30 MARCH 1895, Page 24

Australia Revenged. By " Boomerang." (Remington and Co.) —The motive of

this somewhat extravagant story is the pursuit of a wealthy Englishman who has boasted of his skill in breaking female hearts. He separates two young Australian lovers, breaks the girl's heart and kills her, and the lover swears to be revenged. The quarry travels to Australia, whither he is pursued, and is, after an exciting chase, run to ground, and branded with his own device,—a broken heart. The ebony stick on which the villain keeps the tally of his conquests is, on the whole, the most grotesque absurdity we ever heard of; but the actual pursuit of the man in Australia is readable, and the excitement is well sustained. The Australian characters are good, and" Boomerang" is quite at home in describing them, but he seems to view things English with a most remarkable mental squint. An appendix, in which some extremely vulgar and ignorant remarks are made about Colonial Governors, reveals the same deformity even more strongly; it must be some prejudice unfortunately developed almost to the verge of insanity.