The Ship Beautiful. By Charles Allen. (Warne. 7s. 6d. net.)—It
is inevitable that the psychology of a blind man should be the principal interest in Mr. Charles Allen's story, The Ship Beautiful, for we understand that the author himself has lost his sight and has, therefore, only too much reason to under- stand the mental development of the early blinded. The book is called " A Two-fold Tale," and consists, not only of the story of Richard Burnard's life in New Zealand, but of a fan- tastic legend of adventure, in the relation of which to his small nephew the blind man finds his catharsis. Perhaps both stories suffer a little from their mingling, and the reader will find difficulty in understanding whether he is in New Zealand or in the fairyland of imagination. Christopher, Claribel Island, and the Ship Beautiful herself are all charming creations and Mr. Allen writes of them with great sympathy and tenderness.
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