27 DECEMBER 1884, Page 23

The Sea-Fathers. By Clements R. Markham. (Cassell and Co.) —

Mr. Clements Markham begins his " series of lives of great navigators of former times" with Prince Henry the Navigator, and ends it with a chapter on " Cook, Scoresby, and Dance,"—this last a commodore in the service of the East India Company, who fought a gallant

action with the French (the Company's trading-vessels were armed) in 1804. There is a special chapter devoted to the deeds of the East- India Company's captains. Spanish and Dutch sailors, as well as English, receive their due weed of praise ; and the result is a very interesting volume.