21 MAY 1910, Page 25

Sport and Life in the Further Himalayas. By Major R.

L. Xennion. (W. Blackwood and Sons. 12s. 6d. net.)—Perhaps Major Kennion is at his best in describing a Tibetan caravan, or a festival day among the Chitralis. He has an art of sketching the picturesque mountaineers with just the right amount of back- ground. The narratives of the markhor, ibex, and antelope stalking cannot but have much repetition in them, though it is always freshly written, while the occasional descriptions of scenery are not unworthy of a very fine subject. There is some- thing more uncommon about the account of a day's hawking with the Mehtar of Chitral. The sport is different from what it is else- where. The birds must take shorter flights, and the falconers must have a consummate knowledge of rock-climbing. Then in the "Orpiment Mines of Chitral" and the "Roof of the World" we are introduced to two of the wonders of Central Asia. A word or two must be said in praise of the photographs. Those which give us the great river valleys and the snowy Pamirs are particu- larly good ; we have seen none more successful of their kind. Finally, let us praise Major Kennion for sticking to his last and keeping clear of politics.