The Hot Swamp. By R. M. Ballantyne. (Nisbet.)—Mr. Ballan- dyne
is not quite so successful here as he is in most of his stories. He is obviously weighted with the historical costume which he dons for the occasion, and which is that of "Old Albion" some eight hundred years ago. Nevertheless, this is a conscientious. performance, and does considerable credit to Mr. Ballantyne. Beside., the two chief personages, the vivacious and audacious Phcenician sailor, Captain Arkal, and the manly British Prince Bladud, conduct themselves very much as do most of the nineteenth-century heroes of the sea, in whom present-day boys delight. Bladud's adventures in the country, which at first knows him not, but which is nevertheless his own, are,. indeed, quite as good in their way as anything Mr. Ballantyne has ever offered to his special public; and his introduction of Phcenicians, Greeks, and even Hebrews into the company of what he not very elegantly styles " Thulers," is skilful enough. The affairs of sentiment, such as these are, in The Hot Swamp, are rather protracted, and the book itself is too long. Prolixity in a historical romance intended for boys is a serious mistake.
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