Palestine, as also of the Vatican codex, the learned authoress of the Introduction gives an account of the discovery of B and C in 1892 and 1893, and of the visits of herself and her sister together in 1892, 1895, and 1897 to the Sinai convent. She then describes the two codices, gives an account of the dialect in which they are written, and finally describes still later discoveries, and brings the whole subject up to date. The present work shows that while the text of B and C presents some remarkable features of its own, and which are such as render the undertaking fruitful, it is of special value, as supplementary of the codex at the Vatican; and herein lies the main point and importance of the enterprise. The printing of the work (which, by the way, is beyond all praise) involved great labour extending over five years; it also necessitated the third visit to the Sinai convent by both ladies. This visit was made in the spring of 1897, when they took with them the proof-sheets of both codices for the purpose of comparing them word for word with the originals prior to the final printing, and thus did they relieve the learned discoverer of Codex C from the necessity of making a second journey thither. Scholars now have the opportunity of comparing the two codices with one another, with the view of marking their several peculiarities in respect of orthography and diction. To reach the convent is a matter of difficulty, not without inconvenience and danger, and also expense; nor are there many who have either the leisure or the physical energy requisite for so unusual an undertaking. The difficulties are all removed by the enterprise, learning, and toil of these noble-minded ladies; and the materials are in this work placed within the reach of all who care to look into the subject, which they may now do without stirring from their own firesides. The outcome of all the toil and travel of these ladies during nearly a decade of years is B. the very sumptuous volume now published.

LONGMANS, GREEN AND Co.; LONDON.

12. History of British India, by SIR WILLIAM HUNTER, LL.D., one of the Vice-Presidents of the Royal Asiatic Society.-The present is volume the first of Dr. Hunter's long-projected History of India. In the introduction he tells us that it was at first his intention to prepare a complete history of India from the early Aryan period onwards, but that he has seen reasons to reduce the plan of the undertaking. Of this he can best speak for himself. "I shall now," he says, "be thankful if I am permitted to present a narrative of events since the country came into contact with the nations of modern Europe. In such a narrative the internal history of India and its wondrous diversity of race, religions, and types of intellectual effort will form not the least instructive chapters. But the chief purpose of the book is to trace the steps by which the ascendancy of England was won in the East, the changes which it has wrought, and the measures by which it is maintained." To the reader already to any moderate extent acquainted with the subject of the rise and progress of European power in Asia, these few sentences will convey a fair idea of the nature and scope of the present work.

The volume now before us (first of the series) brings down the history to as far as the overthrow of the English power in the Spice Archipelago, in 1623- The almost infinite quantity of details which the work embodies has been well sifted and well manipulated, with the result that the very crabbed details of the subject have been welded together into a thoroughly readable volume. For readers of an antiquarian instinct, one of the most interesting chapters of the book will be the story of the ancient trade routes which crossed Asia from China to the Mediterranean Sea, taking India on the way. Later on the author gives us the narrative of the arrival in Asiatic waters of the various enterprising nations of Europe-the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Dutch, the French, the English; and he is at some pains to show that the distinction of having discovered the Cape route to the East belongs not, as is so commonly asserted, to Vasco da Gama. He then seeks to give honour to those to whom honour is due. It would have been interesting if he had given us some light on the question so often discussed, as to whether that route was not originally discovered by the brave and hardy Phoenician mariners long prior to the Christian era, or even to the age of Solomon, The story of the numerous reverses and conflicts of the various races of Europe in their advancement in various directions in Asia, is admirably rendered; and to the English reader one of the most attractive portions of the volume will be found to be the narrative of the origin and growth of the British and Dutch East India Companies. It is published in quarto size, containing 475 pages very beautifully printed, with quite an unusual absence of press errors. In some places, however, we notice a want of care in the art of punctuating and a certain looseness in the framing of sentences. Sir William Hunter might revise his composition somewhat; this would be for his own advantage, as well as that of his reader. It is not exactly pleasing when one has to read a sentence over again that he may be quite sure of its bearings. But next to Macaulay, we know of no writer in the present half of the closing century who succeeds so well as Dr. Hunter does in welding into the form of readable and consecutive story the dry and isolated details of hitherto unpublished papers found in the archives of Westminster and other places, The index at the end of the work is one of the most useful and painstaking we have ever met with. The footnotes extend from the first page to the last; in all instances they are helpful, and in some instances very recondite. Most of them consist of references to authorities and sources of information, which the reader may follow up; and many of them contain a good deal of general information. In respect, also, of geography, chronology, topography, and etymology they are very valuable.

To a reviewer this work is most tempting; but we must not transgress reasonable limits. The labours of Sir William Hunter in the realm of Oriental research are by this time well known to all Orientalists. The Annals of Rural Bengal, first published between thirty and forty years ago, awakened us to the fact that a writer had now appeared who was "to the manner born," and from whom we should hear more. Every work he has since published has vindicated the wisdom of the Government of India in setting him free from the drudgery of the cutchery to serve the Empire in

,...

a department so emphatically his own. The present work is being carried forward with all the thoroughness and penchant which the author throws into all his work. It is not, however, by any means exhaustive. He marches over the ground with long strides, and there is many a hiatus. The work is, however, a grand contribution to some full History of India yet to be written. B.

JOHN MURRAY; LONDON.

13. Eastern Persian Irak, by GENERAL A. HOUTUM SCHINDLER. In this memoir of 132 pages the author, long a resident in the country, and from his position well able to give information regarding Persia, tells us all about Eastern Persian Irak, which he rightly describes as being "practically a blank on all existing maps." He devotes nearly a third of the work to a description of the Province of Kom, giving much valuable information which the reader will find particularly interesting, as it treats of its ancient history, boundaries, population, revenues, etc. The Province of Mahallat, the birthplace of Sayyid Abul Hassan Khan, the ancestor of the present Aga Khan of Bombay, who is the acknowledged head of the Ismailian sect, is next described, followed by briefer accounts of the Provinces of Natanz, Joshegan, Kashan, Ispahan, Irak, Saveh, and Teheran. A good map accompanies the text, and the orography, geology, hydrography, meteorology, flora, fauna, and ethnology of the different localities are admirably and fully set forth. Considering the political relations existing between Great Britain and Persia, the work should be of much interest and value to statesmen, travellers, and others.

GEORGE NEWNES, LIMITED; LONDON, 1898.

14. Raiders and Rebels in South Africa, by ELSA GOODWIN GREEN. Mrs. Green gives an interesting account, in her little volume, of the experiences of men and women, in Rhodesia, during the war of 1896. Amongst the incidents described are the Mashona rising; the defeat, trial, and execution of the chief Makoni; the death of Major Evans at Gatzie's Kraal; and the rescue of the prisoners at the Alice Mine. There are upwards of a dozen good illustrations.

OLIPHANT, ANDERSON, AND FERRIER; EDINBURGH AND LONDON.

15. Among the Wild Ngoni; being some Chapters in the History of the Livingstonia Mission in British Central Africa, by DR. W. A. ELMSLIE, M. B., etc., with an introduction by the RIGHT HON. LORD OVERTOUN. The sphere in which the Livingstonia Mission seeks to evangelize is on the West Coast of Lake Nyasa, in British Central Africa, a district about 300 miles long and 100 miles broad. The author, helped by his devoted wife, a daughter of the late famous missionary Dr. Moffat, and many others, have been labouring some years as ambassadors of Christ and pioneers in the service of the mission. The author graphically describes their early experiences and the dangers and difficulties they encountered, and how they won at last the respect and love of the Ngoni tribe. The result is

that now there are 7 native churches with over 1,000 members, 85 schools with 11,000 scholars, and 300 native teachers and preachers. An exceedingly well-executed map by John Bartholomew and Co. accompanies the volume.

SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON AND Co.; LONDON.

16. The Philippine Islands, by JOHN FOREMAN, F.R.G.S.-This is the second edition of a remarkable work. It is, in fact, a history of the Philippine Archipelago and its Dependencies during the whole period of the Spanish ascendancy down to the recent conquest by the Americans. The author deals with the geography, the ethnography, the politics, and the social and commercial life of the islands. The present edition is enlarged and brought up to date, and contains some plans of localities, an excellent map of the entire Archipelago, and a long series of well-executed photogravures illustrative of the scenes depicted in the course of the work.

How very difficult it is for one who has resided for any considerable number of years in any country of the mysterious East to convey to untravelled persons a precise idea of anything connected therewith is felt by all who have had experience in this line of things. Everyone who has thus by hard and long experience earned the right to speak as an authority has often to regard his hearers with dismay. The facts are so new, so different from European experience, and so caviare withal, that such a one grows accustomed, in course of time, to being discredited or regarded with misgiving, as a crank, or as a curiosity, or even as an exaggerator. It is evident from the preface that our author knows something of this kind of experience. It is a common fate, and there is no help for it.

One easily finds himself prepossessed in favour of this author. There is a singular modesty about his narrative. The style in which he clothes it is unaffected, transparently sincere and truthful, and straightforward. It is such as to disarm criticism and enlist sympathy and credence. At the same time, there is excellent discrimination, good sense, and power of weighing facts. The incidents given, together with the descriptions of native life and character, tally with wonderful precision with descriptions which might be given of the lowland and agricultural classes in India. Anyone who knows the natives of India and their manners and customs may be said to know also the Philippines at home. And this observation

is no less true of the numerous half-caste population of both countries. The failure of Spain as a colonizer is clearly made out in this volume. To colonize with the view of self-aggrandizement is proved in this volume to be a fatal mistake. The benefits of colonization should be shared by the conquered race. A nobler illustration of this principle than is displayed by the British ascendancy in India the world has never before seen. It now remains for the recent conquerors of the Philippines to "take up the white man's burden" there. Another weakness in Spanish, as n Portuguese, colonization is that of proselytism. This is fatal. Το colonize on the plea of religion is apt to lead to conversion by force of arms, which is but another phrase for religious persecution. This principle also finds abundant illustration in the present volume. It is a most fasci

nating book. The reader finds it difficult to stop anywhere till he has read it through. It is full of thrilling story of Spanish voyage and adventure, and of the most graphic narrative of life in the Philippines; and it will doubtless inspire many an ardent young American and Briton, thirsting for a career, to try his fortunes in those beautiful islands. The book is deserving of a lengthy review, for which, however, we have, unhappily, not sufficient space. It is not only the latest book on the Philippines, but also the B.

best.

17. With a Palette in Eastern Palaces, by E. M. MERRICK. Illustrated. Miss Merrick's bright and chatty book, the title of which speaks for itself, is the production of a young artist who went out to Egypt and India to paint the portraits of some eminent people there. She had exceptional opportunities in both these countries of seeing and being with the highest society, and of meeting most distinguished and interesting people, and she has made good use of her opportunities, and has contrived with pen and pencil to bring a vivid picture of life and experiences in those Eastern palaces. It was quite a happy idea of the authoress to put her own picture in front of her book, for her charming personality predisposes us at once in her favour. Her literary abilities, although not of so high an order as her artistic ones-this book being her maiden attempt-still give fair promise of better things to come. Miss Merrick does not pretend to describe the countries and the people she visited, but only her personal doings and work there, the men and women with whom she was thrown into contact, and whose portraits she painted, and the impressions they made upon her. Her descriptions are very interesting.

SMITH, ELDER AND CO.; LONDON.

18. The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline and Fall, from original sources, by Sir WILLIAM MUIR, K.C.S.I., LL.D., D.C.L., etc., author of "The Life of Mahomet," "Mahomet and Islam." Third edition. We had the pleasure of noticing this admirable work in our issue of January, 1892, pp. 257, 258. This edition, as the author states, "is a sample reproduction of the second. Occasional amendments have been made throughout. But upon the whole it is the same." We can only repeat what we said on referring to the second edition, that "to traverse the better-known paths of Mohammedan history under the guidance of Sir William Muir is a pleasure. He has a thorough grasp of his subject, owing to his deep and diligent research, his extensive reading, and his sympathetic appreciation of Oriental matters, while he holds fairly the balance as an impartial historian." "We commend the work as a clear, full and just history of a very eventful period in the life of the human race."

Indian Currency, an essay by WILLIAM FOWLER, LL.B. Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange, London. An important paper on the whole question of Indian Currency. The author is of opinion that, " like every other people, the people of India need a currency that suits them, and