19 NOVEMBER 1836, Page 20

Uncle Philip's Conversations about the Whale Fishery and Polar Seas,

is a narrative, broken into the form of dialogue, of the dangers of the Whale-fishery, and the adventures and sufferings of various Polar voyagers, from SEBASTIAN CABOT to Ross and PARRY. The information about the nature and uses of the whale, and the mode of taking it, is very full and explicit: and the book abounds with anecdotes of exciting interest. The descriptions are vivid, and conveyed in familiar language, and illustrated by a number of wood-engravings. The religious feeling that pervades the writing is too much tinged with sectarian notions; but, with this qualification, the book is well calculated to amuse and in- struct youthful readers, for whom voyages have an especial charm.