The Little Black Princess of the Never-Never. By Mrs. Aeneas
Gunn. (Hodder and Stoughton. 3s. 6d.)—We must find space for a notice of this " revised edition," so charming is the story, so striking the illustrations. The little black Princess was a real person, a real Princess too, though her Royalty was Australian. It is a striking adventure that introduces us to her. Her people were attacked by the Willeroo blacks, and fled, the Princess to the river, where she swam under water to the other bank, caught hold of the roots of a tree, and held her mouth and nose out of water under shelter of a water-lily leaf,—a considerable experience for a child of eight, all the more so as the river was the abode of crocodiles. Of this child Mrs. Gunn gives us a charming picture, of her ways and thoughts, what she said and what she feared,—the last being chiefly " debbil-debbils." Then there is a delightful account of how she learnt to read, or tried to learn,—she could not understand that the letters did not represent some definite object ; the small letters, too, puzzled her very much. Finally, we hear how the bush-fever came upon her. She could no longer stay with the white folk, but must away to the bush. Only Mrs. Gunn believes that she will come back, because her last act was to give her a little pearl shell, which was her dearest treasure.
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