Our Ride through Asia Minor. By Mrs. Scott-Stevenson. (Chap- man
and Hall.)—It would have been better, perhaps, to have written "in " for " through," a preposition which suggests a journey taking in either the length or breadth of the land. Mrs. Scott-Stevenson's ride was confined to the south-western portion of the peninsula. Kaisariyeh was the most northerly and Koniah the most westerly point that she reached. But she travelled over much ground that is quite out of the ordinary route of travel. The book in which she records her experiences is very pleasant reading indeed. We cannot help regretting, however, that she is under the dominion of violent prejudices. The language she uses is so violent as to put her out of court at once. We read as early as p. 3 of "that incarnation of organised hypocrisy and injustice, of brute force and cruelty,—the Russian Government and the Russian people." This is the insanity of hatred, and gives as a well-grounded suspicion of all that we read afterwards. A witness who begins with such a statement (has she ever read, we wonder, Mr. Wallace's book about Russia ?) cannot be trusted to speak the truth, however much she may wish to do so. She is simply blind. But, this deduction made, as a record of travel and adventure, and a picturesque description of manners and scenery, the book deserves high praise.
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