24 APRIL 1909, Page 13

DEVON: ITS MOORLANDS, STREAMS, AND COASTS. Devon : its Moorlands,

Streams, and Coasts. By Lady Rosalind Northcote. (Chatto and Windus. 20s. net.)—This is a big volume, but it is not big enough for its subject. Devon is above the average size of English counties, and rich in picturesque places and great associations beyond the proportion of its size, and it cannot be brought adequately within the covers of a single volume. Lady Rosalind Northcote confesses the impossibility, and does not claim to be exhaustive. The actual drawback in this case is that the reader is very likely to find his pet place passed over with a few words. Nevertheless, we are thankful for what we have, not all, perhaps, that we might expect to have, but still worth having. We see, for instance, a lively little picture of Beer (westward of Seaton). But should there not have been something about the lace-making Industry which used to flourish there P Does it. still exist P Then there is the very interesting locality of Slapton Lea ; it has some- thing less than half-a-page. Any one who has fished or shot wild duck in this curious lake, separated from the sea by two or three hundred yards of shingle, will be disappointed. The illustrations in colour, after drawings by Mr. F. T. Widgery, sixty in number, are very pleasing.