Vancouver's Discovery of Puget Sound. By Edmond S. Meany. (Macmillan
and Co. 10s. 6d. net.)—The mcst valuable features of Professor Meany's book are the historical notes on the men whose names Captain Vancouver perpetuated on the coast of Vancouver Island and the shores of time British Columbian main- land. We must confess to regarding even these exceedingly valuable biographical sketches as possessing but a secondary interest. The chief figure is Vancouver; the true value of his work lies in the geographical discovery and the accuracy of his hasty explorations. We wish more attention could have been paid to the exploration and the alteration and addition of names during the last century. An excellent introduction and a chapter on " Historic Nootka Sound" prepare the ground for the extracts from the explorer's journal covering the circumnavigation of the island; and the lives of Van- couver and Bodega .y Quadra present us with all that is known of the two men who worked together in such a friendly spirit. Professor Meany has a partiality for interesting sidelights, and his note on New Dungeness contains a concise account of the Trinity House Corporation, an illustration of the old Dungeness lighthouse, and a chart of the Dungeness coast and a new shoal published in 1794, contemporaneous, therefore, with tho naming of the Dungeness in the Far West. The value of the biographical notes is enhanced by the portraits, the author having spared no pains in his efforts to sift evidence and to obtain facts as to the lives of those who sailed under Vancouver, or received his "geographical" civilities. We might remind Professor Meany that some of the men honoured by Vancouver had other claims to fame besides simply affording designations to the channels and headlands of the North-West, as he seems to imply. As the question of Vancouver's discipline and alleged harshness was raised by Sir Joseph Banks, some extracts from the log of the `Discovery' are quoted. We have before us the contemporary log of a King's ship on the Indian station, and we note that the sentences of the explorer are more severe,—two dozen lashes instead of a dozen for disobedience, drunkenness, neglect of duty, &c. Theft seems to have been somewhat prevalent too. There can be no comparison between the respective climates of Trin- comalee and Madras and that of Discovery Passage. This must not be forgotten in comparing the discipline. It is quite possible that the navigator even in that land of plenty did not make his crew as comfortable as he might have done. This volume is of definite historical importance in the literature of geographical biography, and a handsome tribute to the memory of a great Englishman.
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