Claudius Bombarnac. By Jules Verne. (Sampson Low, Marston, and Co.)—There
is more of the itinerary than the story in this book. Claudius Bombarnac, being at Tiflis, receives a telegram from his employers—he is special correspondent to the Twentieth Century—to proceed to Pekin. Thither he goes, and he relates his journey. His story is not without adventure, but is largely made up of description. Of course M. Verne's stock characters reappear, the phlegmatic Englishman, the audacious Yankee— this time he is a " traveller " for a house of artificial teeth manufacturers—the foolish German—he has backed himself to go round the world in thirty-nine days, and takes one hundred and eighty-seven—and the admirable Frenchman. These people are becoming a little tiresome. Claudius Bombarnac, though fairly readable, for our author is always vivacious, is not of the quality which made M. Verne's reputation.
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