacht Amaryllis, navigated by Lieutenant Muhihauser, arrived in Auckland Harbour, The fame of the daring cruiser had preceded him, for he arrived from Sydney, where, as he tells us, hs had had a fearful time with reporters. Fifteen months before—on September 6, 1922—the Amaryllis sailed on her world cruise from Plymouth, and it was on July 6, 1925, that, having completed the circumnavigation of the globe, she anchored in Dartmouth Harbour. If ever there was a born sailor it was Lieutenant Muhihauser. He was of the stuff of Drake and Hawkins and their companions in daring adventure by sea, and at an earlier period in history might have won fame as a discoverer. As it was, lie served his country during the war in mine-sweep-ing and other risky service. A number of Cambridge undergraduates, officered by yachtsmen, procured a steam yacht, the Zarefah, which, commanded by Muhihauser, was soon chosen by the admiral of mine-sweeping as his flagship. Later Muhihauser volunteered for' special service, and served in “ Q "’ ships, acting as bait for submarines. But his greatest achievement, says the writer of the memoir, was when he captured the German ore steamship Dusseldorf off the Norwcgian coast, and, with a handful of men, steamed her across to Scotland through the worst of weather and without sextant or proper charts. And when peace came, instead of settling down to quiet civilian life, he was soon planning the adventure of a world cruise on his own little sailing vessel. , George Muhihauser was born in Surrey during the 70s, and very eariv ,>lt the call of the sea. In his school holidays he used to go fishing with the North Sea trawlers, and after entering on business life he bought a small yacht, in which he and a friend or two used to go cruising. After the Armistice the *dea of a world cruise occurred t-o him, and on being demobilised he set about looking for a suitable craft, and finally lighted on the Amaryllis, a yacht of 36 tons Thames (26 ions gross), with auxiliary motor power, of which, however, he made but little use. The little vessel was 40 years old, but sound and strong, thoroughly seaworthy in every respect, though her navigator says not ideally built for a long cruise. She is, in his belief, the third smallest vessel to go round the world, and the smallest that has sailed from England, the other two sailing from America. Given good seamanship on the part of the captain there is, Lieutenant Muhihauser says, nothing wonderful in prolonged cruises by such small vessels. Small, well-found ships are safe in rough weather if properly handled. But, it safe, they are often acutely uncomfortable. On Christinas Day, in the Tasman Sea, after a week’s storm-tossing, the author thus reflected: “Here I am, somewhere in the Tasman Sea, though exactly where I do not know, as I have not had any sights for the last few days; hove-to in a. strong wind and heavy sea, with driving rain thrown in, liable to be run down by a steamer at any moment, the deck practically untenable, and conditions below not much better; my bunk wet with spray which has come in through the skylight; no chance of a decent meal even, and no one to talk to. Why on earth do I do this sort of thing? I do not know the answer to the question, unless it is that I like doing it; but why 1 should is the mystery.” Mr Abercrombie, an American, who accompanied Lieutenant Muhihauser from Suva to Sydney by*way of New Caledonia, and who proved a genial companion and a wonderful cook (if he had been a professional cook he would have been the best one in the world), expressed his feelings thus on leaving the Amaryllis: “Well, George, it lias been a great trip. I have led a quiet life, and nothing like it ever happened to me before, and I would not part with the memory of it for a million dollars. But if someone was to come down that ladder and put a million dollars on the table, and say that to earn them I must go through it again, I should say ‘No.’ My peace of mind is more to me than money.’"

On leaving England Lieutenant Muhihauser was accompanied by Mr Prowse, of the Royal Cruising Club, his brother, and another English gentleman : but the brothers only travelled to Barbadoes, where the only permanent substitute obtainable was a, lialf-caste hoy, and throughout the long cruise Lieutenant Muhihauser was practically without responsible assistance in the navigation of his little vessel. Crossing the Atlantic, he cruised among the Caribbean Islands, refitted at Kingston, went through the Panama Canal, and crossed the Pacific, visiting the Galapagos, Marquesas, and Society Islands, Rarotonga, Fiji, and New Caledonia, and so to Sydney. After two months in Australia Lieutenant Muhihauser came to New Zealand, and here he thought of selling the Amaryllis, for a return voyage was likely to be much more difficult than the outward passage on account of the regular winds being unfavourable. However, the Amaryllis proved unmarketable, so her owner decided to navigate her home again. He spent four months on our shores, making many short cruises about Hauraki Gulf, but inland made only a flying trip to Rotorua. “New Zealand is a very pleasant place, and the only adverse remarks I have to make are that there are not enough trees on the land and not

enough shelter in Auckland Harbour for small vessels. But for Hauraki Gulf there can be nothing but praise. As a cruising-ground it must be unequalled in the world Auckland is a fine city, u ith good streets, parks, and excellent shops; but seen trom anywhere except Mount Eden it is not beautiful. There are too many gaunt square buildings.’ Lieutenant Muhihauser comments °n the absence of a lighthouse on the Three Kings, and finds it a mystery why the Commonwealth Government shows so little interest- in the navigation of Torres Strait, one of the most rock and reefstrewn areas in the world, and growing daily in importance. It is not even properly surveyed.

From New Zealand the Amaryllis sailed for the East- Indies, visiting the New Hebrides, the Solomons, and Port Moresby, and home by the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. He was accompanied from Auckland by Mr G. Tadgell, an Australian, who was accustomed to; handle small sailing craft in the way of sport, and who proved a most congenial and useful companion. In the course of the long homeward voyage many islands and ports were visited, and numerous difficulties and perils successfully surmounted. But this was to be the last achievement of the daring sailor. On meeting him the writer of the memoir was startled by the change in his appearance; he looked fully 10 years older than before leaving England. Doubtless the strain and hardships of the three years’ cruise had overtaxed his constitution. Within a few weeks he was stricken with illness, which shortly proved fatal. Lieutenant Muhihauser had not time to complete the preparation of his book for publication, and the latter part consists of his diary, condensed by his sister. But os it stands the book is a very enjoyable record of a remarkable cruise. It is simply written, without the faintest hint of self-advertisement; scenes and incidents are graphically described, and there are many amusing anecdotes.

“Family Affairs.” By George Robey, author of “After-Dinner Stories,” etc. Illustrated by E. P. Ivinsella and George Robey*. (John Long.)

The numerous short humorous pieces contained in this volume have previously appeared in various magazines. They describe various domestic adventures and mishaps which befall a family consisting of father, mother, and children of various ages. Paterfamilias is made the narrator, and shows himself a sanguine bungler who muddles everything he has to do with, and makes things lively for the rest of the family • while his wife for the most part maintains a resentful “I told you so” attitude. He engages a cook, tries his hand at painting the ceiling and at trimming his wife’s hats and at packing her week-end travelling trunk, and plans holiday amusements for the family, all with diastrous results. The book is one to be dipped into, and the tales will be especially mirth-provoking if read aloud. The small inset illustrations are appropriately grotesque. The book is published at a popular price, 2s 6d net. “ Sphinx.” By David Lindsay, author ol “ A Voy*age to Arcturus,” “ The Haunted Woman.” (John Long.) Nicholas Cabot, a young man of scientific acquirements and an inclination for occult research, has invented an apparatus for recording raid reproducing dreams, and the opening chapter shows him arriving to perfect his invention in a quiet Hampshire home, where he is to stay on the footing of a pay*ing guest. He is wealthy, and Mrs Sturt, his hostess, views him as an eligible parti for one of her three daughters. She is alarmed at the threatening entanglement of the second one, Evelyn, with an undesirable young man, whom, nevertheless, she allows Nicholas to have in the house to assist him with the mechanical parts of his invention. This invention, of course, is a secret, but he experiments with it on Evelyn, and explains its potentialities to her. Naturally, Mr Lindsay does not give a clear description of this wonderful dream-recording apparatus, but we gather that the thought vibrations arising during dreams are received on a sensitive film, and that by setting some clockwork mechanism in motion the recorded dream may bo reproduced and projected into the mind of a person either waking or sleeping, who apparently need not be in actual contact, with it. There seemp no reason why* the machine should not record waking thoughts as well as dreams, hut Nicholas is specially* interested in dream consciousness, believing that in the dreams of deep sleep the mind is open to knowledge not within its waking capacities. At the end of the book he desires to use his invention to arrive at the truth regarding the death of one of the two women besides Evelyn, who play* leading parts in the story. This is Lore Jenuing, an unpleasant neurotic, whiskydrinking, drug-taking young woman, a professional musician, who, as is revealed in tlve final chapter, has a close connection with the Sturt household. The third woman is a handsome, young-middle-aged widow of the siren type, against whose fascination the alleged mysogonist Nicholas is not proof. Besides the fantastic central idea, there are several original features in the development of the story*, and the author shows considerable imaginative power, particularly in the description of a recorded dream, dreamt by Evelyn’s father, and realised through the record in her own dreaming consciousness. But the characters do not grasp ; Nicholas himself quite fails to stir interest, and the tragedies of the story fail to move. -—Reprints.—• “Evelyn.” By Alice and Claude Askew. (John Long; 25.) “The Grizzly.” By James Oliver Curwood. (Cassell and Co. ; 2s 6d.) These are cheap and attractive editions of two stories by popular authors. The latter belongs to the class of Nature

books which is a significant development of the wider humanity of our times; books in which the writer endeavours to realise the experiences and emotions ot animals. “As in human life, there are tragedy* and humour and pathos in the life of the wild, ’ says the author in his preface to this story*. It is a companion story to “ Kazan, the Wolf Dog,” and botli stories evince the author’s intimate knowledge of and sympathy with the creatures of the wild.