CEYLON: THE PARADISE OF ADAM.
Ceylon : the Paradise of Adam. By Caroline Corner. (John Lane. 10s. 6d. net.)—This book, from one point of view, is a com- mentary with some very appropriate illustrations on the aphorism that the ways of the East are not the ways of the West. In her "seven years' residence in the Island" "Cynthia" learnt and unlearnt many things. There were experiences in the Courts of Justice. One trial is described to which she was herself a party ; a clock had been stolen from her dwelling, and the thief told a story of how it came into his possession, a story which for imaginative force not even a "Druce case" witness could equal. In another, two Englishmen bad to answer for stealing a ruby neck- lace from a temple. This time a crow was luckily found to be the culprit. Here the West and the East are more in harmony. Did not a "Jackdaw of Rheims" distinguish himself in the same way ? Then there are the dealings between Cynthia and her servants. There is the tragic story of the best dress and how the Dhnrzee and the ayah dealt with it. And other stories there are, tragic or comic, or tragi-comic, that, for instance, of the Tamil pageboy Friday. There are notices of Ceylon customs, of Ceylon scenery, and of other things too numerous to mention. Altogether, we have a very amusing book, not without some seriousness of moaning.
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