Along the Andes. By A. Petrocokino. (Gay and Bird. is.
6d.) —Mr. Petrocokino tells us that he wishes to show that the regions which he describes are not "deserted and savage" places, that they are inhabited by Indians "who have experienced Spanish civilisation for several centuries, and Inca civilisation for several centuries before that." We should not have gathered so much from his book. His experiences did not bring him into contact, as far as we can see, with much civilisation. Now and then he seems to have met with a person of decent manners; clothes were worn by every one, and there was abundance of intoxicating drink. Also there were police and passports and prisons. At Abancay, in Peru, our traveller was arrested because he was the first European to pass that way. When released he was allowed, by way of redress, to stop in the prison, as being the most com- fortable place in the town. At a village in Ecuador he was surprised to find knives and forks, "the first," he says, "I ha a seen since leaving Quito." Here his hosts kept sober,—" luckily there was no caiu" t." At Aquarico there was a garrison, but the only bit of military routine practised was to sound the bugle at 5.30 a.m.,—no one took any notice of it. Mr. Petroco- kino has not proved his point, but he has written an entertaining book. If any one asks what may really be learnt from it, we should say that it is the folly of lending money - to a South American State. Anything more hopeless can hardly be imagined. Nature does something for these lands, man nothing. There is a lucrative trade in rubber, for instance, from Ecuador; but it is bound to come to an end, because nobody plants trees. Our American relatives may also learn something of the responsi- bilities which the Monroe - doctrine may involve, if it means responsibility for these "civilised" communities. ,
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