6 NOVEMBER 1886, Page 23

Britons in Brittany. By " G. H. F." (Sampson Low

and Co.)— This pleasant and entertaining book should, by rights, have been noticed earlier in the year. It might then have been utilised for a purpose to which it is really very well adapted,—a practical guide to a Brittany tour. The writer and his friends saw a good deal of that picturesque and interesting country, and their experiences are recorded in a way that should render them instructive to those who may follow their steps. The only fault that we are disposed to find is that there is too mach effort to be amusing, and that the effort is scarcely successful. It is not funny to write "in solemn [2] conclave" of some everyday conversation, or "we smole audibly," or "male persuasion." When a writer has something to say that readers pro- bably want to hear, let him do it as simply as he can. Is "G. H. F."

quite sore of his figures when he speaks of expenses Did the "between eight and nine shillings a day for each member of the party " include the fares between Southampton and St. Maio p Each person of a party of five spent rather leas than £10 in twenty-five days. As the return fare from England is £2 12s., this gives £7 Ss. for twenty-three days on French soil, a little more than 7s. per diem for travelling, food, and lodging, supposing that nothing was spent on board the steamer. If " G. H. F." is right in his accounts, he should be made Chancellor of the Exchequer.