St. Kilda. By Norman Heathcote. (Longmans and Co. 10s. 6d.
net.)—We may divide Mr. Heathcote's account of St. Kilda by the familiar division of past, present, and future. The most notable event in the past is the imprisonment on the island of Lady Grange. Commonly, the place has enjoyed the happiness of having no history. A change of minister is, perhaps, tho most important event in the island chronicles, and this does not happen often. The physical changes are interesting, the force of the Atlantic waves having altered the coast-line greatly even in the short time for which we have had the means of making a comparison. The present condition of the island and its people is described with considerable fulness. It would not be fair to pick out details, favourable or unfavourable. A man should see the whole and judge by it. Anyhow, the illustrations, giving the outward aspect of place and people, are excellent. The future suggests not a few problems which are by no means easy of solution. The primitive ways of the island, the conducting of business by barter, for instance, it will hardly be possible to keep to, as it becomes more and more part of the great world. There was a time, we believe, when the visit of a stranger gave the whole population a cold, such influence had the unfamiliar aura upon them. Now there is a service of steamers, and the liability to cold-catching has presumably passed away,—at least Mr. Heathcote says nothing about it; and with it probably many other things have disappeared. One thing seems tolerably plain. The trawlers ought to be compelled to observe the legal three- mile limit. It is all nonsense to say that they do not harm the inshore fishing. Every one with any experience of sea-fishing knows better than that.
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