SHORTER NOTICES.
DIVERSIONS OF A DIPLOMAT. By Frank Rattigan, C.M.G. (Chapman and Hall. 16s. net.)
Mr. Rattigan is very modest : he insists that his remin- iscences can only be of interest because he was privileged to meet great men and to take part in great events. But we seem to remember books the authors of which have met astonishing numbers of great men and taken part in over- whelmingly great events, and yet have excited no spark of interest in their readers. As Mr. Rattigan's book is certainly bright and readable, we feel that his own abilities have a great deal to do with it. His style is easy and straight- forward : we shall quote as a favourable example the descrip- tion of capercailzie shooting on the Continent :—
"During the month of May the cock capercailzie, in the full
glory of his spring plumage, flies at dawn to the top of a high pine, whence he launches, at intervals of a minute or so, a staccato call, which may be either a challenge to rivals or an appeal to his mate. During the few moments he is uttering this call the cock is com- pletely blind and deaf to all sights and sounds ; so the sportsman, having located approximately the tree on which the bird is perched, rushes forward a few paces at a time halting instantaneously on the cessation of the call. If the stalk is done with care and skill, the hunter eventually gets within easy range of the bird."
That is not a literary man's style, but it works very well for bright pictures and anecdotes. Mr. Rattigan gives some account of Raisuli, of Lord Kitchener, of the Kaiser, of the King and Queen of Rumania. His view of the Crown Prince is rather unusual; • he found him kindly, quickwitted, and shrewd ; vain, of course, but not unpleasantly Vain—he was naturally pleased with his great popularity. There are many good tales: we liked, for example, the tale of the energetic salesman who persuaded the Sultan of Morocco that grand pianos could only be bought in dozens, and obtained his order for a dozen.
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