24 NOVEMBER 1894, Page 24

The Reef of Gold. By Maurice H. Hervey. (Arnold.)—This is

just the tale to fascinate a boy, with its fabulous gold reef, its chart and cipher, and the fitting out of a special expedition to explore the reef in the Southern Archipelago. The expedition excites curiosity; and then follow piracy, mutiny, and other dangers of the sea, and finally success and the return with untold wealth. The narrative moves briskly, is full of incident, and is well illus- trated, though one might have expected more local colouring from the author, who says he has travelled in all the places touched by the schooner ' Maybloom ' in her voyage. The Reef of Gold is a capital story for boys who like something brisk and instructive, flavoured with the sea-air.