24 AUGUST 1895, Page 23

CURRENT LITERATURE.

Australasia. Vol. II.: Malaysia and the Pacific Archipelagoes By F. H. H. Guillemard, M.A. (E. Stanford.)—This volume belongs to the new issue of "Stanford's Compendium of Geo- graphy and Travel." It is described in the preface as ";an enlargement of that part of Dr. A. R. Wallace's 'Australasia' in the former series which deals with the great Malay islands and the numberless archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean," and as having been "almost entirely rewritten and expanded to nearly twice the number of pages." It will be readily understood that there was plenty of scope for change and supplement. In the island of Borneo, for instance, there have been important de- velopments,—British North Borneo has been added to Sarawak as another item in that "English basket" into which, according to some of our foreign friends, everything goes. If we turn to Borneo's somewhat large neighbour, New Guinea, we find not a few interesting signs of progress. On the other hand, the account of Samoa is somewhat disappointing. The same may be said of another interesting locality, Owhyhee. Perhaps the author is under an obligation to avoid politics.