Undiscovered Scotland. By W. H. Murray. (Dent. ISO ROCK-CLIMBERS are
worse post-mortem bores than golfers, as anyone knows who has isat Glenbrittle or Burnthwaite. Theirs Is a specialised agony or delight at which the non-initiate stares without comprehen-
sion ; it follows that only rock-climbers can read with real enjoyment a catalogue of belays, pitches, slabs, lie-backs and all the rest of it. On the other hand, any intelli- gent reader can enjoy an enthusiast writidg on his subject provided he has skill enough* to communicate his own informing delight. This skill Mr. Murray certainly possesses. His Undiscovered Scotland (a rather pre- tentious title) consists of accounts of a number of rock and snow climbs which had never been done before, and need never— the lay reader will think—have been done at all. But Mr. Murray's enthusiasm and delight are not to be missed He does not succeed in putting the beauty, the magic, the x of the mountains into words—no one ever has—but he does get near enough to earn a salute from all who have made a similar attempt. His attractive text, something in the manner of Whymper, is enriched by some heart-stirring photographs, and he has been liberal with maps and sketches. Like so many west-of-Scotland climbers, he neglects the crags of the Cairngorms but perhaps he would say that these were not sufficiently " undiscovered." And he disarms one by allowing—as few rock-climbers have the humanity to do—that those who climb mountains by the less arduous routes do after all get something out of it ; much the same thing, in fact, as he does. H. B.
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