BOOKS OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3859, 28 February 1928, Page 74

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

THE PACIFIC PEOPLE.

“People and Problems of the Pacific.” In Two Volumes. By J. Macmillan Brown. (Cloth, 50s net.) London: Ernest Benn, Ltd.

It took 21 years of life in the Pacific, and neighlrouring lands, travelling, seeking, and labouring, before Professor Macmillan Brown produced this great work, which deals w it Ji the people and problems of the Pacific. Before, he had made bold speculations on the early history of Polynesia. This time by means of articles first pulJished in various papers, and the reprinting of addresses delivered at lectures, he records his observations for the edification of the layman. The result is a work for which, with but few’ exceptions, one can find little but praise, though not all the facts stated can he accepted without question/ It begins with the general description of the main divisions of the Pacific— Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia—in which mention must be made of the isolation of the Polynesian or Maorian race from all the others. Too often have these all been looked upon as one common lace, whereas, in truth, the Maori belongs apart. D

The autho.’s main idea is that the movements of peoples in the Pacific and up to Java have been not from west to" east, as has been commonly supposed, but from east to west; that is, out of Polynesia and not into it. His reasons, which include both physical and philological points and the fact that for threequarters of the year the prevailing winds are from the south-east, culminate with that which states that vast bodies of the Polynesians must have moved westwanl to escape “the secular sinking of their archipelagoes in the central trough of the Pacific.” °

This theory is so logical that one cannot help but welcome it. “ The Maoris retain a tradition, of great eruptions in their primeval homeland, Hawaiki, culminating in a final eruption and subsidence that destroyed a large proportion of their people. This tradition confirms the Darwinian explanation of the origin of coral reefs and atolls, at least as far as the Central Pacific is concerned.” To prove this theory-:—though how far what follows is correct only a geologist could decide—the author describee geological changes in the Pacific, and shows evidence of the disappearance of whole islands within even recent times, and of changes of level, due to the fall and rise of the oceanic bed. The Polynesians, he says, came from Asift; but, by way of Micronesia instead of through Indonesia. At a time when there were thousands of islands now submerged under the Pacific, they came from an Asia “ that was still unflooded

by the Mangoloids, an Asia that was ns yet Caucasoid and in parts blondly Caucasoid.”

Professor Macmillan Brown, in dealing with blondness among the Polynesians, does not make himself explicit. He puts forth theories which go back to the Vikings for their origin, but are without foundation. The cause of blondness among the Maoris will have to be explained in a different way from this. A very interesting and more solid part of the work is its account of the many megalithic and other remains of a higher culture in Oceania. In Micronesia, especially, are the remains of Metalanim in the Carolines, right on the sea, which the professor looks on as an even greater mystery than Tialiuanaeo in the Andes; there are 11 square miles of ruins, with walls often .30ft high and 15ft thick, the single stones sometimes weighing 30 tons. He holds the builders to have been Polynesians who “ carved out a great empire in Micronesia that has now sunk under the wave.-,” leaving only these ruins. On Malden Island, again, in the Cook group, are stone ruins and paved roads, the architects being of the same school as those of Metalanim. The author believes this to have been a sacred island with sacrificial altars, surrounded by archipelagoes now sunk. On Easter Island we have, of course, the best known of all the megalithic remains in the Pacific; he believes this island to have been, like Malden Island, “ the sacred centre of a submerged and highly fertile archipelago,” linked up, moreover, with another empire to the east now represented only by a rocky islet 300 miles in that direction. He points out, quite truly, that in such islands, often solitary and barren, the great difficulty is to explain how the huge number of workers that must be postulated for such undei - takings could have otherwise been supported. Probably much light will come from comparisons with Andean America.

In comparing the languages of the Pacific peoples the author makes statements which are incorrect when he speaks of the Polynesian tongue as having no more than 12 or 1-1 sounds. With its .30,000 words or so, Maori language itself has more than that ; and it is only one form of the whole. The professor’s idea that Polynesian is a highly primitive tongue is opposed to the weight of philological opinion; but then he is inclined all through to be careless of how he treats philology. With regard to the future. Professor Macmillan Brown is still interesting, although it must be admitted, rather pessimistic. He holds that an economic conflict in the Pacific is inevitable, and, if the barriers are lowered, a century or two will see the world Orientalised. An armed conflict between Japan and the United States he thinks may not he far off; if it conies about soon, then in the end victory will fall to the latter, and Western standards will be safe, but if it is put off for a century the result will be doubtful. The white race, he fears, is on the down-grade.

HISTORY THROUGH BIOGRAPHY. ‘‘Joan of Arc.” By M. Odlidge Dairs; “ William the Conqueror.” By Doris M. Stenton; “Napoleon.” -\y C. R. Cleare. (Each, cloth, 2s 6d net; (illustrated). London : G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

History presented in biographical form is a fairly new idea, and one which cannot fail to succeed among school children. Tracing a great person’s life through the maze of dates and events, which are the general rule of history books, is scarcely satisfactory, and, at best, only a disjointed picture can be formed in the mind of the scholar. With this new process, however, the great person is made the main point of interest, and the facts connected with him (or her) fall naturally into their pioper places. The result must be history seen in a new light, and le study of it, from the child’s point of view’, reduced to an easy pleasure. “ History Through Biography ’’ is a new series put out by G. P. Putnam’s Sons We are in receipt of three of them. Each is illustrated with several black and white pictures and one coloured frontispiece taken from a famous painting. Each is fascinating to read as a story book. To show the style of the whole, we quote at random a sentence from each :— “ Joan’s life was clear and cure, and something of her charm and beauty can be realised, even after these long years, when we read the records about her which have been preserved. Ker character may be compared to a jewel, but a jewel set in a framework oL iron, rusty and bloodstained.”

“He (William) was as arrogant as cruel, as indifferent to the sufferings of others as any eleventh-century king. Nevertheless, tliere is in him»a greatness that lifts his name above those of other kings. If he loved the tall deer as if he were their father and cared nothing for the dispossessed cottages in the lands where he made his forests, everyone agreed that his justice was good for Norman and Englishman alike.” “ In a poor country and in turbulent times childhood is short. At the age of eight or nine Napoleon already thought himself a man. and was interested ; n man’s affairs. His great hero was, of course, Paoli, now an exile in England, whose beneficent and daring exploits against the Genoese and the French were still the inspiration of many a rising and a theme of innumerable tales. In imagination Napoleon saw himself - a member of the little band that still clung to their old leader. They had returned, and were driving the French out of the island, and Napoleon, we mav be sure, rode in the forefront of the charge.”-

I Books such as these, which appeal to the romance in a child’s nature, should go far. DRAMATIC SEA DISASTERS. ’ Tales of S.O.S. and T.T.T.” By Bennet Copplestone. (Cloth). London and Edinburgh ; William Blackwood and Sons, Ltd. Piuth is stranger than fiction,” as these half-dozen tales of the sea will prove. Ihe days of wireless telegraphy nave not altogether pat an end to wrecks and fires, although facilitating the modes of rescue, and even the most urgent S.O.S. and T.T.T. signals have sometimes been unavailing. Six of the most dramatic sea disasters of modem times are described here. Ihe book begins with a chapter explaining wiieless telegraphy—” the noise upon the waters ” as the author calls it. and showing how wonderful it is in its power to save human life. “Though the frail and unstable steel monster of today ” (the subject is ships) “ may descend to the depths long before help can come to it in answer to its wireless calls, yet those who are cast on the mercy of the waters presently find succour in the rescuing vessels which their wireless calls I have summoned.” How terrific would De I the loss of life without the aid of wireless is displayed in this collection of episodes. They deal with “ A Matter of Minutes —the collision of the Titanic with an iceberg in the North Atlantic in 1912 ; “ Fire, Water, and Oil ” —tb e loss of the Volturno in the same year through catching on fire, off Rotterdam, in a mountainous seas; “The Unseen Lifeboat” the boat that lay for 14 days unfound in the .North Atlantic in 1914; “Red or Green ’’—the ramming of the Empress of Ireland by the Storstad in the St. Lawrence River in the same year; “ A Conflict of Risk ” —the wrecking of the Lusitania by two torpedoes off the South Coast of Ireland in 1916; and “ Gold from Sea Water —which desciibes the seven years of work necessary to retrieve 45 tons of geld bars from the Laurentic, sunk by enemy mines off Lough Swi’lv in 1917. '

The tales are all graphically related, and recall the fact that Bennet Copplestone is an excellent storv-teller, his previous book, “ Dead Men’s Tales,” giving further examples of his skill. AN ACCOUNT OF A LIFE. “ Lord Birkenhead.” By Ephesian. (Cloth, 5s net.) London: Mills and Boon, Ltd. (per Sands and M'Dougall Pioprietary, Ltd.). This account of the life of F. E. Smith, first Earl of Birkenhead, comes cut in a popular edition, in which Ephesian brings completely up to date the political and personal portions of the book, and includes a number of good stories, never before ‘told, dealing with all phases of “F. E.’s ” phenomenal career. From birth to the present day the statesman’s career is described, and interest holds the reader in every page for two reasons—(l) the subject-matter is so absorbingly appealing; (2) it is presented so well by Ephesian. Among the many stories of the wit and brilliance of “ r. E. ’ are the following:

When Smith ose to address the jury on one occasion the judge, Mr Justice Ridlev made this remarkable observation : “Mr Smith, I have read t“e pleadings, and I do not think much ot your case.” “ Indeed, m’Lud, I’m sorry to hear that,” was the instant reply " but your Lordship will find that the more you hear of it the more it will grow on you ! ” The judge burst into a roar of laughter, and Smith, duly addressing the jury, won his case.

On another occasion he appeared for an omnibus company against whom damages were claimed for. a youth whose arm was said to be permanently disabled by an accident. “How high can you lift your arm?” Smith asked this unfortunate. With a show of great pain th. lad raised his arm to the level of his shoulder. “ And how high could you raise it before the accident?” The incautious claimant thrust his arm high up into the air—and lost his case. " Judge Willis, on a further occasion, after a long wrangle with “ F. E.” on a point of procedure, asked him sarcastically, “ Whatever do you suppose I am on the bench for, Mr Smith?” “It is not for me, m’Lud. to fathom the inscrutable workings of Providence," was the reply. Similar anecdotes sown among the facts of a history-making career enliven what is already a capital biography. LONDON THROUGH THE YEARS. “ A -London Omnibus.” Illustrated from Old Prints. (Cloth, 2s Gd net.) London: Chatto and Windus. The Chatto and Windus almanacs which v ere so well received last year and the year before have been replaced on the present occasion by this book, “ A London Omnibus.” London has had innumerable and ardent lovers, and their expression of passion has been so varied that the London anthologist has a bewilde’ir.g multitude of delights from which to choose. In the -bove volume are garnered a few’ of the less obvious tributes to and impressions of the great city, ranging from Froissart to Aldous Huxley. The result is fascinating and original. Everything one expects to read of in connection with London is there, presented as an extract from the best work on the subject procurable. Consequently the reader never knows in what period he will find himself i ext, for, as example, an article on “ A Model of Wren’s Plan for the Rebuilding of London,” written by one of our most up-to-date moderns, Aldous Huxley, is in between an extract’ from Eve’vn’s Diary (1G66), on “The Fire of London,” and a letter from Joe Cose to Phoebe Buttercup (183 S describing the former’s visit to the capital city; while “ Ab the Albert Hall,” by W. N. P. Barbellion, author of “ The Journal of a Disappointed Man,”

rubs shoulders with “ Liberty,” a poeni by William Blake, and “ Thieves,” a letter written by Horace Walpole in 1752, Six excellent plates—“ Vauxhall Gar. dens,” by Rowlandson; “ Eastcheap Market,” “ Dandies and Dandyzettes, 1818,” “London Before the Great Fire, 1066,” “The Houses of Parliament, 1821,” and “The Execution of the Earl of Strafford, 1641 ” —are included in what is without doubt a valuable book. DEVOTIONAL STUDIES. “Comfort and Courage.” Bv Ronald G. Macintyre, C.M.G., D.D.‘ (Cloth, 3s 6d net.) London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd. This is tiiat better kind of devotional book written by one who has not only thought his way through to truth, but had to live his way through death to life. There is both mental refreshment and spiritual health in the reading of these suggestive, human interpretations of divine truth. There are sentences on every page that thrill, not bv their brilhance, but by their nearness to the throbbing truth they express. As near as words allow these pages are life. HEALTH UNDER MODERN CONDITIONS. The Mastei y of Nervousness.” By Robert S. Carroll, M.D. (Cloth. 6s net.) Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company. (Per Angus and Robertson, Ltd.) Books stating comnionsense rules of living are frequent occupants of library shelves nowadays, to help, more or less, in the pursuit of the good health which’ is everybody's goal. But of all of them few have impressed us as forcibly as “Ihe Mastery of Nervousness,” which book, for valuable advice, knowledge, and breadth of treatment is excellent. io suffer from nerves in some form or other is so common among modern people that- we have come to look upon the complaint as too big to be adjusted by normal means. The problem is becoming more complicated each decade, and this question is more and more frequently asked by the individual, “Shall I lower my‘standards, shall I surrender in whole or in part; or shall I select wisely and train for mastery ? ” Dr Carroll’s book shows so palpably that the latter decision is possible for the majoi ity of serious-minded men and women, that there is no doubt about its being a splendid manual.

Beginning with a chapter on “ The Age of Nervousness,” and showing how everything during latter years has tended to make the “ age ” a universal one, the writer goes on to describe the va: ions forms which nervousness exhibits, and of one which almost all civilised people are sufferers. Causes of the trouble beginning with those due to herity and embracing all those which come later, are explained, and then follow four long and comprehensive chapters dealing with food in its relation to health. Eating errors and inactivity, affecting as they do the physical body, are far more conducive to deranging the nervous system than many of us realise. How to eat wisely,-and later, how to work and play harmoniously, are described in detail. From the physical body the author goes to the thoughts and emotions of people, telling of “ tangled thoughts ” and “ emotional tyranny ” in a way which pulls the reader to attention ‘ with a start. How to control these by the judicial use of the will, how to gain harmony in body, mind, and feelings, and how, eventually, to become not a slave of oneself but a master, are told as only a man conversant with his subject can tell. The man or woman suffering from nervous debility will find this book an ever-readv, practical help in the way to health. Dr Carroll writes in simple, fluent language, apt in expression, and shows b.ow, based upon the re-education of self, nervousness can not only be mastered, but eradicated.

A HUMORIST TRAVELS. “ The Elusive Trail.” By Cyril W. Davson. (Cloth.) London and Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, Ltd. One can understand why this book makes such pleasant reading, for the author by his photograph looks such a jovial, rollicking soul that he could not fail to writ - ' in a similar manner. His adventures on the way to Carolina, a t’ny frontier community close to the borders of Spanish Honduras, to which place he h-4 been commissioned to penetrate in scare!' of petroleum, are told in a most realistic way, and the reader is with him on every step. Those who go on travel Have something to relate : So snatch my stick and satchel, For a journey I will make. z Pray carry on, Herr Urion. It is with these lines that the book commences. Chapter I, “The Tearful Trail,” tells of the voyage from Liverpool to Nicaragua, the main characteristic of which is the continual crying of a small girl passenger, whose father, being a man of 18 stone in weight, is not allowed to chastise her “ in ease he should crush her” (though in moments of great exasperation he smacks her with one finger). Chapter 11, “ The Devil’s Hole ' describes a fruitless searcl in Carolina, where, amid much ; onip and ceremony provided by the villagers, the author is Rd to an “ oil rock,” .only to find it barren of petroleum. In Chanter 111, “ A Kick and a Coincidence,” the author recounts a

trip to Suchitoto to examine springs in that neighbourhood. On his way'he is kicked by his mule, and, later, being informed by a lugubrious Spaniard that when his wife had been kicked by a mule she had died, he learns of the superstition and bigotry which exist among the villagers of that locality. Chapter IV, “ The Boiling Cauldron,” is particularly interesting, telling of how the author and his geologist friend climb up to the top of San Miguel volcano in order to look down into the crater while the volcano is in action. How they achieve their object, and what nearly fatal results follow', make breathless reading. So on for 15 chapters, each of which is worth while from an informative point of view’, while interspersed with narratives and modes of expression which keep one amused from first to last. The tale of the trail ends on a note of high jollity, and there is nobody but will rejoice over the account of the author’s riotous return to civilisation after months of hardships in the silence and loneliness of “ the back of beyond.” “ The Elusive Trail ” is a capital book on travel.