Review.

Southland Times, Issue 13062, 9 November 1894, Page 3

Review.

A Modern Buccaneer: By Rolf Boldrewood. Macmillan and Co., London and New York.

In this, his latest work, Rolf Boldrewood has broken entirely now ground, or it may be more correct to say, has embarked on fresh waters, having forsaken for a time his favourite field of Australian scenery, life and adventure. The change is refreshing, and we find ourselves borne along on the bright waves of the Pacific, wandering with delight among coral islands and under the shade of cocoa-palms and bread-fruit trees, acknowledging the same spell that has so often led us through the great island continent of the South. The experiences of squatting and mining life which enabled the author of this book to write what ho hud already written and to make it instinct with historical truth while it glowed with all the features of romance—those exper- . fences would almost seem to have excluded participation also in the life of a sea-rover. But there is something in “ a Modern Buccaneer ’ that seems to tell significantly of personal adventure, and to be the outcome of at least some personal familiarity with what is described. Whether this be so, or whether it? is that by the insight and apprehension of genius, the author has been able to realise what he never saw, a book has been produced that is sure to fascinate by tho vividness of its colouring, the interest of its characters, and the dramatic force of the events that it pourtrays. Another question will arise as to the proportions of romance and reality that go to make up the character of the hero. There is enough to show that a real Captain Hayston exhibited, amongst the islands of the South Sea in quite recent times, some of the leading features of the Buccaneer of a former age ; and it is this fact and the bold enterprises ascribed to him—whether real or ideal does not much matter—that gives a historic as well as a romantic value to Rolf Boldrewood’s tale. There is always a great service done when the features of any time, just before it passes away, are fixed and illustrated by the hand of a master. This is generally true, and it is true also, we believe, that a great deal of ignorance has to be dispelled in regard to the characteristics, natural, social, and commercial—in the past as well as the present—of those wonderful islands amongst which wo are taken in the company of “ A Modern Buccaneer.” The beauty of the South Sea groups is proverbial, and the charm of the women has been lauded enthusiastically by all visitors. It is not therefore wonderful to find a great part of the book before us devoted to descriptions of the gorgeous tropical scenery, the soft air and blue waves of that delightful region, where life can be a dream of luxury and lotus-eating, and into which the cares of civilisation do not enter. It has been objected that the free and dissolute life of the sea-rovers of older days is allowed too broad expression in the author’s pages; but the answer is that if the character of a historical record of which we have spoken was to be maintained, a reference to these things was indispensable, and no one will contend that they have not been touched with a sufficiently delicate hand. Some of the most interesting sketches in the book are those of the brave, beautiful and devoted women who figure on the deck of the Leonora, or in the native melees, or in the camp of the shipwrecked crew. It was a vicious life; but they were responsible for it who had been nurtured in an atmosphere of pure morality, and not the unsophisticated children of nature on whom no guiding light had shone. The author has the good taste to keep pure and untainted in the midst of the general perversion the young fellow whom we may call his subsidiary hero, and who at length forms the romantic attachment to a Pitcairn Island maiden which is one of the greatest charms of the book.

The picture of Captain Hayston, the American filibuster and semi-pirate, who roams the South Sea, domineering by virtue of his herculean strength and unflinching courage over white man and dark, is very powerfully drawn. He is not without his traits of tenderness and generosity, but a demon w’hen roused, and sparing nobody who crosses his path. It is in Hayston and his lawless courses that the interest of the story is meant to centre, and it is maintained unbroken until he goes out of sight and leaves the field to Hilary Telfer, a Sydney youth, whose peaceful adventures in love and commerce close the book. While we cannot too highly commend “ A Modern Buccaneer,’, as exhibiting all the author’s powers of description and as being full of dramatic incident and the flavour of South Sea life, we have grave exception to take to one of its features. The author has painted with a brush of uniform blackness the character both of the missionaries of that region and those whom they claim as their converts. We are unable to accept this portraiture as historically true, or as just towards men who, whatever their failures, have unquestionably left the beneficent mark of Christian influence on native institutions and on innumerable native minds. Grateful and refreshing, however, is the recognition of that marvellous episode in human history which began in the Mutiny of the Bounty and developed into the Christian Commonwealths of Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands. No romance ever equalled the wonderful transformation which that story unfolds, and Rolf Boldrewood has shown his , true artistic sense in seizing it as the groundwork of the beautiful love-tale which is the sequel to his narrative of violence, peril, and lawless deeds. We have no space for further reference or for quotations that would have shown something of the quality of the book. That the reader must discover for himself. We need only say that “ A Modern Buccaneer ” is a volume in the now extended series of Messrs Macmillan’s Colonial Library, and that, from its clear and beautiful type and handy form, it is well fitted for the pocket and for railway reading.