Wanderings East of Suez. By Frederic Courtland Penfield. (George Bell
and Sons. 108. 6d. net.)—Mr. Penfield, who hails from the other side of the Atlantic, begins his wanderings in Ceylon, but not till he has had his say about the Panama Canal and about American commerce in general. The last sentences of his " introductory " chapter read as if he would forbid the export of cotton to Great Britain and Japan. Let it be kept at home and manufactured "for the wear of every race of Asia." The said races would be scantily clothed for some time to come. Ceylon evidently impressed him favourably by its beauty and its prosperous look. One of his most interesting chapters is given to the pearl fishery. He pays an emphatic testimony to the "scrupulous cleanliness of every step employed in producing Ceylon tea," contrasting this with Chinese and Japanese ways. From Ceylon he passes to Hindustan, and here he seems to have been especially charmed with Jeypore and the Maharajah's hospitality to visitors. It pleased him also that "Bajput men and women look a visitor in the face" ; but is it not an exaggera- tion to speak of the "broken-spirited look and sullen servility of Indian peoples overawed by Thomas Atkins " ? Thomas is not so-nbiquitou.s as all that, even if he is so disposed. There are about two hundred square miles for every Thomas to terrorise. From India be goes to China and to Japan, and, a, propos of these two countries, has something to say about the Kaiser. This is an eminently readable book.
Previous page
