16 NOVEMBER 1918, Page 17

A Modern Pilgrim in Mecca. By Major A. J. B.

Wavell. (Con- stable. 2s. 6d. net.)—The late Major Wavell, who was killed in East Africa in 1916 while guarding the frontier against enemy raiders, was a very able young soldier and traveller. He proved his courage and his knowledge of Arabic by travelling in disguise to Mecca and Medina in 1908. Few Europeans, as he said in his Introduction, have accomplished the feat, He did not mention the remarkable journey of Mr. Doughty, described in Arabia Deserta, the most brilliant book ever written about the Arabs. Mr. Doughty, however, did not enter the sacred citias. To this reprint of Major Wavell's delightful narrative Major Leonard Darwin has prefixed a short Memoir of the author Now that Mecca is an Allied capital and Arabia is free under the Sultan Hussein, the book has an additional interest.