Plain and Veldt. By J. H. Abbott._ (Methuen and Co.
6s.)— The passion for the lugubrious has mastered our relatives at the Antipodes. Take the first of Mr. Abbott's "stories ahd sketches" tan-ezanrple. Tomnly Carmiehael. is -ea .Aistaaiaa rancher. • He hears about the war, but feels no military enthusiasm. What he chiefly thinks about is the drought,—the drought is very much in evidence in Plain and Veldt. But he loves Nance Walker, and Nance has a brother in South Africa. If he will go, then Nance will reconsider, she says, her refusal of his suit. He goes, has some very dismal experiences, and finds out, to cap everything, that Nance's brother is really her husband, and has been fighting for the Boers. That not is a cheerful tale, and, as far as we can see, it has no particular meaning. There is power in the stories, sometimes a touch of grim humour, and often a vigorous touch of Nature-drawing. But, as a whole, the volume will disappoint admirers of Mr. Abbott's earlier venture, "Tommy Cornstalk,"— one of the very best of the books on the war.
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