22 NOVEMBER 1884, Page 21

The Wreck of the 'Nancy Bell.' By John C. Hutcheson.

(Blackie and Son.)—" Cast Away on Kerguelen Land" is the second title of this story. Between the two it is sufficiently well described. There is shipwreck and there is life on a desolate island in the South Pacific, and both are pictured in a very lively and vigorous way. All the necessary characters and incidents are provided. There is a jolly Irish mate—Irish humour has, perhaps, been hardly made sufficient use of in the nautical novel—a cool Yankee, a gallant lover, and a beautiful heroine. Then there is a villain, with the appropriate name of Bill Moody, and a mutiny which is most justly punished ; in fact, there is everything that is most desirable in a tale, and most undesirable in reality.