The Young Castaways. By Lady Florence Dixie. (John F. Shaw.)—The
author tells us that the pampas of Patagonia—the second title of her story is " The Child-Hunters of Patagonia, "- and the life of its Indian tribes are well known to her. The Indians have, we must own, the look of being somewhat idealised. But this, perhaps, was a necessity. The really amazing thing in the book is the prowess, skill, and prudence of the two girls, Topsie and Aniwee, the child of an Indian chief. Gold-mines we have seen—at least, in fiction—of the most marvellous richness, and the " gold-mine of Or," which Sir Harry Vane shows to the child-hunters, does not surprise us, even though it did oontain gold enough to " buy the whole of America." But the figures of Topsie, whose expertness as a stalker might put a veteran High- lander to shame, and of Aniwee, who teaches her tribe that a. woman may be just as good a hunter and warrior as a man, and so revolutionises the whole social fabric of Indian life,—these are novelties indeed. Perhaps it is from Patagonia that we are to have, in its final form, the gospel of the equality of the sexes. It is a very lively tale—of the romantic End indeed—that Lady Florence Dixie has given her young readers here, writing it, she says, " for girls as well as boys ;" and, indeed, girls who are snubbed by their brothers, the fate, we fear, of too many, will greatly rejoice in it.
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