A Short History of the English Colonies. By Agnes F.
Dodd. (J. M. Dent and Co. 2s. 6d.)—Miss Dodd has collected a con- siderable amount of information on her subject, and has arranged it in a fairly satisfactory way. Now and then we find a curious slip that somewhat diminishes our confidence in the writer. Some races, especially savages of a very low type, are unable to adapt themselves to new conditions, and disappear as civilisation encroaches on their domains ; the Red Indians, for instance, and the aborigines of Australia and New Zealand are rapidly becoming extinct." To class the Australian and New Zealand natives together is absurd. The Maoris are a particularly fine race; they are not aborigines, for they came in comparatively recent times from Malaya, and, happily, they are not " rapidly " disap- pearing. The last Census shows an increase. This was, it is true, a surprise ; but in any case the word "rapidly" would have been incorrect. Miss Dodd's book is likely to be useful, though she attempts too much for her limited space.
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